The Four-Point Play: Vosika perfect general for BOLD

The Four-Point Play is a weekly look into four of the top storylines in area prep basketball.

If you were to construct the prototype point guard for the up-tempo offense of the BOLD boys basketball team, it would probably look something along these lines: lateral quickness, impressive straight-line speed, good decision-making, crafty ball-handling, leaping ability, superb court vision, able perimeter shooting.

Or, more deftly put, you would be making a copy of the Warriors current point guard, Gavin Vosika.

Vosika is off to an eye-catching start as the elixir for a potent BOLD team that is ranked No. 11 in Class A by QRF. The do-it-all sophomore is averaging 16 points, 9.2 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 4.2 steals per game over an 8-2 start through 10 games.

"He fits pretty ideally into what we want to do as a team," Warriors head coach Jake Brustuen said. "It makes being a fast-break team a lot easier when your leading rebounder pushes the tempo and is that unselfish."

Most recently, Vosika stamped his name all over the Big Red Gym at the Bremer Bank Holiday Classic in Willmar. Vosika recorded the Tribune Area's first triple-double of the season on Friday against MACCRAY with 15 points on 6-for-6 shooting, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to go along with eight steals.

It wasn't Vosika's first time on the borderline of a triple-double. It wasn't even his first near-quadruple-double.

Vosika's season-low for both rebounds and assists in a game sits at seven-a remarkably low floor for any player at any level, much less a 5-foot-10 sophomore. In a win over Sauk Centre on Dec. 8, he scored 10 points to go along with 10 assists, nine rebounds and nine steals.

Watch Vosika on the court and you'll see some of the same traits that helped him lead the area in touchdowns scored this past fall.

"His court vision is huge," Brustuen said. "He anticipates things for us and sees things that I can't coach him to do. He can envision what's going to happen and can read a defense and know where they're going to be. You see that in football when he catches it or takes the handoff, sees what the defense is doing and makes his move."

Holiday cheer

The previous week saw many teams competing around the state in holiday hoops tournaments, including most local teams in action.

Plenty of tournaments have their own All-Tournament teams that recognize the top individual performers in the event. Let's take that a step further with the All-Area, All-Holiday Tournaments team.

Boys:

Gavin Vosika, BOLD: 14.5 ppg, 10 rpg, 8.5 apg, 6.5 spg, 5-6 3-point FG

Nathan Serbus, Renville County West: 22.3 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 72.2% FG

Justin Schrupp, RCW: 22.3 ppg, 4.7 apg, 15-31 3-point FG

Noah Slagter, Willmar: 17 ppg, 6 reb, 10-21 FG, Bremer Classic MVP

Trent Weispfennig, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart: 23.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 11 3-point FGs

Girls:

Shea Oman, New London-Spicer: 15.5 ppg

Makenna Steffel, BOLD: 26 ppg, 12.5 rpg, 5 steals per game

Kelsea Lund, Lac qui Parle Valley: 26 ppg, 10 3-point FG

Ellie Greenwaldt, Central Minnesota Christian: 17 ppg, 9.5 rpg

Alex Sather, Dawson-Boyd: 25.5 ppg, 10.5 rpg

Don't call it a comeback

The Litchfield girls basketball team entered the St. Cloud Cathedral tournament having won six games in a row. That streak was in serious jeopardy at halftime of the Dragons tournament opener against Braham.

Litchfield struggled to score in the first half against the Bombers and trailed 32-17 at the half. What transpired after that was one of the more drastic second-half turnarounds you'll see in basketball.

The Dragons went on to outscore the Bombers 47-11 over the final 18 minutes, turning a 15-point halftime deficit into a comfortable win.

"We really didn't come out ready to play in the first half," Litchfield head coach Shannon Walters said. "At halftime, talking to the girls, we said we needed to just play ball the way that we had played the last few games."

To say the Dragons did that would be an understatement. From trailing by 15 at halftime to outscoring the Bombers by 36 in the second half, Litchfield completed a 51-point swing.

"Shots really started falling, which wasn't happening in the first half," Walters said. "Defensively we really made our mark, too. If we come out and play really good defense, I know how we're going to do offensively. The hoop gets bigger for us confidence-wise."

A class of their own

Only one school in the state can claim its boys and girls basketball teams are both still undefeated: Willmar.

Times are good at 2701 30th Street NE.

With wins on Tuesday night, the Cardinals boys and girls reached a combined 19-0 through the first month of the season, making this perhaps the most promising start to a season in school history.

Head coach Matt Williams' boys squad has played one more game at 10-0 and is ranked No. 8 in Class AAA in the latest Follow the Rock coaches/media poll; the girls come in with one fewer game played but are ranked No. 5.

Both sides have recorded their fair share of impressive wins thus far, as well. The Willmar girls' resume is particularly impressive, boasting wins over Sartell-St. Stephen, Fergus Falls, Albany, Minnehaha Academy and Hutchinson.

Now, if we can just get someone on that frozen turkey sculpture...