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.