Cameron Comets burn Lady Bulldogs in regional play
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CAMERON — The Lady Bulldogs’ season-long nemeses – poor shooting, turnovers and a lack of rebounding – returned to haunt them in their WIAA Division 4 girls’ regional basketball quarterfinal in Cameron last Wednesday.
Boyceville (seeded #12) finished just 7-for-31 shooting from the field including a 1-for-8 performance behind the three-point arc and committed 25 turnovers in a lopsided 60-19 loss to the host Comets of Cameron (#5) in the opening round of regional competition February 23.
“We ended our season and it kind of summed up our issues for the year in one game,” stated Boyceville head coach Jay Lagerstrom.
“We shot poorly from the floor and they (Cameron) really hurt us on the boards as we just gave them to many opportunities after misses,” Lagerstrom continued.
The Bulldogs finished with just 18 rebounds.
“We came out and handled their press okay and got a couple good looks off it but that got us into playing their style up and down the court which resulted in us turning it over too much,” he added.
It didn’t help when Boyceville’s only senior Harper Olson was injured early in the contest.
“It just seemed like we lost any intensity we had,” said Lagerstrom of his charges play following Olson’s injury.
The Comets, who finished 8-10 and in sixth place in the Heart O’ North Conference and sported a 10-14 overall mark heading into tournament play, burned past the Bulldogs in the first half to establish a 40-10 halftime lead.
Cameron’s Eden Dellinger scored 11 of her game-leading 16 points to lift the Comets to that comfortable 30-point lead at the intermission. Alyssa Kuffel added all nine of her points in the first half while Maddie Wall netted six of her ten during that 18-minute span for Cameron.
While the host Comets were seemingly scoring at will, the Bulldogs had trouble putting the basketball through the hoop.
Rachel Montgomery, Harper Olson, Hailey Hanestad and Cambrie Reisimer each had one hoop in the opening half with Montgomery adding a pair of free tosses to account for all ten of Boyceville’s points.
Things did not improve in the second half for the Bulldogs. A three by Sarah Stoveren and two-point baskets by Montgomery and Hanestad along with two free throws by Jaden Stevens made up Boyceville’s second-half scores.
Although Cameron dialed back its offense push in the latter half, it still outpointed Boyceville 20 to nine to move on with the 60-19 victory.
Montgomery was the leading scorer in Boyceville’s season finale with six points. Hanestad finished with four, Stoveren three and Olson, Stevens and Reisimer each tallied two points.
Boyceville finished the year with a 2-23 record, both wins coming against rival Glenwood City.
“I really enjoyed coaching the girls this year and they are nice young people to be around,” said Lagerstrom. “I want to give thanks to Harper Olson for being the only senior on a young team and helping everyone to maintain a good attitude on and off the court.”
“We return most of our players, but they have to commit to working on ball skills and physical strength and quickness drills to take the next step forward,” concluded Lagerstrom.