PAYNESVILLE — Paynesville ended the first half on a 7-0 run, giving the Bulldogs the slimmest of leads over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City at halftime, 33-32.
The second half proved to be just as tight, and the result stayed the same as Paynesville came through with a 62-60 Central Minnesota Conference boys basketball win over the Falcons.
ACGC’s Braeden Pickle hit a runner with 1 minute, 59 seconds to put the Falcons’ lead at 32-26. But, Paynesville got a rally going, with a Kadin Ludwig layup, an and-one conversion by Mitchell Bertram and a Chase Bayer putback with 21 seconds left in the half to take back the lead.
Bertram led all scorers with 20 points. Teammate Corbin Froelich was in foul trouble in the first half but found his stride after the break, scoring 12 of his 17 points in the final 18 minutes. Bayer also finished in double figures with 11 points.
Pickle was the Falcons’ top scorer with 17, followed by 14 apiece by Levi Lilleberg and AJ Slinden.
ADVERTISEMENT
Paynesville hits the road Friday to play Pine City while ACGC welcomes Holdingford to Grove City on Tuesday.
Central Minnesota
Paynesville 62,
ACGC 60
ACGC (0-6) 32 28 — 60
Paynesville (5-1) 33 29 — 62
ATWATER-COSMOS-GROVE CITY - Scoring: Alex Kokenge 7, Braeden Pickle 17, Levi Lilleberg 14, Brock Hedtke 2, Thor Goerish 6, AJ Slinden 14 … 3-point shots: N/A … Rebound leader: N/A … Assist leader: N/A … Steal leader: N/A ... Block leader: N/A
PAYNESVILLE - Scoring: Eli Nelson 8, Chase Bayer 11, Kadin Ludwig 6, Corbin Froelich 17, Mitchell Bertram 20 … 3-point shots: N/A … Rebound leader: N/A … Assist leader: N/A … Steal leader: N/A ... Block leader: N/A
BBE 83,
Holdingford 29
Thirteen players scored points for Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in its victory over Holdingford at Brooten.
Kaden Pieper had 14 points, Brady Birch 13 pints and Ashton Dingmann 10 for the Jaguars. Birch contributed six rebounds and Luke Dingmann, who had nine points, had four assists and four steals.
BBE plays Eden Valley-Watkins at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday in Eden Valley.
Holdingford (0-5) 12 17 — 29
BBE (6-1) 38 45 — 83
HOLDINGFORD - Stats not available
BELGRADE-BROOTEN-ELROSA - Scoring: Kaden Pieper 14, Brady Birch 13, Will VanBeck 2, Peyton Winter 3, Gannon Walsh 3, Ashton Dingmann 10, Hagen 3, Luke Dingmann 9, Gavin Kampsen 4, Andrew Weller 3, Isaiah Williams 3, Ben Thonvold 8, Ryan Schwinghammer 8 … 3-point shots: Pieper 1, Birch 3-3, Winter 1-3, Walsh 1-2, A. Dingmann 2-5, Hagen 1-2, Williams 1-1 … Rebound leader: Birch 6 … Assist leaders: L. Dingmann 4, Walsh 3, A. Dingmann 3 … Steal leader: L. Dingmann 4 ... Block leader: none
