Boyceville boys crushed by Spring Valley and Colfax

The renaissance that the Boyceville boys’ basketball team experienced in late January was shortlived.

After picking up their first and only win of the season against rival Glenwood City and pushing league-leader Durand to the final horn during that brief span, the Bulldogs have tailed off, reverting to their old ways as evidenced by a pair of lopsided road loses against conference foes this past week.

Boyceville got off to slow starts in both contests as it fell by 28 points, 67-39, to Spring Valley Tuesday, February 9 and then lost  by two dozen a few days later in Colfax, 71-47.

“We have not played the best as of late,” stated Boyceville head coach Ben Luer. “But we have not quit in any game.”

“This year has been about finding chemistry between the mixture of younger and older players,” added Luer. “We have found it for one half in some games but not the whole game.”

With four games remaining in the regular season including three conference contests, Boyceville is currently seventh in the Dunn-St. Croix standing with a 1-10 mark and 1-17 overall.

Colfax

Although Bryce Boda tied his season high with 16 points, it wasn’t enough for the Boyceville boys to pick up their second win of the season as they lost 71-47 February 12 in Colfax.

Luke Knudtson scored from the paint and Micadin Kahl hit a free toss to give the Bulldogs an early 3-2 advantage. But the Vikings came back with five points for a lead they never relinquished. Knudtson scored from close range again, Buddy Hanestad scored on a drive and a short jumper to keep the Bulldogs close. Down 11-7 and after another Colfax bucket, Kahl connected on a jumper to make it 13-9. The Vikings came up with another five point run however, before Boda scored his first two points of the game and Knudtson canned a pair of free tosses to keep the Bulldogs close, down 18-13,

Colfax was scoring in bunches however as they rattled off six more points on three shots in the lane. Knudtson stopped the bleeding with two more free shots to put the Bulldog deficit at 24-15. Things took a turn for the worse in a very short time when the Vikings came up with 10 points on a pair of deuces with two triples in between. Knudtson powered his way to the hoop for a bucket but the half ended with the Bulldogs behind 36-19.

Hanestad dropped in a shot from close range on Boyceville’s first possession of the second half. A couple of turnovers and the inability to get the ball in the basket three times from underneath allowed the Vikings to pull ahead 46-21.

Boda pulled down a defensive rebound and drove end to end for a layup, Hanestad scored on a put back, Knudtson scored from close range and Hunter Anderson drained a trey to put the score at 54-30.

The Bulldogs didn’t help themselves defensively when they committed their tenth team foul with 9:23 left in the game while the Vikings had been whistled for just one. After a Colfax free throw, Anderson came up with his second trey of the game. After another six point run for them, Boda had the hot hand as he drilled back to back triples from the same spot and the Bulldogs were behind 61-39.

Boda scored on a drive through the lane, Knudtson added another deuce and Boda finished off the scoring for his team on a jumper from the paint and a put back.

Knudtson finished with 14 points to go with Boda’s 16, Hanestad added eight, Anderson six, and Kahl three. The Bulldogs were 5 of 6 from the charity stripe while Colfax was 11 for 18.

Spring Valley

The Bulldogs were forced to play catch-up for much of the game in Spring Valley Tuesday, February 9 and trailed by 12 points, 29-17, at halftime.

The Bulldogs struggled offensively as Micadin Kahl and Luke Knutdson led the way with five and six points respectively in the first 18 minutes of play.

Bryce Boda, Cooper Boesl and Hunter Anderson each added a basket.

While things improved slightly on the offensive end of the Bulldogs, they had trouble keeping the Cardinals’ scoring in check.

Spring Valley rang up 38 points in the second half as three of its players scored in the double digits with another five tallying points.

Sean Borgerding scored a game high 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Cardinals to a 67-39 victory.

Zach Boisen added 14 points and Patrick Cipriano chipped in for 11 points for the Valley.

The Cardinals also held a decisive edge on the board as they out rebounded the Bulldogs 35 to 18.

Both teams had several turnovers with Spring Valley losing the ball 14 times to 11 for Boyce-ville.

Boyceville did hit 75 percent of its charity tosses but went to the line just four times. Spring Valley made just one of its two attempts at the free throw line.

Knutdson topped the Bulldogs scoring with 11 points. Both Kahl and Anderson finished with nine and Buddy Hanestad tallied six.

Things won’t get any easier for the Bulldogs as they travel to Elk Mound this Tuesday night before returning home to play Glenwood City, the team they have their only win against February 19.