Jaguars win Benson tournament

Final score: 49 to 43 over Paynesville Area in two overtimes!! Wow! Talk about a great game! More on the game will be posted on Sunday morning.

Wrestling update from Maple Grove

Colby Schramel, Josey Tensen, Ben Thompson and Ben Feuerhake are going for 3rd place in their brackets at the Maple Grove tournament today.

That initial report was incorrect. Here's the correct information:
Josey Tensen and Alex Schramel are in the first-place championship matches for the Jaguars wrestling team. Colby Schramel made it into the third-place matches. Adam Jaeger is going for 5th place.

If Ben Feuerhake and Ben Thompson won their last wrestleback match, they'll get into the 3rd-place matches in their divisions.

When I hear more I'll report it right away.

**Update: Alex Schramel got a pin in the 2nd period of the 152-pound championship match. Josey Tensen finished second in his division. Adam Jaeger and Ben Feuerhake both took 5th place.

In girls' basketball action, the 8th grade Jaguars competed in a front-court basketball tournament in Melrose today. They went 3-0 in 10-minute games over Sauk Centre as well as Paynesville Area.

Junior High report from Pierz

Coach Evenson huddles up during the Kimball game with his 7th grade team today in Pierz.

The 7th grade Jaguars lost 41 to 24 to Maple Lake in the opener and then had a great effort against Kimball in the consolation semis before losing 32 to 30 in overtime. In the Kimball game, the 7th graders had a 16-7 lead with 4:40 left in the first half on a bucket by Dylan Meyer. The Cubs then scored 19 unanswered points from that point up to the 6:11 mark in the second half. (12-minute halves) Evan Wiener stopped the bleeding with a jump shot at 6:11 to make it a 26-18 deficit. A layup by Payton Van Beck, a layup by Wiener and a three-pointer by Dalton Dingmann made it 26-25 with 4:03 left. Van Beck then drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to force an overtime session with the score tied at 30-30.

Their last game had plenty of drama and exciting moments as well against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted. I'll write out my notes later tonight from that one.

The 8th grade Jaguars lost their opener to Maple Lake and then beat Kimball 35 to 34 in their 2nd game of the Central Minnesota Conference tournament.

*Update: against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, the 7th grade Jaguars played tough but lost 39-37 in a nailbiter for their last game of the tournament. The 8th graders lost to Rockford Area to finish 6th. When all was said and done, the guys absolutely played their hearts out but came out short in some very close losses. That's sports...and they'll learn from it.

More coming on Sunday including video and photos after I get them uploaded to the Sauk Centre Herald photo gallery. I didn't get a chance to watch any of the 8th grade Jaguars today, unfortunately.

Please be safe this weekend...roads are still icy just about all over.

Santa is in Elrosa!

He'll be there from 9:30 to 10:30 this morning at the CCD center.

Jaguar girls' basketball starts with a win

Kinlee Swanson drives the right sideline after grabbing a steal in the 2nd half tonight.

Coach Williams, C-squad coach for 2013-14, hands out high-fives to the players as they huddle up during a 2nd-half timeout tonight.

During a 2nd half timeout.

Alex Evenson is off to the races on a fast break after one of the first steals she had tonight.

The defense shined tonight for the Jaguars girls' basketball team as they buried MACCRAY 53-35 in the Benson Case IH invitational semifinals.

Coach Kristina Anderson went 8 deep in the early stages of the first half, and the pressure defense worked to the tune of giving up just 12 first-half points to the Wolverines (0-3). The Jaguars started with a 7-0 run and then expanded on a 9-6 lead with another 7-0 run capped by a wide-open bank shot by Katelyn Heinze.

The Wolverines scored two early free throws after halftime, but the Jaguars put the hammer down starting with a three-pointer by Peyton Miller that started an exciting 19-2 run that blew the game open. Hailey Braegelman, Megan Weller, Kinlee Swanson and Bailey Buchholz all added points to help the Jaguars lead 41-16 with 12:30 left in the game.

Weller led a very balanced scoring attack for the Jaguars with 10 points. Seven Jaguars scored in the game, and they all had between 6 and 10 points. Whew! I'm impressed. Great job.

Here's some video from the first half in Benson:


Up next: Paynesville Area in the tournament championship game. The Bulldogs defeated Benson 59-29 tonight in the other semifinal. Tip off should be at about 7:45 on Saturday night.

Jaguar boys' basketball drubs Minnewaska

A very active Jaguar defense is shown above...from early in the second half tonight.

Tanner Heinsius with a free throw attempt as the final seconds of the game clicked off. Tanner had 15 points to go with a team-high five steals against the Lakers.

The first Border Battle of the season for the Jaguars boys' basketball team had a final score of 72-40 tonight  against Minnewaska Area. The Jaguars went on an 18-0 run to start the 2nd half after they led 48-27 at halftime. The Lakers fell to 1-3 with the loss. B-B-E shot 31-for-60 from the floor compared to 10-of-38 field goal shooting by Minnewaska. Nick Benton had a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds.

At halftime of both the JV and varsity games tonight, the B-B-E Dazzlers dance team performed for the packed hometown crowd. Their competitive season starts next Saturday (Dec. 14) at Albany.

D-Mac called tonight's game on Smooth Magic 107 FM. It was his second broadcast of a B-B-E Jaguar varsity event for the winter season. He'll have Coach Montbriand on the air at 7:30am Saturday to talk shop on Smooth Magic's Coaches Roundup.

More will follow later. Gotta gear up for the Central Minnesota Conference junior high boys' basketball tournament tomorrow in Pierz.

Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball score on December 6:
Rockford Area 96, Maple Lake 84

Good start in Benson!

At halftime the Jaguars girls' basketball team has a 22 to 12 lead. They opened it up in the 2nd half and have a 49 to 27 lead with 5 minutes left.

Final: B-B-E 53, MACCRAY 35.

In their home opener, the Jaguars boys' basketball team has a 30 to 6 lead with 7:19 left in the first half. Whew! Headed there now.

And while I missed the Dazzlers performance by just minutes...the Jaguars boys' basketball team gave me a pick-me-up with a 72 to 40 win over Minnewaska in front of a packed crowd.

More coming later.

Jaguar wrestlers topple BOLD

It didn't take long for the Jaguars wrestling team to pick up their first win...in fact, they got that win in the first dual of the season against BOLD by a 42-34 score at the Paynesville triangular. No word yet on the Paynesville outcome.

Up next is the 14-team Maple Grove Crimson Classic on Saturday.

That's all for tonight. I have a big big big day tomorrow to prepare for.

Two hours late

B-B-E is 2 hours late for Thursday, December 5.

So is K-M-S, NL-S, Osakis and Minnewaska in our neighborhood.

At 06:52, it is 0 degrees in Brooten. Whew! With a -24 degree wind chill and west/NW winds at 25 to 30 miles per hour. The upside: we will see a high of three degrees above zero today! (Wait, that's the upside?)

The extended forecast says we won't get above seven degrees until Thursday, December 12. I do not like the sound of that!

Clearing off the streets of Brooten.

A look down 2nd Street.

Today I finally get to restart sports coverage after we've had a week-long absence of athletic events at B-B-E. Tonight the Jaguars wrestling team competes at the Paynesville triangular with the first match coming against BOLD at about 6:30pm. On Friday the Jaguars girls' basketball team travels to Benson with a 6:00pm tip off against MACCRAY. Also on Friday, the Jaguars boys' basketball team holds their home opener with Minnewaska Area coming to town.

And I can't forget mentioning...the B-B-E Dazzlers dance team will unveil their 2013-14 squad with a halftime performance at Friday's boys' basketball game. Time to charge up the cameras and get the memory cards cleared up!!! The winter sports circus starts soon.

Loss of life in Lakeville

Minnesota Public Radio reported earlier this afternoon that a junior at Lakeville North High School was killed in a car accident during her commute to school Wednesday morning.

The school district identified the victim as 16-year-old Alyssa Ettl.

Ettl appeared to lose control of her car on Dodd Boulevard in Lakeville at about 9:45 a.m., Lakeville Interim Police Chief John Kornmann said. Ettl's Pontiac Grand Prix slid into oncoming traffic and was broadsided by a GMC Acadia SUV. The accident happened about a quarter mile from the high school.

Please talk to the teenage drivers in your house about slowing down and being extra cautious on our roads.

Exciting news

During the 2006-07 school year, a total of 125 students open-enrolled outside the B-B-E district who lived inside the district borders. At the same time, 40 students open-enrolled into B-B-E.

Fast forward to 2012-13, and those figures have changed dramatically. Open-enrollment into B-B-E was 61.95 pupil units while open-enrolled students leaving B-B-E was 98.

What's hurt the school is the loss of resident pupil units, or a figure representing the number of school-age children living inside the district borders either attending B-B-E or open-enrolling out.

In 2008-09, the resident pupil unit figure for B-B-E was 754.83. For 2012-13, that number was 694.96.

Between the 2011-12 school year and the 2012-13 school year, the open-enrollment figures coming into B-B-E increased from 55.95 pupil units to 61.95 pupil units.

Since 2008-2009, open-enrollment coming into the district has increased by 38.4 %, while open-enrollment leaving B-B-E has declined by 19.8 %.

In conversations I've had with school administrators, I stated what I'll say here...the school climate at B-B-E and how the kids treat one another and also treat staff members is a huge reason why the school district is here to stay for years to come. I am convinced that gains in open enrollment are based in large part on the school climate issue. Is everything coming up roses at B-B-E? No, but what school is perfect? I think if you compare how things rate at B-B-E to other area schools, we've got it very, very good here.

Updated enrollment figures coming

People in the community have been discussing the 4-day week in recent weeks as the school board is about to discuss and make decisions on applying for a three-year extension to the 4-day model.

I'll be receiving updated enrollment and open enrollment figures this morning that show we have in fact closed the open enrollment gap in the past three years. That is a grand achievement for a small, rural school district.

As I've said in other venues, our family has really gotten to enjoy the 4-day model. I don't want surveys filled out through the filter of my bias, though...that's why you need to get after the survey if you haven't already.

Santa Claus is coming to Elrosa!

I just saw that Santa Claus will visit Elrosa this Saturday at the CCD building from 9:30am to 10:30am.

Winter blasts northern Stearns County

Video taken at 14:49 on Monday afternoon:

Wrestling in Paynesville

Mark your calendars and come out to support the Band and Choir next Monday.

At the Paynesville Triangular this Thursday night, BOLD wrestles Paynesville at 5:00pm. The Jaguars wrestling team will square off with BOLD following that match.

(Photo gallery) Boys' basketball season opener

From Morris on November 26:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/201314-winter-sports/BBE-vs-MACA-boys-bball-season-