Bulldogs come from behind to win against Toppers
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ONE-HANDED LAYUP — Despite being surrounded by several Glenwood City defenders, Boyceville senior Logan Knudtson scored two of his game-high 28 points to help rally the Bulldogs to a 59-53 win over rival Glenwood City February 7.
—photo by Jacob Maes Photography
By Missy Klatt
Sports Correspondent
BOYCEVILLE — There was a good crowd on hand as many from Glenwood City traveled down Highway 170 in hopes of seeing the Hilltopper boys’ basketball team gain their first win of the season. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case as the Bulldogs came from behind last Friday evening, February 7th to win 59-53 and sweep the regular season series.
Boyceville improved to 3-7 and sixth place in the Dunn-St. Croix with the victory while Glenwood City slipped to 0-10, Overall, the Bulldogs are 4-11 and the Hilltoppers remained winless at 0-16.
Walker Retz got things started for the Bulldogs when he came up with a steal and drove down court to layup for two. The Hilltoppers’ Brandyn Hallquist countered with a long jumper for two. The Bulldogs followed this up with three more when Brendan Sempf hit from outside the arc. After a Topper miss it was Logan Knudtson for three for the Dawgs. Hallquist then returned the sentiment with three for the Toppers. At this point, the Bulldogs had an 8-5 lead.
A couple of minutes went by with missed shots and turnovers before GC’s Bryce Wickman hit a jumper for two at the 13:46 mark. The Bulldogs came back with three more when Knudtson hit outside the arc once more.
A short time later it was Hallquist again for two after he grabbed a defensive rebound and drove down court. The Toppers now trailed by just two points, 9-11. Thirty seconds later, they were ahead by one when Hallquist earned three points the hard way.
This back and forth “battle” ensued for a few more plays until the Toppers went on an eight-point run starting at the 9:38 mark to take a 22-16 lead.
As the action continued, both teams were working hard and knocking down buckets. The Hilltoppers had the edge, scoring twelve more points to the Bulldogs’ ten, ending the half with an eight-point, 34-26 lead.
The Toppers started the second half with a full-court press but right away things weren’t going their way. Ethan Hanson committed his fourth personal foul less than a minute into the half. Then the Bulldogs’ Knudtson and Sempf teamed up for five early points. As the half continued, there were easy shots missed, steals and turnovers from both squads.
The Toppers finally got on the board at the 13:20 mark with two under the basket from Dan Loring. Then it was Knudtson from outside the arc for the Dawgs. He then came up with a steal which allowed Walker Retz to eventually score to tie the game at 36. It was shot-for-shot for the next few minutes keeping the score tied, now at 43.
The Bulldogs then pulled ahead with a 6-1 run which was followed by five unanswered points for the Toppers. With the score tied at 49, it was point-for-point as Bulldog Connor Sempf hit for two which was immediately followed by two points from the Toppers’ Drew Olson. Connor Larson then connected for two with a long jumper for the Dawgs, followed by two free throws from Justin Moe for the Toppers.
With less than a minute to play and the score tied at 53, Knudtson was at the line shooting a one-and-one. He made both shots giving the Bulldogs a two-point lead. The Toppers then missed their next shot putting the ball back into the red hot hands of Knudtson where he added two more points for the Bulldogs.
TOPPERS’ sophomore Justin Moe dribbles by Boycveille defender Cade Klefstad during action in last Friday’s boys’ basketball game in Boyceville. The Bulldogs swept the Hilltoppers with a 59-53 victory. —photo by Jacob Maes Photography
There was a timeout called with 32.5 seconds left in the game. The Toppers then missed their next shot and worse committed a foul on the full-court press sending Connor Sempf to the line for a double bonus with 13.4 seconds on the clock. Sempf sealed the deal for the Bulldogs as he connected on both free throws. The Toppers tried one more shot which they missed giving the Bulldogs their come-from-behind victory at 59-53.
Hilltoppers’ head coach Tristan Kittilson stated, “The boys fought hard and showed a lot of grit and toughness. We got away from several of the things in the second half that were working well for us in the first half, and did not shoot the ball as well.”
Kittilson credited Justin Moe for coming off the bench and providing a spark for the team, doing some really nice things on the court. He was disappointed in their loss, saying that they really would have liked to get the win after putting a lot of time and effort in this season.
For the Hilltoppers, Hallquist was the leading scorer with 21 points followed by Hanson with 13.
Bulldogs’ head coach Colby Dotseth started his comments by giving credit to the Hilltoppers in the first half. “They came out and really shot the ball well from the outside.”
About his own team he remarked, “I thought we didn’t play the style of play we wanted to especially on the defensive end but we went in at halftime and talked about tightening up our defense, and really playing more physical in the second half. Also Coach Kuhn did a great job at halftime reminding our boys to stay confident and we really felt like we hadn’t made a basketball run yet, so we wanted to stay believers in that.”
Dotseth stated that Logan Knudtson played a great game on the offensive end in both halves. He was their leading scorer with 28 points.
Dotseth continued saying, “Down the stretch, we really seemed to feed off the atmosphere in the gym which was great! I really thought both Walker Retz and Connor Larson gave us great minutes in the second half and really got after it and came up with a couple of key offensive rebounds and shots late for us. I haven’t seen that gym for a boys’ game that packed, with that kind of atmosphere in a very long time and it truly was great to experience for the boys and great to see the community support. Hopefully the boys stay confident going forward and keep improving through the rest of the season.”
Boyceville (59)
FG-FT-F-T: Retz 3-0-3-6, B. Sempf 4-0-2-12, C. Sempf 1-2-4-4, Knudtson 10-4-2-28, Larson 3-0-1-6, J. Klefstad 0-0-1-0, C. Klefstad 1-1-0-3, Hollister 0-0-1-0. Total 22-7-14-59.
Glenwood City (53)
FG-FT-F-T: GC: Hallquist 9-1-0-21, Janson 0-0-4-0, Olson 3-1-3-7, Wickman 1-0-1-2, Hanson 5-0-5-13, Swenby 1-0-0-3, Loring 2-0-1-4, Moe 0-3-1-3. Total 21-5-15-53.
Boyceville 26 33 – 59
Glenwood City 34 19 – 53
3-point goals: Boycveille: B. Sempf 4, Knudtson 4. Glenwood City: Hallquist 2, Hanson 3, Swenby.