Saturday night was a battle. A young Bulldog squad displayed a lack of experience down the stretch to drop a game to Lac qui Parle Valley 69-68.Paynesville fell behind 7-0 to start the game and trailed by nine at the end of the first quarter. The Eagles catapulted to this lead by nailing four three-pointers in the first quarter.
The Lady Bulldogs fought back behind Tanya Lieser’s second quarter eight points. At the half, the deficit was down to one for Paynesville.
The Eagles’ Bridget Brown continued her hot hand as she would notch her third and fourth three-pointers of the game in the third quarter. Paynesville would match the Eagles basket for basket as the third quarter ended in a 45-45 tie.
Close games are often decided by making good decisions and having success at the free throw line. This would come back to haunt the Bulldogs.
With less than two minutes left, Carin Frenchick stole the ball on an errant pass. The Lady Bulldogs went into their delay offense and successfully took time off the clock.
The Eagles’ Kirsten Skjei would get fouled on two consecutive three-point attempts. After one of these, sophomore guard Steph Krupke went to the line to shoot two. Both shots were short, but Tanya Lieser (pictured above in Kimball game) would rebound the second, put it in and get fouled in the act of shooting. Lieser would make the free throw and give the Bulldogs a five-point lead with less than 17 seconds left.
Lac qui Parle Valley’s Skjei would be fouled again on an unbalanced three-point attempt. She made all three free throws.
Paynesville was able to enter the ball in off the press, but turned the ball over with about ten seconds left. Skjei hit a three-pointer from the side with seven seconds left to give the Eagles a one- point lead.
Paynesville had a timeout with five seconds on the clock, but was unable to get a shot off as the game expired.
The Eagles made 18 out of 20 free throws in the second half, as the Lady Bulldogs only netted four out of 12.
Paynesville’s B-Squad lost a close one as well, as they dropped one in overtime to Lac qui Parle.
Lac qui Parle: 17 11 17 24 - 69
Paynesville : 8 19 18 23 - 68
Kimball
The Lady Bulldogs sprinted out of the gates with an early 11-0 lead against the Kimball Cubs on Friday night, their first game of the tournament. Pressure defense applied by the Lady Bulldogs forced the Cubs into turning the ball over several times.
Eight first quarter points by Amber Michaelis set the stage. The Lady Bulldogs completed the first quarter with a 15-point advantage.
Paynesville’s running game continued as they posted another 23 points in the second quarter. A balanced attack was evident as there were 32 assists. Sophomore Steph Krupke led the way with 13 assists. Every player on the roster tallied an assist.
Carin Frenchick came off the bench to pour in 11 points and grab four steals. Junior Tiff Rausch had three assists and a solid defensive effort.
Paynesville’s nonstarters outscored Kimball 25-2. The bench also provided 13 rebounds.
Paynesville’s B-Squad was victorious 4
8-21.
Paynesville : 23 23 12 8 - 66
Kimball: 8 12 8 10 - 38
BBE
The season opener was a disappointing night for the Lady Bulldogs as they traveled to Brooten on Nov. 24 and were soundly beaten 65-48.
BBE shot the lights out to begin the game as they posted an early 9-0 mark. BBE senior Josie Jacobson scored nine first quarter points. The Jaguars had a very balanced attack as five girls had at least eight points.
The downfall for the Lady Bulldogs were numerous mistakes on defense. This mixed with a poor night of shooting never allowed Paynesville to be a serious threat.
Junior Carrie Hemmesch and senior Amber Michaelis paced the Lady Bulldogs as they had 14 and 12 points respectively.
Junior Tanya Lieser had 10 rebounds, and Hemmesch added 8.
BBE: 19 13 16 17 - 65
Paynesville : 9 10 15 14 - 48