Boyceville girls clip Unity Eagles wings, get squished by Fall Creek Crickets
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Last week the Boyceville girls’ basketball squad accomplished something it hasn’t done in five seasons – win a playoff game.
The Bulldogs, seeded ninth, traveled to Unity High School in Balsam Lake Tuesday, February 20 to take on the eighth seeded Eagles in a Division 4 regional quarterfinal matchup.
Unity (11-14), who finished sixth in a strong Lakeland West Conference that features champion and state-ranked Clear Lake (24-3), led 34 to 27 at the intermission, but Boyceville, who shot the ball well from inside and outside the three-point arc and limited their turnovers, rallied in the second half to upset the host and higher seed 58 to 55.
“It was great for the girls to get a playoff win,” stated Jay Lagerstrom, Bulldog head coach.
“Coming in as the lower seed and winning on the road is never easy,” he added.
The Bulldogs’ reward, a date at top-seeded Fall Creek (23-3) three days later. The Crickets jumped out early and leaped away with the victory by halftime as they led the February 23 regional semifinal contest 56 to 12 before cruising to a 74-27 win to end Boyceville’s season.
Fall Creek went on to defeat Dunn-St. Croix runner-up Colfax the following evening to earn a sectional berth.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, finished the year with a 10-16 overall record.
“The girls had some ups and downs this year, but we were able to get ten wins and a playoff win,” said Lagerstrom.
“We’re moving in the right direction, our seniors were really great to coach, and we will miss them, they are all really good people and I’m sure all of them will have successful futures ahead. Our younger girls got some great experience this season that should payoff down the road,” he added.
It was the final game for a half dozen seniors. Donning their Bulldog basketball jerseys for the last time were Jaden Stevens, Hannah Dunn, Sarah Stoveren, Jadynn Traxler, Cora Leslie and Alexis Schlough.
Unity
The Bulldogs were able to shoot nearly 50 percent on both sides of the three-point arc when they played at Unity February 20.
Boyceville finished 14-for-28 inside the arc and were 5-for-12 on three-point attempts. In addition, the Bulldogs also limited their turnovers to ten which the opposition converted into only three points while Boyceville was able to turn 16 Eagle mistakes in to 18 points.
“That was huge for us as we really got out-rebounded badly, 37-19,” said Lagerstrom.
Freshman Aubrey Malean and senior Hannah Dunn carried the Bulldog offense against Unity. Malean went 10-for-15 shooting including a pair of threes and was 3-for-5 on the line to lead all scorers with 25 points. Dunn had just three hoops which included a triple, but sank all eight of her free tosses to finish with 15 points.
“Individually, Malean and Dunn had good games offensively and the other girls hit some key shots,” said the coach.
That included a couple of big threes by senior Jaden Stevens early in the game.
“Our post defenders – Chelsi Holden, Zoey Hellendrung and Cora Leslie – all battled foul trouble throughout the game, but we were able to keep them in the game and Sarah Stoveren stepped up and played well in the post too,” added Lagerstrom.
Boyceville was down 34-27 at the intermission and by nine points a few times early in the second half but kept battling to pull out the 58-55 win after outscoring the Eagles 31-20 over the final 18 minutes of play.
Fall Creek
According to Coach Lagerstrom, his charges got off to a rough start and were never really able to threaten the top-seeded Crickets on their home floor last Friday, February 23.
“They (Fall Creek) are extremely tough with size, strength and speed,” noted Lagerstrom.
It also didn’t help Boyceville’s cause when sophomore and leading rebounder Chelsi Holden was lost to injury just five minutes into the contest.
The Crickets took full advantage of their basketball attributes and the Bulldogs woes to blast out to a 56-12 lead at half.
From there, Fall Creek cruised in the second half coasting to a 74-27 victory.
Kambel Sell and Addy Haynes topped the Crickets scoring with 15 and 11 points, respectively, while Becca Sturz, Jasmin Heuer and Sophie Schmidgall each chipped in nine points. Most of their scores came in the decisive opening half of play.
Dunn finished as the high-point girl for Boyceville with nine, Malean added eight and Leslie finished with six.
The Bulldogs hit only two triples and were 9-for-18 at the line while the Crickets made seven shots from long range and were 13-for-17 at the free throw line.