The Dogs started off the game rather slowly, scoring only six points in the first quarter and trailing by ten.
Paynesville was able to gain a little momentum going into halftime but still trailed by 14 points, 30-16.
The Bulldogs had no luck in the third quarter as Perham increased its lead to 20.
The Bulldogs did outscore Perham in the fourth quarter 12-10, but lost 57-36.
One bright spot was Jonnie Schefers' play in the fourth quarter. He came in to see some action a minute into the quarter. In just seven minutes Schefers grabbed five boards and scored four points.
The Bulldogs shot just 29 percent from the floor (14 for 47).
Wes Lieser led Paynesville with eight.
The Bulldogs will travel to Melrose to face the Dutchmen on Friday night.
| Paynesville-- | 6 | 10 | 8 | 12 | - 36 |
| Perham-- | 16 | 14 | 17 | 10 | - 57 |
Litchfield 52
Paynesville 15
On Thursday night, the Bulldogs traveled to Litchfield to take on the Dragons. The Dogs were ready for the Dragons and had a good game plan to play a deliberate pace.
The plan worked very well in the first quarter, where Litchfield - the defending state champion - had to score a last-second basket to take a 4-2 lead.
The Bulldogs did a great job of controlling the tempo of the game, keeping the ball in their possession for a minute or two at a time every time down the floor.
Paynesville had to watch out for outside gunner Mike Patton, who burned them with numerous three pointers in previous years. Patton had trouble shooting the ball, however, and only ended up with 10 points on the night.
The Bulldogs made one lineup change and started junior Jonnie Schefers to match up with the power of the Dragons, who have 6'5Ó and 6'10' starters on their front line.
The Dragons led at halftime 16-8 as the Bulldogs took some unneeded shots and had some costly turnovers in the second quarter.
The Dragons came out firing in the second half, scoring 21 points in the third to Paynesville's five.
The Dragons kept increasing the lead until the final buzzer sounded, outscoring the Bulldogs 15-2. The final score was Litchfield 52, Paynesville 15.
Only three Bulldogs scored. Andy Jones led wih six, J.T. Koehn added five, and T.J. Schultz had four.
| Paynesville-- | 2 | 6 | 5 | 2 | - 15 |
| Litchfield-- | 4 | 12 | 21 | 15 | - 52 |