On Jan. 19, the ninth grade girls hosted the New London Wildcats. The girls had spent some time working on new things to use against NLS. Nothing seemed to work aa the Bulldogs lost 48-18.On Jan. 21, the girls hosted the Melrose Dutchmen. Their first meeting with the Dutchmen was a close one, so the girls hoped to do it again. The girls came out fired up and ready to fight. The girls started strong, and never let up. The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Dutchmen in every quarter, winning 45-28.
On Jan. 26, Dassel-Cokato came to Paynesville for a nonconference matchup. The game was a close one. The girls outscored the Chargers in one quarter and in every other quarter the Bulldogs were outscored by two points. The Chargers ended up winning 40-36.
On Jan. 29, the Bulldogs hosted St. Cloud Cathedral. The first meeting with the Crusaders resulted in a two-point win for the Bulldogs. The girls wanted to show them how much they had improved, and they did exactly that as they came out with a 49-26 win.
On Jan. 30, the Bulldogs traveled to Sacred Heart to play in a four-team tournament. The teams in the tournament were New London-Spicer, Tracy-Milroy and BDRSH. The Bulldogs went into the tournament as the underdogs. Their first game was against Tracy-Milroy. The girls put in a lot of effort, but couldn't pull it off, losing 57-39. The next game was against BDRSH. The girls played well, but again they couldn't pull it off. The final score was 69-55.
On Feb. 4, the girls traveled to Albany to take on the Huskies. The first time the girls played the Huskies, they won by 14 points. The girls went into the game with high hopes. The Lady Bulldogs had control of the first half, but the Huskies stole the second half. The girls went home with a 38-30 loss.
On Feb. 6, the girls went to Willmar to play in a B-team tournament. The first game was against New London-Spicer. The girls played awesome and won 37-19. The girls were 10 of 12 from the free throw line. Their second game was against Willmar. The girls really showed them what can come out of Paynesville and played another great game. The girls won 43-39. Their shooting from the free throw line was a key factor in the game. The girls were 22 of 30 from the line. The girls brought home the first place trophy.
On Feb. 12, the girls traveled to Litchfield. The girls started out slow as they were down by seven points at half-time. All it took was a little pep talk to get the girls fired up and ready to win. The girls came out strong the second half as they outscored the Dragons 9-0 in the third quarter, and by one point in the fourth quarter. The girls won 24-12.
In their last game of the season on Feb. 16, the girls hosted Long Prairie-Grey Eagle. The girls once again started off slow as the Thunder stormed to a 10- point lead by halftime. The Bulldogs were eager to finish with a win, so they started strong in the second half. The Bulldogs outscored the Thunder 17-8 in the third quarter and 12-5 in the fourth quarter to finish strong with a 39-33 win.
The girls finished the season with a final conference record of 10-2 and an overall record of 16-6.
"This team was very hardworking, played tough, aggressive defense for four quarters. They had a strong desire to win! Many people told me how exciting a team they are to watch play basketball. I really am proud of their season, and what the team accomplished. They were a "fun" team to coach, and always gave me their best effort," coach Dave Randgaard said. The team thanks everyone who came to watch and support them. They also thank coach Randgaard for putting all his time and energy into the team.