The Wildcats started off well and took an early lead, but the Bulldogs came back and grabbed a two-point lead just before halftime.
The third quarter was slow, with both teams scoring six points. But the Bulldogs overpowered the Wildcats in the fourth, outscoring them by five and winning by seven, 48-41.
J.T. Koehn had 15 points and seven blocked shots to lead the Bulldogs in both categories.
Adam Kampsen had 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds, six on the offensive end.
The Bulldogs will play their last regular season games this week. They play at St. Cloud Cathedral on Thursday and at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on Friday.
In the subsection playoffs, the Bulldogs were seeded seventh again, and will play their first-round game at Annandale again, which is the second seed. That game will be Tuesday, March 6, at 7:30 p.m.
| NL-S-- | 14 | 10 | 6 | 11 | - 41 |
| Paynesville-- | 10 | 16 | 6 | 16 | - 60 |
SCORING: (FG-FT/FTA-PTS)
NL-S 41 - Jed Danielson 14; Jared Haug 12; Marcus Bratsch 6; Andy Freeland 4; Brett Krupke 3; Mark Miller 2; TOTALS: FG 16, FT 6/10, 3's 3 Bratsch 2; Krupke.
Paynesville 48 - Logan Louis 0-2/2-2; J.T. Koehn 6-3/3-15; Nate Martinson 2-0/0-4; Andy Jones 4-1/3-9; Adam Kampsen 5-0/0-10; Kevin Mehr 0-0/1-0; Aaron Lang 4-0/0-8 TOTALS: FG 21/48, FT 6/9.
STATISTICS: Rebounds - 38 Kampsen 8; Lang 6; Schefers 5; Assists - 14 Louis 5; Steals - 12 Jones 3; Blocks - 11 Koehn 7; Martinson 3.
Maple Lake 52
Paynesville 50
The Bulldogs were looking for their fourth win in a row, and their first road victory, when they traveled to Maple Lake on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
The Bulldogs started off well, leading the Irish by six after the first quarter, but Maple Lake tied the game before halftime at 26.
Paynesville played well in the third quarter and led by as much as ten points, but in the fourth quarter the Bulldogs had five costly turnovers in a row that led to 10 consecutive points for Maple Lake, and the Bulldogs found themselves down by one.
The Bulldogs were able to tie the game, but another turnover with less than a minute left allowed the Irish to go up by two and the Dogs were unable to score after that. Maple Lake prevailed 52-50.
J.T. Koehn had a good game for the Bulldogs, scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds.
| Paynesville-- | 16 | 10 | 17 | 7 | - 50 |
| Maple Lake-- | 10 | 16 | 8 | 18 | - 52 |
SCORING: (FG-FT/FTA-PTS)
Paynesville 50 - Logan Louis 2-1/1-5; J.T. Koehn 5-0/0-10; Wes Lieser 3-0/0-7; Andy Jones 1-0/0-2; Aaron Lang 2-0/0-4; Jonnie Schefers 1-1/2-3; Kevin Mehr 2-1/2-5; Adam Kampsen 2-2/4-6; TOTALS: FG 22/57, FT 5/9.
STATISTICS: 3-pointers - Lieser 1; Rebounds - 38 Lang 8, Koehn 6, Kampsen 6, Martinson 5, Lieser 5; Assists - 10 Louis 6, Steals - 8 Kampsen 3; Blocks - 3 Koehn 2.
Albany 49
Paynesville 46
After trailing 28-22 at the half, the Bulldogs rallied in the second half but fell short against the Albany Huskies on Friday. The Huskies won a low-scoring game at home, 49-46.
The Bulldogs outscored the Huskies 24-21 in the second half, but failed in their bid for a second conference win and their first road win.
Koehn led the Bulldogs again with 15 points.
| Paynesville-- | 13 | 9 | 13 | 11 | - 46 |
| Albany-- | 13 | 15 | 9 | 12 | - 49 |
SCORING: (FG-FT/FTA-PTS) Albany 49 - Jake Noreen 19; Troy Wunderlich 12; Jeff Holmseth 8; Aaron Kleinschmidt 6; Dan Hills 4; TOTALS: FG 19, FT 5/14, 3's 6 Holmseth 2; Noreen 2; Kleinschmidt 2.
Paynesville 46 - J.T. Koehn 15; Wes Lieser 8; Adam Kampsen 6; Andy Jones 5; Kevin Mehr 4; Aaron Lang 4; Jonnie Schefers 4; TOTALS: FG 17, FT 5/6, 3's 1 Koehn.