The Bulldogs faced the Crusaders of St. Cloud Cathedral on Thursday night for the second time this year. A fast start helped the host Crusaders win this conference game, 89-62.Cathedral's run-and-gun style was a challenge to the Bulldogs. After only two possessions the Bulldogs found themselves down 9-2. The Crusaders were on fire the entire night, hitting 14 of 30 shots from three-point land.
Logan Louis (center) was going for a layup when the ball was knocked out of his hand by a player from ACGC.
The Bulldogs didn't help their effort any by giving up 16 offensive rebounds and turning the ball over 31 times (compared to only nine turnovers for Cathedral).
Senior J.T. Koehn played well for the Bulldogs, scoring 16 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and blocking five shots. Junior Andrew Jones added 14 points with five rebounds. And junior Wes Lieser scored 11 points.
Paynesville played impressively in the third quarter, outscoring the Crusaders 23-11 and cutting the lead to 11 on more than one occasion. The Crusaders kept nailing their three-pointers and closed the door on the Bulldogs.
| Paynesville-- | 12 | 13 | 23 | 14 | - 62 |
| Cathedral-- | 21 | 27 | 11 | 30 | - 89 |
SCORING: (FG-FT/FTA-PTS)
Cathedral 89 - Brian Peterson 19; Nick Belmont 19; Ryan Hinman 15; John Pederson 11; Steve Richter 7; Brett Hemmelgarn 6; Luke Schumer 4; Tim Joyce 2; Adam Schackmann 2; Louis Opatz 2; Dan Henry 2; TOTALS: FG 32, FT 11/16. 3's 14 Belmont 6, Peterson 3, Pederson 2, Richter 2, Hinman 1.
Paynesville 62 - Logan Louis 2-2/4-6; J.T. Koehn 8-0/0-16; Davis Hoekstra 1-0/0-2; Wes Lieser 4-2/3-11; Andy Jones 4-5/6-14; Aaron Lang 2-3/6-7; Kevin Mehr 3-1/2-6 ; TOTALS: FG 23/44, FT 13/21, 3's 3 Lieser 1, Mehr 1, Jones 1.
STATISTICS: Rebounds - 33 Koehn 11, Lang 7, Jones 5; Assists - 16 Louis 7, Lang 3; Steals - 3 Blocks - 6 Koehn 5.
Paynesville 50
ACGC 43
The Bulldogs got their fifth win of the season in their last home game of the season against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on Friday night.
The seniors set the tempo for the Bulldogs, by grabbing an early lead that they didn't lose. Senior Davis Hoekstra hit two big three-pointers in the first half and the Bulldogs' relentless 2-3 zone defense held the Falcons to a mere 43 points for the game.
The loss was only the Falcons' fifth for the year. ACGC is 17-5.
The victory was a nice way to end the regular season in the last home game for the team's five seniors: Koehn, Logan Louis, Davis Hoekstra, T.J. Schultz, and Nate Martinson.
Koehn led the Bulldogs with 11 points.
Schultz returned to action after missing several weeks with broken bones in his hand.
The Bulldogs played their first playoff game at Annandale on Tuesday night. The winner between the #7 Bulldogs and the #2 Cardinals will play on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Litchfield against either Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted or Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa.
The District 20 championship game on Saturday, March 10, has been moved due to the St. Cloud Huskies entry into the college playoffs. It will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Halenbeck Hall.
| ACGC-- | 13 | 8 | 8 | 14 | - 43 |
| Paynesville-- | 16 | 11 | 8 | 15 | - 50 |
SCORING: (FG-FT/FTA-PTS)
ACGC 43 - Ryan Buer 9; Garth Ninow 9; Matt Tanner 7; Brain Kingery 7; Jason Helstrom 6; Scott Helstrom 3; Lance Nelson 2; TOTALS: FG 14, FT 9/17, 3's 6 Buer 3, Tanner 2, Kingery 1.
Paynesville 50 - Koehn 11; Jones 7; Lang 7; Hoekstra 6; Mehr 6; Nate Martinson 4; Lieser 4; Adam Kampsen 3; T.J. Schultz 2; TOTALS: FG 17, FT 12/19, 3's 4 Hoekstra 2; Kampsen; Jones.
STATISTICS: Rebounds - 25 Lang 8, Koehn 6; Assists - 12 Louis 4, Jones 4; Steals - 8 Blocks - 5 Koehn 3.