Spotless conference record broken as Mondovi boys drop pair of DSC games
by Beth Kraft
In less than 48 hours last week, the Mondovi boys basketball team fell from the driver’s seat to a three-way tie for second place in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference standings following a pair of losses in league play to Boyceville and Colfax.
Prior to those games, the Buffaloes held a 4-0 mark in conference play with tight victories over several DSC foes so far this season.
Mondovi started out last week’s rough stretch with a 51-39 defeat at Boyceville on Thursday, Jan. 15, followed by a 52-44 loss to Colfax at home on Saturday afternoon.
Against the Bulldogs, the Buffaloes capped the first quarter down by six, 16-10, but battled back to tie the game by halftime at 22 all.
Plagued by cold shooting that saw Mondovi hit just 20 percent of its attempts from the floor for the game, the Buffaloes struggled to keep pace with Boyceville on the scoreboard in the second half, resulting in small deficits in the third and fourth quarters that effectively did them in.
Senior Cody Dregney led Mondovi with 12 points and seven rebounds followed by Hayden Ford, Jake Ede, and Blake Purdy, all with eight points each. Purdy led his squad on the glass with eight boards while Colton Berg had seven.
Hosting the Vikings for a Saturday afternoon thriller on Jan. 17, Mondovi and Colfax were tied at 14 after the first quarter. Colfax held a slim lead, 25-23, at the half, but continued to steal a few points in each of the game’s two remaining quarters, including a 13-point burst in the final period, to take the win.
Mondovi was limited to six points in the fourth quarter after trailing by just three heading into the final period, dashing their chances at a win.
Purdy topped the scoreboard for the Buffaloes with 11 points and eight rebounds followed by Ede with nine points, six rebounds, and Greg Poeschel with eight points, including two made 3-pointers. Ford and Berg also chipped in with six points apiece.
Mondovi needed to work quickly to get back on track with another DSC opponent coming fast.
The Buffaloes traveled to Elk Mound on Tuesday, Jan. 20, for their lone game of the week.
