This past week Paynesville battled Litchfield and Long Prairie-Grey Eagle , defeating first place Litchfield at home on Tuesday, Jan. 12, and dropping a low-scoring contest at Long Prairie on Friday.A defense orientated game was evident in Long Prairie. Paynesville played outstanding defense in the first quarter, limiting a high scoring Long Prairie offense to only eight points. Unfortunately for the Lady Bulldogs, their shots would not fall. Succeeding on only two of their 19 first quarter shots was a sign of things to come. The frustrating part of the shooting was that 12 of the attempts were within six feet of the basket.
The poor shooting continued throughout the game as Paynesville would make only eight shots from the floor. The Bulldogs would shoot only 16 percent from the field for the game.
On defense Paynesville was led by Amber Michaelis’ six steals and Tanya Lieser’s four blocks. Junior Tiff Rausch contributed with four points and a very solid defensive effort.
On the offensive side, Paynesville was led by Michaelis’ 10 points. The 25 points scored was the season low for the Lady Bulldogs.
Paynesville fell to 6-7 overall and 2-4 in the West Central Conference North.
Paynesville : 8 4 7 6 - 25
LPGE: 8 11 14 13 - 46
Litchfield
An 11-point deficit at halftime was a hurdle the Lady Bulldogs were able to overcome as they defeated Litchfield in a conference clash.
A lackluster effort in the first half allowed the Dragons to control the tempo of the game. The Dragons’ leading scorer, Carin Rambow, would tally all of her six points in the first half. Rambow averages around 16 points per game, and has averaged 20 per contest in her previous two years against Paynesville.
Guard Tasha Sutter would pace Litchfield as she netted 11 points in the first half.
Paynesville was led by junior Carrie Hemmesch as she finished the first 16 minutes with eight points.
The keys of the second half were defense and free throws. Full court pressure applied by the Lady Bulldogs allowed sophomore guard Steph Krupke to capture four steals. Juniors Carin Frenchick and Tiff Rausch were very vital to the defensive revival in the second half.
Paynesville cut the lead to 32-29 at the conclusion of the third quarter. Free throws told the story in the final frame. Paynesville would shoot 17 free throws in the fourth, and Litchfield would only attempt six.
Captain Amber Michaelis sparked the second half offense with 13 of her game high 17 points. Michaelis would thrive from the foul line as she scored 11 of her 17 from the line.
Krupke was the spark plug on offense as well as defense. She dished out eight assists while only committing a single turnover.
Tanya Lieser and Carin Frenchick owned the boards as they notched ten and nine rebounds respectively.
Litchfield: 13 14 5 11 - 43
Paynesville: 8 8 13 20 - 49