On Monday, Jan. 15, the Dogs finished off the postponed Holiday Tournament by beating Maple Lake 57-43 in the championship game. Girls' team and coaches with trophy.
In the first quarter, both teams played about the same. Both had their share of great plays and turnovers, and Paynesville led 11-9.
In the second quarter, the Dogs had more great plays than turnovers, which led to an 18-9 advantage in the quarter and put them up by 11 points at the half.
The second half was the same as the Dogs made the Irish turn the ball over while Paynesville scored.
Dogs won the championship game by a score of 57-43.
Steph Krupke and Stacy Lieser led the team with 20 and 13 points respectively.
Lieser also led the team with seven steals and seven assists. Krupke and Mel Veldkamp also had six steals apiece. Nine Bulldogs had steals, combining for 30 steals as a team.
The Bulldogs host Dassel-Cokato on Thursday and play at Long Prairie-Grey Eagle on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
| Maple Lake-- | 9 | 9 | 10 | 15 | - 43 |
| Paynesville-- | 11 | 18 | 14 | 14 | - 57 |
Albany 73
Paynesville 45
After winning the Holiday Tournament, the Dogs traveled to Albany on Tuesday to take on one of the best teams in the conference.
The girls started the game with aggression, but just couldn't score. The Huskies took advantage of that, and had an 11-point lead at halftime.
The Dogs came out strong in the second half, but so did the Huskies. The Dogs scored 17 points in the third quarter but the Huskies topped that with 30.
In the fourth quarter, the Dogs got into foul trouble, and the Huskies made their free throws to close out a 76-45 win.
Lieser led the team with 13 points. Heidi Jansen and Krupke led the team with ten rebounds apiece. Krupke added five assists.
| Paynesville-- | 8 | 9 | 17 | 11 | - 45 |
| Albany-- | 14 | 14 | 30 | 18 | - 76 |
Cathedral 67
Paynesville 51
On Friday, in their third game of the week, the Dogs played another of the top teams in the conference: St. Cloud Cathedral.
The Bulldogs started the game with a few early turnovers, and the Crusaders cruised to a 21-9 lead after the first quarter.
During the second quarter the Dogs picked up their defense and outscored Cathedral by two points, 12-10, but the Crusaders still led by ten at the half.
The Dogs picked up their game in the second half, but couldn't catch the Crusaders, as they fell short 67-51.
Krupke and Lieser combined for 40 points to lead Paynesville. Krupke added five assists, and Lieser added five rebounds and four steals.
Only four Bulldogs scored, with Jansen putting in eight and Crystal Humbert three. Jansen had 11 rebounds and three steals as well.
The Bulldogs shot well from the free throw line as they made 12 of the 17, but they only made a third of their shots from the floor.
| Cathedral-- | 21 | 10 | 22 | 14 | - 67 |
| Paynesville-- | 9 | 12 | 13 | 17 | - 51 |