Boyceville boys fall to Amery in overtime
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BOYCEVILLE — Victories have been tough to come by for a youthful Boyceville boys’ basketball team in the early part of this season but the Bulldogs nearly added a second win to their record last Tuesday, December 21 when they hosted Amery.
The Bulldogs overcame a sluggish start to take a 28-24 halftime advantage over the visiting Warriors in the pre-Christmas, non-conference showdown. But Amery’s pressure defense caused Boyceville to turn the ball over in the waning minutes of regulation which allowed the Warriors to force overtime. In that extra frame, Amery scored two more points than Boyceville to claim a 50-48 win.
“We played really well I thought for the most part throughout the game until about the final 2 minutes of the game,” noted Bulldogs’ head coach Colby Dotseth. “They pressured us full court and we really fell apart, playing out of control and turning the ball over.”
“We also settled with shooting from the outside and not getting to the rim,” he added. “We shot overall the best we have all year from the field but were 8-for-14 from the free throw line which hurt us down the stretch.”
The Warriors finished 13-for-21 from the charity stripe.
Boyceville found itself trailing 12 to 8 midway through the first half as two three pointers, one each by Nick Olson and Caden Wold, and a Grant Kaiser hoop accounted for their scoring.
But the Bulldogs offense finally began to click and outscored the Warriors 20 to 12 over the final nine minutes of the half to take a four-point lead into intermission.
During that offensive run, Olson canned the final two of his three treys in the game, Jack Phillips also tallied a triple, Mason Bowell added a pair of two-point hoops and Simon Evenson gave a four-for-four performance at the line.
Although Amery made just seven baskets including a three in the opening half, the Warriors went to the free throw line 15 times, sinking nine. Boyceville, meanwhile, was awarded just six foul shots and made good on five of them in the first 18 minutes of action.
Both teams came out of the locker room cold.
Three Caden Wold baskets and a pair of made foul shots by Braden Roemhild accounted for all eight of the Bulldogs points in the first nine minutes of the second half.
Fortunately, Amery made just three baskets during that span which gave Boyceville a 36-30 lead heading into the final nine minutes of regulation play.
Scoring continued to be a problem for the Bulldog who made just four baskets – a pair by Kaiser, one from Olson and a three courtesy of Philips – before the second-half horn sounded.
Meanwhile, the Warriors’ full-court pressure began to yield results and allowed the visitors a 15-9 scoring advantage that knotted the game’s score at 45 all and forced overtime.
In the extra period, Boyceville managed just an Evenson bucket and a free throw by Kaiser while Amery added two hoops and a free toss to take the 50-48 win.
“It’s always tough losing close games when you feel you had the game won. Hopefully as young as we are we can learn this and it will help us throughout the season in later games,” said Dotseth.
Nick Olson and Caden Wold led the Bulldogs in scoring with 11 points each. Grant Kaiser added seven and Simon Evenson and Jack Phillips each chipped in for six points.
Jens Lindquist and Lane Frederick led the Warriors offensive attack with 15 and 13 points respectively.
Dotseth had praised for several of his players despite the outcome.
“I thought Nick Olson shot his best basketball game of the season and it showed as he tied Caden Wold to lead us in scoring. Caden also had a stretch in the game where he really took over the game and hopefully that grows his confidence to keep attacking offensively,” noted Dotseth.
“Grant Kaiser did a great job with the touches he had but he still needs to demand the basketball more as there isn’t a kid on the floor night in and night out who can play with him down low. Chase Hollister did a great job with effort on the glass and really playing under control with his body on the defensive end. Mason Bowell has had a stretch of games lately where he has separated himself as our best defender and he did a great job guarding there best player,” concluded the coach.
Boyceville, now 1-6, returns from the holiday break Tuesday, January 4 to host Clayton and will welcome Colfax on Friday, January 7.