Topper boys hold off Bulldogs to earn sweep

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by Joel DeWitt

Sports Correspondent

BOYCEVILLE – Much like their first matchup three weeks prior, the Boyceville and Glenwood City boys’ basketball game would come down to the end. Unlike the previous game, it would be Boyceville that would be digging themselves out of a hole.

The Bulldogs would trail 13-4 at halftime, and 19-6 with 14:22 remaining in the game. However, they would battle back and take the 24-23 lead when Jack Phillips put back a missed shot.

The remainder of the game would be back and forth; however, it would be the Hilltoppers who would have just enough offense to pull off the road win 34-30.

“We did a tremendous job in the first half holding them to four points defensively,” commented Hilltopper coach Patrick Olson. “We again struggled to capitalize on their mistakes and turn them into points up just 13-4 at the half.”

While the game ended in a frenzy, the first half was anything but that. Boyceville would take the lead at the 14:45 mark of the first half when Simon Evenson hit a shot for the 2-1 lead. The layup by Evenson would be the only Boyceville field goal of the half.

Meanwhile, the Hilltoppers wouldn’t fare much better from the field. Drew Olson would hit a 3-pointer from the elbow to give his squad the 4-2 lead at the 13:00 minute mark. They would only hit three more field goals in the half to take a 13-4 lead into intermission.

The dry spell for the Bulldogs would finally end a minute into the second half when Mason Bowell would hit a layup. That field goal would bring the Bulldogs within six points at 15-9.

However, Olson would heat things up for Glenwood City. He’d put in the first three field goals of the half for the Hilltoppers, his last coming at 14:22 to give his team the lead at 19-6.

Even though they were down a game high 13 points, the Bulldogs wouldn’t panic. They’d go an 18-4 run in the next ten minutes to take the lead for the first time since the opening minutes.

The run started when Grant Kaiser would get his own rebound and get fouled on the put back and make both free-throws. Kaiser would hit two more field goals on the run to give them a dominant presence in the interior.

While Kaiser was doing the work inside, teammate Nick Olson would hit two 3-pointers in that stretch to give the Bulldog offense a potent one-two punch. The put back by Phillips would ignite the home crowd and give the Bulldogs the lead with only 4:00 remaining.

Looking to stem the momentum, Hilltopper Brady McCarthy would hit a shot to put his team back up by one. A 3-pointer and a fast-break layup by Mitch Bliese would give Glenwood City the lead at 30-24 with 3:00 left.

Devin Halama would answer back. He hit 3-pointers on consecutive Bulldog possessions to tie the score at 30 apiece. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, that is where the comeback ended.

While the Bulldogs went cold in the final minute, the Hilltoppers would find just enough offense to pull out the win. Olson would hit a tough jumper in the lane to put Glenwood up 32-30. Elek Anderson would hit two free-throws to seal the victory for the Hilltoppers.

Both teams struggled from the field on the evening. The Hilltoppers hit a on a little over 30 percent from the field. Drew Olson led his team with 11 points. He was followed close behind by Bliese and Anderson who had nine and eight points respectively.

Glenwood City (3-11,7-16) will take the win and travel to Cumberland for the opening round of the WIAA playoffs on March 1. The 10th seeded Hilltoppers played the 7th seeded Beavers.

While the Bulldogs shot below 30 percent on the evening and had no players in double figures, they did have contributions from a handful of guys. Nick Olson had seven points on the evening, with Halama and Kaiser both adding six.

Boyceville (0-14,4-19) looked to rebound from the loss as the 12th seeded Bulldogs traveled to Park Falls to take on 5th seeded Chequamegon.

GC vs Pepin/Alma

The Glenwood City boys’ team would find themselves playing an unscheduled game on February 25. Inclement weather canceled the Toppers’ game earlier in the week and allowed them to host Pepin/Alma for the regular season finale.

The Eagles would keep things tight in the first half and only be down four points going into halftime. However, the Hilltoppers would prove to be too much as they would put in 41 points in the second half to win 61-33.

While the game stayed tight for the first nine minutes of the game, Pepin/Alma would pull out to a 10-6 lead with 8:30 remaining in the half. However, a running jumper by Bryce Wickman and a follow up layup and foul by Drew Olson would give the Hilltoppers the lead at 11-10.

Glenwood City would continue to attack and take a 20-16 lead into intermission. Coming out of halftime the Eagles would score the first bucket, but the second half would belong to the Hilltoppers.

Olson would ignite an 11-0 run with a 3-pointer on the Topper’s first possession. He’d follow that up with a conventional 3-point play. Brady McCarthy would continue the Topper’s hot shooting with a 3-point basket. The next possession would see him hit a floater to stretch the lead to 31-18.

The Hilltoppers would use that lead and confidence to coast to an easy win on the evening at 61-33. The 61 points would be the most points scored for the Hilltoppers on the season, and the 28-point differential would also be a season high.

Owen Swenby led his team with 13 points on the evening on 5-10 shooting including a 3-pointer. Olson would follow close behind with nine.