Winter Week 4: Lady Jaguars Throttle Kimball 81-37, Big Shakeup in the Central Minnesota Conference Girls' Standings

This turn-and-shoot bucket propelled April Hansen into first place on a long list of 1,000-point basketball scorers for B-B-E. Once it fell through, the Lady Jaguars were leading 31-13 over the Kimball Cubs.

The Lady Jaguars throttled the Kimball Cubs 81-37 at home on Friday night for their second win of the season, snapping a three-game losing streak in the process.

During the first half, as the Lady Jaguars were building a 31-13 lead, senior center April Hansen was chipping away at and finally surpassing B-B-E's school scoring record, held by 1998-graduate and current 8th-grade girls basketball coach Amanda Illies.

She finished the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds as B-B-E's all-time girls’ scoring leader with 1,304 points, eclipsing the old mark of 1,290 set by Amanda Illies in 1998.The all-school record is held by Michele Marthaler with 1,501 points in 1986.

From around the CMC...Shocker at Eden Valley-Watkins

The Holdingford Huskers brought a losing record at 2-3 to Eden Valley on Friday night to face Eden Valley-Watkins, who was riding on a conference unbeaten streak dating back to the 2003-2004 season. The Eagles had won the past two CMC crowns with a perfect 14-0 record

The Huskers won 56-54.

Eden Valley-Watkins is now 1-1 in the CMC and 4-2 overall. The Huskers are 1-1 as well in the CMC and 3-3 overall, including a 20-point loss to Sauk Centre (52-32) on December 11.

The Huskers had lost by 24 and 17 points to the Eagles during CMC play in 2004-2005, and last season they lost to the Eagles by 22 points and 21 points. The Huskers were Sub-Section 6AA-West Runners-up in 2005 and 2006, finishing behind the powerful Albany Huskies both times.

The Huskers may not be the only team to give payback to the Eagles this season.

On the same night at Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, the Lakers were hosting an undefeated Pierz Pioneers team in CMC play. The Lakers only previous loss was a 44-34 loss to another Section 5AA team, Watertown-Mayer (a SS-19 team). Watertown-Mayer was 4-4, including a 58-54 loss to Rockford in the first week of the season. The Lakers had beaten Watertown-Mayer 46-43 in the season's second game. On Friday night, the Pioneers undefeated streak was soundly shattered by the Lakers, as Pierz lost 64-38.

So early in the season, Eden Valley-Watkins, Holdingford, Pierz, Rockford, and B-B-E are all 1-1 in CMC action. Maple Lake and Kimball are 0-2, while Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted is 2-0 for sole possession of first place.

Winter Week 4: Winter Rears its Ugly Head Across the Area, Lady Jaguars Basketball Lose True Heartbreaker at Rockford

Mother Nature wreaked havoc on central Minnesota today with a nasty combination of steady rain and 30-32 degree weather starting this morning and continuing into the afternoon
hours. B-B-E closed school and sent the kids home at 1:30 today. All after-school activities, including any practices, are also cancelled/postponed.

The Kimball wrestling or Rockford boys basketball events were postponed. The wrestlers had a big Quadrangular scheduled for tonight, including Trinity Lutheran School, Meadow Creek Christian/River Academy, and Kimball. They are scheduled to host the Jaguar Invite on January 5 at the high school.

Friday night December 22 the Lady Jaguars will host Kimball at the elementary school, looking to even their conference record at 1-1.

Lady Jaguars Drop Nail-Biting loss at Rockford 74-72

Tuesday night it was a reversal of fortunes with the Lady Jaguars basketball team, as the Varsity squad put in an exemplary effort while bringing their game to a proper level to compete for a Central Minnesota Conference championship. At Rockford, a place they have never done well, the Lady Jaguars played to a 32-32 halftime tie with the Rockets. They built a nine-point lead going into the final minutes of the game, only to give up an 11-0 run to experience a crushing, heartbreaking loss on a last-second layup, losing 74-72. The 72 points put up by the Lady Jaguars is a season-high, topping the 60 points they put up against Paynesville. It was the closest loss to Rockford in many seasons, while they have been a dominant team in the CMC since 2001-2002. The Rockets move to 2-0 in the CMC and 4-2 overall.

The last Lady Jaguar win over Rockford was on January 13, 2000. The Rockets went on to finish as Section 5AA runners-up in 2002, 2003, and 2004, finally knocking out New London-Spicer in 2005 to go to "State". The Lady Jaguars' closest loss to the Rockets other than this week since 2001 was a 50-41 loss at the elementary school a year ago.

In other Central Minnesota Conference girls basketball games, Eden Valley-Watkins's sophomore standout Hannah Linz dumped in 28 points in a game at Maple Lake (0-2 CMC, 4-4) where the Eagles (1-0 CMC, 3-2) upended the Irish 69-57. Pierz hosted Holdingford and won their CMC opener while remaining undefeated on the season at 6-0. The Pioneers (6-0) led 30-14 at halftime over the Huskers (0-1 CMC, 2-3).

The Jaguar wrestling team, fresh off a big loss to New London-Spicer, possibly the area's strongest wrestling team, will travel to Kimball on Thursday, December 21, to face the host Cubs in Central Minnesota Conference action, as well as Meadow Creek Christian/River Academy. MCC/RA is a private school from Andover who is also in Section 5A, being bounced from the team section playoffs last season 35-31 by our Jaguars. Both duals are big matchups, as they both count towards playoff seedings next February.

Action is slated to begin at the Kimball Area High School at 5:00pm. The Jaguars most likely will wrestle the second and third matches of the night.

In boys basketball action tonight involving Central Minnesota Conference teams, the Rockford Rockets were nipped at the buzzer at Milaca, as a Wolves' guard hit a turnaround jumper to hand the Rockets (4-1) their first loss of the season. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted picked up their first win of the season after an 0-3 start by defeating a Sub-Section 5AA-20 team, St.Cloud Cathedral (2-2) 80-56. Holdingford (6-1) pounded on Royalton (2-5) as guests for the Royals 72-44. It was the Huskers' second win of the season over a bad Royals team (both non-conference wins). Pierz traveled to Albany and beat a winless Huskies team 61-44 to even their record at 1-1 overall.

In the only CMC boys basketball game so far this season, Eden Valley-Watkins hosted Maple Lake and overcame 11 three-pointers by the Irish to win 68-64. The Eagles are 4-0 overall, while the Irish fell to 3-5 overall.

A Great Afternoon of Basketball at the B-B-E High School- Doubleheader VS. the Minnewaska Lakers.

Both basketball squads for B-B-E hosted their neighbors from Pope County, the Minnewaska Area Lakers, in a double-header Saturday afternoon. The B-squads for both teams played at 2:00, with the Lady Jaguars following at about 3:30 in the high school's main gymnasium.

The varsity games were broadcast on Morris and Glenwood radio, 95.7 KKOK and 107.1 SMOOTH MAGIC 107 on the F.M. dial. A big thank-you to area businesses for sponsoring such coverage.

The Lady Jaguars B-squad team came on strong towards the end of the first half to overcome a 16-14 deficit, scoring six unanswered points before halftime, ahead 20-16. They then went on a tear to start the second half, going on an incredible 18-2 run to blow the game open, leading 32-18 with eight minutes left. The final score was a 40-31 win for the Lady Jaguars.

The Jaguars B-squad team came to life in the second half of their game with the Lakers, overcoming a 25-18 deficit with a big 14-4 run to take the lead that they would not give up as they ended up winning 48-45. The Lady Jaguars Varsity team had a rough outing against a strong and fast Lakers' team, who moved to 4-2 after a 74-43 victory this afternoon. The Lady Jaguars won the opening tipoff and scored right away with an outside shot from Emily Roelike, then fell apart during a Lakers' 17-0 run as they took control of the game. The Jaguars cut into the Lakers' lead, whittling it down to nine, down 15-24 before the Lakers ended on a 11-4 run to go into halftime leading 35-19. The Lady Jaguars then gave up 12 unanswered points to fall behind 47-19 before their offense showed any signs of life. The Lady Jaguars were outscored 39-24 in the second half.

The Jaguars basketball team played a good first half against the Lakers, taking a 9-7 lead early on. They fell behind 13-18, then closed to a 21-24 deficit before the Lakers went on a 9-4 run to close with a 33-25 first half lead over our Jaguars. They fell behind by as many as 14 points in the second half, cutting into the lead towards the end and keeping fans excited about a potential comeback. The final score was 75-67 Lakers', with their team moving to 3-3 overall. It was their first win over our Jaguars since a 55-52 win in December 2003 at Minnewaska.

Next action for both basketball squads:

The Lady Jaguars next action is Tuesday at Rockford, to open up Central Minnesota Conference play. They host Kimball on Friday, December 22, to close out their action until returning from Christmas Vacation in January. Rockford is 3-2 to start this season, including a 71-55 conference victory over Maple Lake. The Cubs, meanwhile, are 2-4, with two meaningless wins over bad Prairie Conference teams, and three blowout losses to Paynesville, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (77-25!).

The Jaguars next action is Thursday, December 21, in a second consecutive home contest at the high school that opens up Central Minnesota Conference action for their schedule. They will face a state-ranked Rockford Rockets' team that is 4-0 so far, with four close wins over Metro-Area teams. The Rockets finished 21-8 last season, after a 3-4 start in December, while finishing as Section 4AA-Sub Section runners-up.

Winter Week 3 - Lady Jaguars Take it on the Chin, Wrestlers Overcome Holdingford 38-36, Jaguar basketball gets killed by Sauk's press

Photos from the Benson girls basketball game and the New London-Spicer wrestling dual.

The Jaguar wrestling team faced area Class 2A power New London-Spicer during "Parents' Night" at the high school tonight (Friday). They forfeited the 215 class, and went 2-11 in the other 13 matches, falling 59-9 to a Jair Toedter-coached Wildcats team. Every Jaguar put on a great show for the large crowd on hand.

The Lady Jaguars basketball team fell behind 7-0 in the opening minutes against the visiting Benson Braves Tuesday night, and after playing catch-up the entire game and falling behind 52-29 at one point, ended the game losing 67-57 in non-conference action.

The same evening, the Jaguar wrestlers were at Holdingford putting on two very good performances while splitting their duals. Against the host Huskers, they came on strong at the upper weights and defeated Holdingford 38-36. Against Ogilvie, they fell behind 24-0, then came back to take five of the final eight matches while losing 36-30. The wrestlers were given a big boost by the return of sophomore Travis Rath (152) to the lineup. Rath is a two-time returning state entrant, placing 6th in 2006.

Two nights later on Thursday, the Jaguar basketball team traveled a short trip up Highway 71 to Sauk Centre in an attempt to even their record at 2-2 overall before opening up Central Minnesota Conference play next week against the #8-ranked (Class AA) Rockford Rockets.
During most of the first half they played competitive ball, giving up a 13-5 run that erased a 7-3 opening lead. After getting to a 26-22 deficit, it went downhill by halftime, Jaguars losing 33-23. It got worse in the second half as they could not handle a suffocating press by the Mainstreeters, who beat our Jaguars for the first time in four years, by a score of 66-43.

The wrestlers host New London-Spicer at 6:30 at the high school on Friday night. Both basketball squads host Minnewaska on Saturday afternoon in a double-header at the high school. The J.V. squads both play at 2:00, while the Lady Jaguars play at 3:30 and the Jaguars play at 5:00. The Lakers will provide good competition for our teams, as it will be a fun day of basketball for area fans.

**Special note, the boys/girls double-header will be aired on MAGIC 107, 107.1 F.M. out of Glenwood. Again, 3:30 is the slated time for the Lady Jaguars' game to begin.

The Lakers' boys basketball team is 2-2, having just defeated St.Cloud Cathedral (a possible Sub-Section 5AA-20 opponent for our Jaguars) 61-49 on Tuesday night. They committed 52 turnovers while losing their first two games to Alexandria and Holdingford, but have since gotten things under control and will be hungry to beat our Jaguars, who they have lost to for the past two seasons. They started last season 3-8, including a 69-64 loss at their gym to our Jaguars. They then went on an incredible run to win 12 of 14 games before losing to a strong Melrose squad in the Section 6AA playoffs.

The Lakers girls basketball team is 2-2 after losing to St.Cloud Cathedral 60-52. (CHS is in the same sub-section as our Lady Jaguars) The Lakers lost to Benson in their opener 54-48, beat Morris 40-33 in a rival battle, then shredded Sauk Centre 57-29, limiting the Mainstreeters to 13 first-half points, eight total field goals, while forcing 24 turnovers. Last season they defeated our Lady Jaguars 54-41 at their high school as they opened their season 7-1, before two stretches of 4-3 and 2-6 brought them a 13-10 record entering the Section 6AA playoffs, where they went 1-1 and were bounced by Central Minnesota Conference member Holdingford 41-35.

Winter Week 2 - Danceline Debuts, Jaguar Wrestling and Basketball in Action at High School

More photos of the basketball teams and the wrestling squad in action can be found at my Jaguars' photos blog. The link can be found at the right with the other links on this page.

The Jaguar wrestlers fell to strong Central Minnesota Conference teams in a home triangular at the High School on Tuesday night, first to Pierz 56-21 and then to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 51-18. In both matches, the Jaguars had strong outings up and down the lineup, even with their first-year wrestlers. It is a sign of good things to come this season from our Jaguar grapplers.

They rebounded from those losses by posting big wins at the Royalton Triangular on Thursday night, beating CMC member Rockford (a Class AA team) 48-32 and the host Royals 42-33.

The Jaguar basketball squad had a cliffhanger for their home opener, playing an exciting game for a large crowd of faithful Jaguar fans, losing 65-62 to the neighboring rival Paynesville Area Bulldogs, also a Sub-Section 5AA-2o opponent. The telling part was their ability to recover from deficits throughout the entire game, ultimately being unable to overcome a 14-point second half hole, getting it no closer than the three-point final margin. For starting three sophomores and two juniors, this team still plays competitive ball while putting on a great show for fans to enjoy. Only one senior sees regular playing time during the game.

At halftime of the Jaguar basketball game on Thursday night, the Lady Jaguar Danceline made their opening performance of the winter season. An overview of their team and the season will be featured in next week's Observer and Bonanza Valley Voice issues. They debut in the first official varsity competition as a team on Saturday, December 16, at the BOLD High School in Olivia.

Next week the Lady Jaguars basketball team hosts Benson in non-conference action on Tuesday night at the elementary school. They will host Minnewaska area on Saturday in a double-header with the boys team. JV's will play @ 2:00, Girls Varsity at 3:30
and the Boys Varsity at approximately 5:00. All are at the high school.

The Jaguar basketball team travels to Sauk Centre to face the Mainstreeters on Thursday, December 14. They will then face Minnewaska Saturday in the boys/girls double-header.
The Jaguars have a shot at winning both games, lifting their record to above .500 for the first time since the 2004-2005 season. Both the Lakers and Mainstreeters have lost to the Jaguars for two years straight, so they'll be hungry to win. The last Lakers' win over our Jaguars was in December 2003 (a 55-52 win), and the last Mainstreeters' win over our Jaguars was in December 2002 (a narrow 65-64 win).

The Jaguar wrestling team travels to Holdingford on Tuesday, December 12 for a Triangular against the host Huskers (a conference opponent) and the Ogilvie Lions. They host a strong New London-Spicer team in a dual meet on Friday, December 15 at the high school. The Jaguars went 1-1 when they hosted both teams at the high school, losing 45-31 to Holdingford and beating Ogilvie 50-24.

Winter Week 1: Successful opening week for the Jaguars

At Paynesville last Thursday, the Lady Jaguars are shown completing another successful drive to the bucket while blowing the game open with a tenacious full-court press in the second half of their 60-35 blowout win over the Paynesville Bulldogs.

This shot in the paint was part of a three-point play by the Jaguars, who came back from an 11-point deficit to not only tie the game at 24-all here, but move ahead on a 12-0 run to end the first half, leading 31-24 over Chokio-Alberta on Saturday at the K-M-S Tip-Off Classic.

This Jaguar rolls his opponent over for the pin.

The winter Jaguars sports teams had a successful first week of varsity action this past week. Large crowds of faithful fans were on hand at each event, with a very large section of high school students at the Jaguar Wrestling Invite on Friday at the high school.

After playing below their abilities in their opening games, both the Jaguar and Lady Jaguar basketball teams turned it around quickly and drilled their opponents in their second game. They both run a deep bench and employ full court presses with fast-break offenses, which should make for an exciting winter for local basketball fans. The boys go ten deep during the game, while the girls have been running nine deep.

A young Jaguar wrestling squad opened the season with their annual Jaguar Invite at the high school. Four of eleven Jaguars made it to the finals round, where Austin Kampsen finished with a team-high second place medal at the 145 class. Nellie Baker (103 and Travis Winter (125) took fourth place, and Cole Tensen (119) finished with the third place medal. The eleven Jaguars who took the mat all wrestled with a high level of intensity and gave strong performances, with some experiencing varsity action for the first time.

Next week the Lady Jaguars basketball team has no games, with the Jaguar basketball squad hosting Paynesville on Thursday in their only action until December 14th when they travel to Sauk Centre.

The wrestlers host Pierz and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted in a triangular on Tuesday, starting at 5:00pm. They travel to Royalton for a triangular against the host Royals and Rockford on Thursday and to Maple Grove for a tournament on Saturday beginning at 10:00am. It will be a very busy, action-filled week for the team, so if you see a wrestler make sure to tell them good luck.