Colfax Vikings upend Boyceville Bulldogs in boys’ hardcourt action

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

BOYCEVILLE — In a hard-fought battle from start to finish, the Colfax boys’ basketball team overcame an early deficit to pull out a 70-61 win over Boyceville Thursday, December 12 in Boyceville.

The win was the first of the season for the Vikings and was the first career win for head coach Nick Heit, giving them a 1-3 overall record and 0-1 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play. Boyceville is still winless at 0-4.

The Bulldogs led early at 14-9 before Aiden Fischer drilled a triple for Colfax to close the gap. Boyceville got hot from the field, using an eight-point run to pull ahead 22-12 as freshman Tegan Lydon started the run with a free throw, Landyn Leslie followed with a drive to the hoop while Jon Madison used a slick spin move to score in the paint. Lydon drilled a three ball from the corner before Orion Nichols stopped the streak with a bucket and a free throw.

The Bulldogs’ Blaine Severson drained a corner three and Lydon followed with a steal and an assist to Leslie for a 27-15 advantage.

Colfax freshman Russell Polkoski and Fischer put on a scoring show in the next few minutes, starting with a triple by Polkoski. Fischer followed by sinking a pair of free throws, Polkoski scored in the paint, Fischer hit a free throw, Polkoski added a reverse layup and Fischer concluded the streak with a shot from behind the arc to put the Vikings up 28-27.

The Colfax lead didn’t last long as Lydon answered with a layup with a minute left, but the Vikings’ Theo Hovde swiped the ball and zipped a pass to Fischer who scored and the half ended with Colfax up 30-29.

Madison started the second stanza off by dropping in a couple of free throws then Leslie stole the ball and found Madison for a bucket and a 33-30 Bulldog lead.

Fischer scored from close range but the Bulldogs continued to battle as Leslie hit from the lane and Owen Rydel canned a triple to give Boyceville a 38-32 lead.

Fischer stole the ball and took it end-to-end for two, and after Carson Roemhild hit a jumper for the Bulldogs it was 40-34 in their favor. Fischer drove to the hoop for two more and after Rydel scored on a deuce, you guessed it – Fischer scored again on a layup. Another Viking steal resulted in a huge slam dunk by 6’ 6” Polkoski to cut the Bulldog lead to 42-40.

Madison hit a jump shot, but Charlie Charbonneau of Colfax drilled a three ball, and every time the Vikings got close, the Bulldogs seemed to score to hang on to their lead. Leslie dropped in a deuce and after a Fischer free toss, Madison scored again for a 48-44 advantage.

But Vikings’ sophomore Trey Larson had the hot hand as he connected for back-to-back triples to give the Vikings a 50-48 lead. Rydel knotted the score on his bucket but Larson scored from inside to keep the two-point Viking advantage. And once again the lead changed as Roemhild canned a shot from behind the arc. The Vikings responded with their own triple for a 55-53 advantage and increased it when Larson scored on a running jump shot, then knocked down a pair of free tosses to push the Colfax lead to 59-53 with 5:19 left in the game.

And once again the Bulldogs battled back as Rydel scored in the paint and Madison added  points on an old-fashioned three-point play and another free shot tied it up at 59-59.

Fischer, who has been averaging 27 points a game, put the Vikings back up with a bucket but a Bulldog steal and fast break deuce by Leslie put the score at 61-61.

Fischer knocked down a jumper, then the game really turned around in the Vikings’ favor.

Fischer swiped the ball yet again and was fouled. After a Boyceville time out with 55 seconds left, Polkoski went up for a rebound and was fouled very hard, but managed to get the ball in the hoop as he was hitting the floor. An intentional foul was called on the play and he hit one of two free tosses. Colfax was awarded the ball and an inbounds pass to Fischer resulted in a layup which finished off a five-point possession for the Vikings. Fischer fittingly finished off the scoring with a pair of free throws for his 29th and 30th points of the game.

“This was a hard fought win,” coach Heit said. “Our kids executed down the stretch to seal the win. It was nice to get our first win on the road. I thought Boyceville played a nice game,” he added.

Besides Fischer’s 30 points, Polkoski scored 15 points and completed a double-double with 12 rebounds. Larson added 14 points and Nichols tacked on eight points with eight boards. Hovde led the team in assists with four. Colfax was 11-for-16 from the charity stripe and 7-for-27 from the three point line.

Madison was the high man for Boyceville with 17 points and Leslie was just behind with 16 and Rydel tacked on 10. The team made six triples and were 9-for-13 from the foul line.

Colfax road journey continues this week with a pair of away conference contests. The Vikings were in Spring Valley last evening (December 17) and go to rival Elk Mound Friday.