Malean’s three lifts Lady Bulldogs to win over Toppers

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BOYCEVILLE — Bulldog freshman Aubrey Malean is as cool as a cucumber!

Malean nailed four of her team’s five, three-point baskets when Boyceville hosted Glenwood City for the schools’ second Dunn-St. Croix girls’ basketball showdown of the season last Tuesday, February 6, but none was bigger than the final one.

After misfiring on a couple of previous tries from behind the arc, Malean calmly set up at the top of the key and let fly with a triple that caught nothing but net with just 20 seconds left on the game clock to erase a two-point Hilltopper advantage and give her Bulldogs their first lead, 52-51, in nearly five minutes.

Glenwood City head coach Kirsten Konder quickly called for a timeout with 17.6 seconds left in the contest to set up her team’s final offensive possession. The Toppers’ lone senior, Libby Wagner, took the ensuing inbounds pass and dribbled down court and sped through the lane where she was fouled by fellow Boyceville senior Hannah Dunn, another key player in the latest rivalry drama. As Dunn headed to the bench after picking up her fifth foul with 7.9 seconds remaining, Wagner stepped to the line for two free throws and an opportunity to win the game for Glenwood City.

Both of Wagner’s freebies, however missed their mark, but three Hilltoppers pulled down three different rebounds with the subsequent putbacks each sailing over the hoop, the final one as the horn sounded to give the Bulldogs a thrilling, come-from-behind 52-51 win in front of a nearly-packed Dog House that had turned out for the 13th annual “Coaches vs. Cancer” event.

“It was a great atmosphere for a high school game, both student sections kept the excitement up and great for both teams to play in a game like that,” said Boyceville head coach.

With the split of the season series, the Bulldogs and Toppers both have three conference victories.

While Malean may have been the darling of the evening as she finished with 17 points which included that game-winning triple, it was senior Hannah Dunn, who missed nearly the entirety of the teams’ first go-round back on January 4, due to an ankle injury,  that provided a spark with eight steals in the contest and a game-high 18 points – nine per half, five of which came in the final two minutes of game action.

“Hannah and Aubrey both had a nice night offensively and the last possession when we took the lead it was key for us that Hannah and Sarah (Stoveren) passed up kind of open looks to make the one extra pass to free up Aubrey and for a freshman to not hesitate and knock it down was impressive,” said Lagerstrom.

Midway through the first half, it appeared that the visiting Hilltoppers were posed to blow open the game after back-to-back threes by Emma Bliese and Anaka Eliason gave Glenwood City an eight-point lead at 19-11, the largest advantage by either team in the game.

But, Lagerstrom wisely asked for and received a timeout with 8:15 remaining and switched up the Bulldogs’ defensive scheme and began to trap the Hilltoppers ball handlers which resulted in turnovers that allowed the host to climb back into the contest, taking a short-lived 24-21 advantage, and trail just 29-26 at halftime.

“We changed to a aggressive trapping defense and even though we didn’t shoot real well we were able to get 18 more shots than Glenwood City for the game,”
Lagerstrom calculated.

Glenwood City junior Jenna McCarthy opened the game with a three pointer. Sarah Stoveren responded with a triple of her own to knot the game. Dunn then drove the lane and hit a short pull-up jumper to give the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead. Tori Ohman, Isabel Davis and Opal Voeltz scored baskets to push Glenwood City back into the lead at 9-5.

Hoops by Dunn on consecutive Boyceville possessions knotted the score at nine. Deuces by Wagner and Eliason pushed the Toppers lead back to four, but a Stoveren hoop cut the Toppers’ advantage to 13-11.

That’s when Bliese and Eliason tickled the twine with consecutive treys and suddenly Glenwood City lead by eight.

After a timeout at the 8:15 mark, Boyceville went on a 9-0 run with hoops by Cora Leslie and Dunn, two free throws by Chelsi Holden and the first of four Malean three pointers to take a 20-19 lead. An Ohman hoop temporary put GC back in front by a point only to have Malean put through another three and Dunn added a free toss to bring the Bulldogs’ lead to 24-21.

Baskets by Eliason and Wagner had the Hilltoppers back on top 25-24. Malean made one of three free shots after being fouled on a three-point attempt to tie it.

Glenwood City would take a 29-26 lead in to half on baskets by Ohman and Wagner.

Malean, who ended the first half with a free throw, added another to open the second frame. Ohman scored a hoop for a four-point Topper lead at 31-27.

That’s when Boyceville’s aggressive trapping defense began to pay dividends. Dunn came up with consecutive steals that she turned into deuces to knot the game once more. The Bulldogs would make three baskets to the Hilltoppers one to forge a 37-34 lead, but consecutive baskets by Eliason had the Toppers back on top 38-39. An inside bucket from Leslie flipped the Bulldogs in front by a point, but one free throw each by Voeltz and Ohman saw the Toppers take back the advantage.

The squads traded baskets and the lead over the next few minutes until Wagner was fouled by Dunn (her fourth infraction) with 4:46 remaining in regulation. Wagner made both charity tosses to put Glenwood City in the lead at 46-44. That grew to four points on an Ohman basket.

Dunn cut the Bulldog deficit back to two with a hoop. Ohman then made it a three-point contest by hitting the back end of a two-shot foul.

Again, it was Dunn that pulled the Bulldogs within a point following a steal she converted into two points only to have Wagner go the other way and score for a 51-48 GC lead.

On the Bulldogs’ next trip down court, Dunn sank the front end of a bonus opportunity to make it 51-49 with a minute and a half to go.

Dunn then stole the basketball once more and drew the foul from Bliese. With 47 seconds left, Dunn stepped to the charity stripe with a chance to knot the game with a pair of freebies only to have both bounce off the rim no good. Glenwood City pulled down the rebound but quickly turned the ball over.

Following a Boyceville timeout with 35.4 seconds on the game clock, the Bulldogs’ worked the ball around the perimeter until Malean had an open look and rained down the game winning three.

Besides Dunn’s 18-point, eight steal performance and Malean’s four triples and 17 points, Stoveren netted a three and finished with seven points while Holden and Leslie added four points each. Holden also led the Bulldogs on the boards with eight. Eliason and Ohman led the Toppers with 13 and 12 points, respectively, with Wagner adding eight, Davis six and Bliese five points.

Neither team shot the ball well from the field or the free throw line. Glenwood City, who tallied a trio of threes, finished just 6-for-22 at the line while Boyceville made only 7 of its 18 attempts.

Both squads struggled in their Friday evening, February 9 contests. Traveling to Mondovi, the Bulldogs were stampeded 65-38 by the Buffaloes while Glenwood City was annihilated on its home court, 67-11, by a surging Colfax  team.

Glenwood City has a pair of home and away games versus unbeaten Elk Mound this week while Boyceville was at Pepin/Alma Monday for a non-conference game before it finishes out the regular and conference season at home against Durand-Arkansaw Thursday.

Both teams will open regional play on the road next Tuesday, February 20. In division 5, the Toppers (#14) travel to Turtle Lake (#3) while the Bulldogs (#9) are at Unity (#8) in a division 4 matchup. 

Glenwood City vs. Colfax 

Colfax struck first when it visited Glenwood City February 9 but Izzy Davis tied it up for the Toppers. The Vikings, however,  went on a 38-point scoring streak to put the game away before halftime.

With Colfax enjoying a 40-2 advantage, junior Jenna McCarthy finally stopped the bleeding for the Toppers with a bucket with two minutes left in the half but another short 5-1 Vikings’ run sent Colfax to the locker room with a 45-5 halftime lead.

Libby Wagner hit 1-of-2 free throws for Glenwood City and Anaka Eliason added another Topper free toss to make it 57-7 with a running clock in motion. Colfax went on to win 67-11. 

Davis topped Glenwood City scorers with three points and Brooklynn Brite and McCarthy had two

11 different players put points on the board for the Vikings, starting with Kaysen Goodell scoring a season high 20.

Colfax was 4-of-6 from the foul line with seven treys. Glenwood City connected on 5-of-10 free throws for the game.

Boyceville vs. Mondovi

Boyceville got off to a slow start when it visited Mondovi Friday, February 9 and never fully recovered.

The Bulldogs trailed 29-14 at the intermission with Dunn and Malean accounting for five points apiece as each hit a three.

Boyceville ratcheted up its offense in the second half scoring 24 points behind nine points from Malean and another five by Dunn. But, Mondovi’s leading scorer Ava Gray led the Buffaloes’ charge as she netted 13 of her game-leading 21 points in a second half that saw the hosts score 36 points en route to the 65-38 win. Also finishing in double digits for Mondovi, who tallied seven threes, were Amber Lund with 16 and Maddy Marten had 11. The Buffs made 12 of their 18 foul shots.

Malean finished with 14 points to lead the Bulldogs while Dunn collected ten. Boyceville finished with five triples and was 7-for-16 at the free throw line.