Glenwood City evens the books with a victory over the Boyceville Bulldogs

By Laura Giammattei

BOYCEVILLE — The excitement and apprehension weighed heavily prior to tipoff at the Boyceville High School gym as the Bulldogs and the Glenwood City Hilltoppers prepared to face off one last time this season.

The deep sound of drums reverberated loudly throughout the gym as the boys took to the court on the warm winter night of Friday, February 19, where the Hilltoppers would come up with the win over the Bulldogs, 66-57. 

The competition proved fierce throughout; both teams offered spectators strong offenses and Glenwood City’s rotating defense kept things interesting for Boyceville.

The Hilltoppers struck first with a straightforward two-point field goal from sophomore, Riley Schutz. Schutz made a substantial contribution all night for the Toppers’ offensive production, particularly in the second half when the Bulldogs often left him unguarded under the right side of the net. He ended the night with a notable 26 points, just two points shy of his season game high of 28 points against Spring Valley back in December.

While the Hilltoppers added a slew of two-point shots early in the first half, the Bulldogs would answer and take a one bucket lead with a pair of threes from sophomore, Bryce Boda, two points from sophomore Luke Knudtson off a rebound, and two of two foul shot connections from senior, Buddy Hanestad.

Then, midway through the first half, Glenwood City senior Joel Ormson tied the game up with a short field goal for two. From there, the Hilltoppers pushed forward with confidence and energy and soon found themselves with a 36-21 lead over a reduced Bulldogs squad of seven before leaving the court for halftime.

The second half would see the game continue along these lines at first. Both teams continued robustly. However, Boyceville went on a mid-second half run to come back and make it a three basket game. Their comeback began when junior Micadin Kahl hit a shot from the arc which sparked a four basket run for the Bulldogs, closing the margin to just seven points. Hanestad also contributed four of their 10 unanswered points, while Knudtson added one bucket and Kahl also connected on one of two free throw opportunities.

This run demonstrated the Bulldogs’ ability to connect their shots and keep a cool head while under pressure. The three athletes that led this run also led the team in offensive production. Knudtson ended the night with a team high of 18 points while Kahl and Hanestad contributed 14 and 12 points, respectively.

During the Bulldogs’ comeback run, the Hilltoppers often scrambled to regain control of the game, which led to mistakes and turnovers of a steady variety. As their lead narrowed, it appeared they were letting their first conference win slip away from them. Then, with five minutes left in the game, the Bulldogs began to leave Schutz open at the post. This oversight allowed Ormson a string of assists to Schutz, not once or twice, but five times and the Hilltoppers quickly tacked ten points onto the board in just a few short minutes.

The increasing lead forced Boyceville to shoot more often beyond the arc and required them to commit fouls as well. At the line, the Hilltoppers finished the game off with Schutz and senior Nick Schone each sinking one of their two free throw opportunities.

Hilltopper head coach, Tristan Kittilson reflected on their win on Boyceville’s court: “We shot the ball a lot better tonight and made more of an effort to get the ball in the paint and not settle taking long jump shots. We also switched our defense up throughout the game to keep them off balance and force them into tougher shots. We knew they would play their 2-3 zone and really wanted to take control of the high post, short corner and dribble drive.”

He continued: “It was a very important win for us in so many ways and I think it will give us the confidence we need heading into our last couple regular season games, and then the playoffs.”

On the opposite side of the bench, head coach for the Bulldogs, Ben Luer remarked on his athletes and Glenwood City’s victory: “I thought our guys were motivated and excited to play. I thought Glenwood City did a really good job of bringing energy to the game. Our guys just couldn’t recover from that burst of energy they put on us at the beginning of the game.”

He continued: “I’m proud of our guys for fighting back in the second half, if we had been putting more shots into the basket we would have at least made it at least a little bit closer of a game. Unfortunately, the deficit at halftime was so large that we just couldn’t recover as much as we wanted to. It has been a long season but I think our guys have kept a positive attitude all around. Obviously we have things to work on but we will have the opportunity to do that next week.”

Both the Bulldogs and the Hilltoppers each played one of their last two regular season games on Monday, February 22: The Bulldogs at home against the Unity Eagles, and the Hilltoppers away in Grantsburg against the Pirates. They will both wrap up their seasons on their respective home courts tomorrow, Thursday, February 25 with the Bulldogs going up against the Mondovi Buffaloes and the Hilltoppers against the Colfax Vikings.