Colfax boys trip up Glenwood City Hilltoppers, maul Mondovi Buffaloes

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

After dropping a Dunn-St. Croix Conference game to Elmwood-Plum City a week earlier, the Colfax boys got back on track with a 64-51 conference win at home over the Glenwood City Hilltoppers January 16. They went on the road three days later for another conference game against the Mondovi Buffaloes and soundly defeated the Buffaloes 68-52. Colfax is now 3-4 in conference play and 6-9 overall.

The Vikings were at Eau Claire Regis Monday and have back-to-back home contests versus conference foes Durand-Arkansaw tomorrow (Thursday, January 25) and Boyceville next Tuesday, January 30.

Glenwood City

It was a fast-paced game by both teams with a close score until the middle of the second half when the Vikings finally pulled away. The game was knotted at 7-7 early on with Elijah Entzminger scoring twice on drives through the lane while Blake Johnson dropped in a free throw and Aiden Fischer hit a jumper. The Toppers pulled ahead by five points on a Brody Olson trey and a bucket from Morgan Eggert but Orion Nichols hit from the lane for the Vikings.

The teams continued to trade points as Olson and Zach Hill scored for the Toppers while a triple from Fischer and a jumper by Entzminger cut the Topper lead to 16-14. Entzminger did a little spin and scored on a layup and when Fischer drained another triple it was 19-18 for Colfax. Entzminger assisted Eli Ralph for a close range shot but Glenwood City regained the lead on two layups on fast breaks by Olson and Brady Riba. 

Fischer and Eggert traded baskets and Eggert put the Toppers up 26-23 with a layup but the Vikings knotted it up on a Ralph free toss and Logan Swartz scored on a put back of his own shot.

The Colfax defense went to work and kept the Toppers from getting anywhere near the basket,  eventually forcing them into a turnover. The Vikings finished off the half when Theo Hovde swiped the ball and zipped a pass to a streaking Entzminger who scored on a layup and the Vikings led 28-26 at the intermission.

Zach Hill gave the Toppers a quick lead on a bucket and a free throw but Entzminger took it back for Colfax on a long jumper. Another Glenwood City deuce put them back up 31-30 but Entzminger came through with another shot from the paint to take the lead back. Fischer added to the Viking lead on a fast break layup then swept the ball away and drove through the lane for a 36-31 Viking advantage.

Brady Thompson scored for the Toppers and after a Swartz free toss, Glenwood City knotted it up at 37-37 on back-to-back shots from Olson. Swartz put Colfax back up with a bucket while Thompson hit 1-of-2 free throws for the Toppers. Entzminger knocked down a pair of free throws, Fischer scored from close range and Blake Johnson scored on a put back to give the Vikings some breathing room, up 45-38.

After Eggert hit two free tosses, the Vikings went on a scoring streak, starting with a Nichols put back, Ralph’s bucket and free toss, another shot from Swartz and two free tosses from Mason Yarrington and suddenly it was 54-40 in their favor. 

Colfax continued to score and after a couple of Fischer free throws, the Vikings had their largest lead of the game at 63-42. With around three minutes to go, Colfax coach Mark Noll emptied the bench and Grant Palewicz scored his first varsity point, making 1-of-3 free throws.

Entzminger and Fischer led the Vikings with 18 points each while Swartz finished with a career high 12 points. Colfax knocked down 12-of-17 free throws and connected on two triples.

Olson led the Toppers with 16 points which included the only two treys for the team and his team went 7-for-15 at the charity stripe.

Mondovi 

The Buffaloes have been having trouble winning games since early December and the Vikings made sure those woes continued. Mondovi led 7-6 early on but the Vikings came up with their longest scoring streak of the season when they put up 18 points to take a 24-7 lead. The run started when Fischer slid a behind the back pass to Entzminger for a layup. Swartz dropped in a bucket, Entzminger added two free throws, Fischer drained a three pointer from the corner, Entzminger added another free toss, Ralph scored in the paint, Hovde swiped the ball and found Johnson for a deuce, Entzminger dropped in a jumper and Swartz scored in the paint.

Colfax continued to add points while playing a stingy defense, forcing the Buffaloes into plenty of turnovers. After another Entzminger bucket, it was 31-12 for the Vikings and they built a 36-18 halftime lead.

The Vikings went up by 22 points at 42-20 after Yarrington drilled consecutive triples from the same corner, and a few minutes later, Fischer found that same sweet spot for his own trey. Hovde followed with yet another Viking long ball to make it 59-38 but things got a little hairy for the Vikings when they got into foul trouble midway through the half. The Buffaloes went to the charity stripe several times, and their defense picked up the pace and created some turnovers by the Vikings. With three minutes left, Entzminger, Ralph and Swartz all had four fouls but Yarrington canned his third triple – from the same corner – and Fischer scored in the paint while Johnson finished it off with a couple of free tosses.

Entzminger was high-point man for the Vikings with 20 while Fischer was close behind with 19. Yarrington tacked on nine on a trio of triples and Johnson added eight points. Colfax drained seven shots from behind the arc and were 11-for-15 from the foul stripe.

The Buffaloes outscored the Vikings in the second half by two points with help from Austin Remington who scored 21 points in the contest. Mondovi connected on 9-of-16 free throws and had just one triple in the game.