extended sports coverage for the B-B-E community brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in Brooten, MN. (Address: P.O. Box 250, Brooten) http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. Please submit feedback in writing to the address posted above. **This is Minnesota's oldest varsity high school sports blog. We hope to keep it going into the future!
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Girls' hockey wins at Brainerd, boys' hoops pummels Wolverines
In a Central Lakes Conference game in Brainerd, the River Lakes Stars girls' hockey team defeated the host Brainerd/Little Falls/Pierz Warriors 3-2 on Monday night. They are now 7-6-1 overall. Next up is a home game on Saturday, January 3 at 3 p.m. in Richmond against Willmar.
Today in Willmar...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team snapped their two-game skid with a 76-59 win over MACCRAY tonight at Willmar. At halftime, the Jaguars led 36-22. Other details are forthcoming. First, the January 1 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper has to be completed for the printing press!
Jaguars play tough in second half but fall to Wildcats (VIDEO)
In the first of back-to-back border battles at Willmar's Big Red Gym tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team lost 68-62 to New London-Spicer. The game to follow featured the host Cardinals taking on MACCRAY.
The Jaguars and Wildcats tussled through a low-scoring first half. With 6:37 left, two bonus free throws by Aiden Radermacher broke a 12-12 tie.
A late three-pointer by Taylor Pieper handed B-B-E a 24-23 halftime lead.
Here's a video starting with under 7 minutes left in the 1st half:
Whatever NL-S head coach Jeff Paffrath said at halftime, it must have been good, because the Wildcats gave the Jaguars a good ol' left hook, right hook in the opening minute of the second half. With scoring coming in the paint and beyond the arc, NL-S led 29-24 with 17 minutes to go. They hit another three-pointer with 16:40 left to make it a 32-24 lead.
After NL-S pushed the lead to 41-29 with 13:30 left, the Jaguars cut the deficit in half on a three-pointer by Owen Roering with 11:45 to go. They narrowed it to 45-43 with Austin Berge's layup at the 9:25 mark. That was as close as they could get, however, with NL-S scoring three times in the paint to put the Jaguars in a 66-54 deficit with 1:15 left.
Next: the Jaguars (2-3) play at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow back at Willmar's Big Red Gym. The opponent will be the loser of the Willmar vs. MACCRAY game. I'm working on a couple technical issues while writing at my home office - hopefully I'll get some video posted here soon.
B-B-E was led by Taylor Pieper's 18 points, while fellow senior Aiden Radermacher scored 10 points. Also in double figures was freshman Hudson Reed, who had a double double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Jaguars shot 27-for-36 from the free throw line, while NL-S was 12-for-18 at the stripe. NL-S overcame B-B-E's free throw shooting by launching 20 more field goals overall in the game. The Wildcats shot 38 percent (25-for-65) from the floor to B-B-E's 33 percent (15-for-45).
Update: Willmar defeated MACCRAY 69-42 to advance to the Old National Bank Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament's Red Division championship game. The Jaguars will take on MACCRAY (2-6) for third place.
Area boys' basketball scores on December 29:
Central MN Christan 86, Dassel-Cokato 45
St. Paul Humboldt 83, Redwood Valley 75
Benson 78, Adrian/Ellsworth 41
Windom 88, BOLD 56
Big Lake 90, Paynesville 74
Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 74, Yellow Medicine East 44
Willmar 69, MACCRAY 42
At halftime, the B-B-E Jaguars have a slim 24-23 lead over New London-Spicer. They trailed 23-21, but a late three-pointer by Taylor Pieper gave them the one-point lead at the break.
However, the Wildcats came out with renewed vigor after halftime, and in the first minute of the second half, NL-S gained a 29-24 lead.
Chest high snow drifts were blown into our driveway overnight. The newspaper office will not open until after 11 a.m. today, to allow me to shovel out the snow.
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team plays in Willmar today at 5:30 p.m. (varsity)...JV at 4 p.m. The opponent for both squads will be New London-Spicer. The Jaguars are 2-2 overall, while the Wildcats are 3-5 while playing their conference games in the rugged Wright County West.
With inside 2 minutes to go in the first half, here's the Jaguars in action at Melrose on December 19:
The girls' basketball team has a break now until Monday, January 5. They host Maple Lake that night in a Central Minnesota Conference game.
Winter weather takes down numerous church services (VIDEO)
Worship services this morning at West Lake Johanna and Trinity Lutheran churches of Brooten were cancelled due to the wild, windy, snowy weather that's blowing across our area.
Let's go back to Christmas Eve! There will be more added here today.
Enjoy Tony and Marie Halls of Lake Johanna Township performing special music at South Lake Johanna Lutheran church last Wednesday:
Tony and Marie performed the song "Mary, Did You Know?", written by Mark Lowry in 1984 and first performed by Michael English in 1991 for a solo album.
To view the longer video of Christmas Eve worship, click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: SouthLakeJohannaChristmasEve.
We are fortunate in Jaguar Country that massive levels of snow haven't materialized. The road conditions are still quite dangerous.
Facing considerably tougher competition than yesterday, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team earned a 2-0 record at the Granite City Breakdown Classic with a 66-51 today over New Life Academy of Woodbury. The Jaguars trailed 32-29 at halftime
Junior Teagan Dingmann scored a career-high 29 points on 11-of-24 field goal shooting. The Jaguars shot 30 percent from the floor with 11-of-16 free throw shooting. Macey Roering with 12 points and Kacey Fischer with 11 points were also in double figures.
The Eagles, a Section 4AA team, fell to 7-4 overall. They were coming off of an 87-55 blowout win over Ashby yesterday at St. Cloud Apollo.
Next: after a week-long break over the New Year's Eve holiday, the Jaguars (7-2) return to action with a home Central Minnesota Conference game on Monday, January 5 against Maple Lake (1-6, 0-2).
Here's a video from the second half of yesterday's win against Sauk Rapids-Rice:
The area scoreboard will be expanded on later.
Area girls' basketball scores on December 27:
Alexandria 66, New Ulm 38
Holdingford 60, St. Croix Prep 53
New London-Spicer 63, Willmar 37
Jaguars win blowout game at Sauk Rapids-Rice (VIDEO)
In their first game of the Granite City Breakdown Classic, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team routed Sauk Rapids-Rice 82-24 to improve to 6-2 overall. Sophomore Macey Roering earned Player of the Game honors given by Breakdown staff.
The Jaguars led 46-14 at halftime after jumping out to an early 15-5 lead. With 8:15 left, Mya Worms sank two bonus free throws for a 24-10 lead. With 6:30 left, Teagan Dingmann drained a corner three-pointer to extend it to a 31-10 lead.
Here's a video recorded in about the middle of the 1st half:
The Storm got a free throw for the first point scored in the second half. After each team scored 4 points for a 51-19 score, the Jaguars went on an 18-0 run that pushed the margin in range of the Mercy Rule. A three-pointer by sophomore Makenna Roelike with 9:40 left expanded B-B-E's lead to 69-19. From that point on, running time was used. In the final minutes, Coach Anderson emptied the entire bench.
The Jaguars shot 39 percent on field goals with 19-for-32 marks at the free throw line. Macey Roering led a quartet of Jaguars in double figures that included Reese Kampsen (12), Kacey Fischer (11) and Mya Worms (11). Kacey Fischer also had 7 rebounds, and junior Kamie Fischer led the team with 6 steals.
Tomorrow: the Jaguars travel back to the Granite City Classic, and the JV team plays the St. Cloud Crush at the Sartell Community Center with an 11:30 a.m. tip-off. The St. Cloud Crush is a basketball co-op between St. Cloud Apollo and St. Cloud Tech. What is wild, and honestly mind-blowing, is that those two high schools are unable to support their own girls' basketball program. I digress! The varsity Jaguars play at Sartell-St. Stephen high school at 1:45 p.m. against New Life Academy of Woodbury.
In their game today in the Granite City Classic, New Life Academy throttled Ashby 87-55 to improve to 7-3 overall; the Arrows are 6-5.
The Elrosa Bar and Lounge has live music starting at 8 p.m. with Josh Kehr. The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper appreciates the support of their business throughout the year!
Crazy! Crazy!
Can you BELIEVE it! This was wild: at Casey's in Sauk Rapids tonight, I filled up our Chrysler minivan with 87 octane E10 gasoline for $2.25 a gallon! Wow! All across the St. Cloud Metropolitan area, a full-blown gas war is underway. This is happening right now! I am loving lower energy prices. How about you? Take a moment and think about the importance of having federal decision-makers putting an emphasis on lowering energy prices. For me, as a small business owner, I greatly appreciate lower gas prices. For you, as a sports fan, I want you to appreciate the fact that lower gas prices is a huge benefit to my ability to operate the newspaper's sports department.
Also coming on Saturday: the Tanner Stark Band is performing at Lincoln's in Brooten. For additional details, you can refer to the December 11, 18 and 25 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice, which included large advertisements for this event. I also have information posted at the newspaper website: TannerStarkBandBrooten.
For the fifth straight season, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is competing in the Granite City Breakdown Classic. Today, at Sauk Rapids-Rice high school, the Jaguars face the host Storm (0-7) with tip-off at about 4:15 p.m. Game updates will follow here by halftime.
UPDATE: with 1:21 left in the first half, the Jaguars are ahead 46-14.
HALFTIME: B-B-E 46, Sauk Rapids-Rice 14. Since the 10-minute mark, the Storm was held to just 3 field goals and 6 points. The Jaguars led 15-5 out of the gate.
Here's a video featuring the end of the 1st half:
More to come. The 2nd half starts at 5 p.m.!
I heard the JV Jaguars won by a wide margin in their game played in Sartell this afternoon. I'll catch the final score from Coach Rajdl after the varsity game.
Hit refresh to see the final score in a new blog post.
TONIGHT! The Elrosa Bar and Lounge hosts their Christmas customer appreciation party! Their complimentary meal is served until 9 p.m., so hopefully some of you can make it. I am not sure if I can get there. Live music starts at 8 p.m. by Josh Kehr. This was advertised on page 16 of this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper issue.
A fresh update at The Voice website - and Merry Christmas!
A fresh set of web articles with video are posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. Also, Merry Christmas to you and your family.
On Friday:the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team travels to the Granite City Breakdown. The JV squad plays first, and their game is at 12:45 p.m. at Sartell-St. Stephen high school. The varsity game plays at 4:15 p.m. just a bit farther east at Sauk Rapids-Rice high school. The Jaguars face the host Storm, a Class 3A school. On Saturday, the JV and varsity Jaguars both play at Sartell, and the varsity game has a 1:45 p.m. tip-off against New Life Academy, who competes in the Skyline Conference and Section 4AA.
Tonight is the eve of Christmas Eve. I can't believe that Christmas is less than 2 days away. Where on earth did December go? It's a mad dash to the finish line for the December 25 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. This blog post will be refreshed with various news and sports items on Wednesday.
Here's a video recorded in the final minute of the first half last night against K-M-S:
The Jaguars went into halftime down 29-21 after they began the game with 10-0 and 15-2 deficits.
Multiple area churches have Christmas Eve worships tomorrow. One of them, South Lake Johanna Lutheran Church, begins their worship at 4 p.m.
Area boys' basketball scores on December 22:
Yellow Medicine East 70, Red Rock Central 38
Benson 84, Ortonville 54
Minnewaska Area 75, Sauk Centre 51
Area girls' basketball scores on December 22:
Osakis 47, Paynesville 40
Minnewaska 67, Melrose 28
Sauk Centre 83, Montevideo 36
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 61, Yellow Medicine East 54
Wednesday morning update:
Good grief! The layout of the 16-page issue this week included approximately 48 pictures. I did not take all of them...this is the third straight 16-page issue in December. That's a Bonanza Valley Voice record!
How about more Christmas music!
Below is a video from the high school band's winter Christmas concert held a week ago on Tuesday at Olson Auditorium.
Here's the 7th-8th grade band performing:
Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on December 22:
Kimball Area 59, Holdingford 47
Area girls' basketball scores on December 22:
Legacy Christian 77, Maple Lake 17
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 67, Bagley 24
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 77, Eden Valley-Watkins 40
Pine River-Backus 74, Nevis 54
Milaca 58, Braham 43
Hancock 59, Minneota 54
