Boyceville boys return to action, drop pair of home contests
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
LEAPING HIGH to grab this rebound was Bulldogs’ freshman Caden Wold (#4) who took the ball away from Lake Holcombe’s Tate Sauerwein (#40) during a boys’ basketball game December 28. Wold finished with five rebounds and five points in the Bulldogs 70-45 loss.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
By Missy Klatt
Sports Correspondent
After a long hiatus, the Boyceville boys’ basketball team was finally back on the court. The Bulldogs hosted a pair of non-conference games over the Christmas break but unfortunately fell short on both outings.
On Monday, December 28th they hosted Lake Holcombe and lost 45-70 and on Wednesday, December 30th they hosted Gilmanton and lost 26-57.
The Bulldogs, who have yet to win a game this season, are scheduled to play three games this first week in January. They played Webster at home on Monday, January 4th, traveled to Turtle Lake on Tuesday the 5th to begin a four-game road excursion that includes a conference game in Spring Valley this Friday, January 8 followed by another D-SC contest at Elmwood next Monday, January 11 and a non-conference tilt in Augusta on Tuesday, January 12.
BOYCEVILLE’S Jack Phillips (#23) attempted this three-point shot during the Bulldogs’ home basketball contest against Lake Holcombe December 28. Boyceville lost the game 70-45.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
Lake Holcombe
“This was definitely a tough one as we showed we hadn’t played competitive basketball in almost three weeks,” commented head coach Colby Dotseth.
The Bulldogs started slow on offense and Dotseth admitted they really didn’t defend well either, leaving open shooters and allowing Lake Holcombe to shoot three pointers early on. As it was, Lake Holcombe sank ten baskets from outside the arc during the game.
After falling behind 20-2, the Bulldogs struggled to dig themselves out of the hole. They failed to attack Lake Holcombe’s zone defense and didn’t fare well against the pressure the Chieftains put on them at the top of the key.
By the end of the first half Lake Holcombe (2-4) had a 22-15 lead. Not too much to overcome, however, the Bulldogs defense was definitely not up to par and they were outscored in the second half 48-30.
Dotseth remarked, “Defensively, we really gave poor effort which was very frustrating and we knew deep down we can give a much better defensive effort than that.” He went on to say “we still are trying to find a groove together as we have a lot of new and young pieces contributing.”
On a bright note, Dotseth praised Connor Sempf stating that he continues to be very aggressive for the Bulldogs offensively. He led the Bulldogs in points with 15. Dotseth also liked the play of Walker Retz. He was very aggressive on the offensive and defensive glass and he finished the game with eight offensive rebounds and 17 total rebounds.
“Moving forward we really want to make sure we start buying in on the defensive end and offensively work on attacking the rim more and trying to get to the foul line more often.” Concluded Dotseth.
Boyceville (45)
FG-FT-F-TP: Retz 3-0-1-6, Wold 2-0-0-5, Sempf 6-0-2-15, Olson 2-0-1-5, Hazelton1-0-0-2, Wendland 4-0-0-8, Phillips 0-0-0-0, Larson 1-0-1-2, Bowell 1-0-0-2, Kaiser 0-0-0-0. Total 20-0-5-45.
Lake Holcombe (70)
FG-FT-F-TP: Flatter 5-0-0-12, Jones 2-0-2-4, Bowen 7-0-0-18, P.Saverwein0-0-1-0, Gingras 2-0-1-6, Cronk 9-3-1-23, T. Saverwein 2-0-2-4, Kliege 1-2-0-4, Ewer 0-0-1-0. Total 28-5-8-70.
Boyceville…………………………..15 30 – 45
Lake Holcombe……………………22 48 – 70
3-point goals: Boyceville: Wold, Sempf 3, Olson. Lake Holcombe: Flatter 2, Bowen 4, Gingras 2, Cronk 2.
Gilmanton
Once again the Bulldogs struggled offensively when they went up against 6-3 Gilmanton of the Small Dairyland Conference on Wednesday.
Boyceville only managed to put two points on the board in the first eight minutes of the game and only seven points for the entire first half as Gilmanton dominated the first half with 33 points.
The second half of the December 30 contest was a closer with Gilmanton on top 24-19. Of course, by then the damage had been done and Gilmanton went on to win 57-26.
Coach Dotseth thought that their defense was much better than Monday’s game but conceded that it is hard to compete when they can’t get the ball through the basket.
Dotseth is looking to have younger players like sophomore Jack Phillips, freshmen Nick Olson, Caden Wold, and Grant Kaiser give the Bulldogs quality minutes off the bench. “Hopefully they will start to come out of their shells offensively and be more aggressive with the basketball,” stated Dotseth.
One positive for the evening was that the Bulldogs were able to draw several fouls and went to the line twenty times. However, they were only able to sink eight of those twenty shots.
Walker Retz led the Dawgs with nine points followed by Connor Sempf with eight.
Being optimistic, Dotseth concluded, “So moving forward, we will try to continue to cut down on turnovers and keep giving great defensive effort and I believe the basketball will start to go in the basket for us.”
Boyceville (26)
FG-FT-F-TP: Retz 3-3-3-9, Wold 1-0-1-2, Sempf 2-4-3-8, Olson 0-0-1-0, Wendland 1-0-2-2, Wruck 1-0-0-2, Phillips 0-0-2-0, Larson 1-1-1-3. Total 9-8-13-26.
Gilmanton (57)
FG-FT-F-TP: Rud 3-2-3-9, Brantner 5-2-2-15, Severson 1-0-1-2, Guenther 0-0-3-0, W. Clouse 2-0-2-4, R. Clouse 1-0-2-2, Larson 3-6-2-12, Rieck 6-1-1-13. Total 17-11-16-57.
Boyceville………………………………7 19 – 26
Gilmanton…………………………..33 24 – 57
3-point goals: Gilmanton: Rud, Brantner 3.
