Jaguar Wrestlers Place Five Matmen in the Final Four at NL-S Tournament -- Jaguar Basketball Endures Dismal Second Half Against Pierz, 63-46 Loss

With Home-and-Away Varsity action only 15 miles apart, the Jaguars basketball team hosted Pierz tonight while the Jaguar wrestlers battled at the New London-Spicer Tournament. The basketball team recovered from a poor start in the first half to get within four points, down 35-31, to the Pioneers, who are one game out of first place in the Central Minnesota Conference. They went as cold as ever during the second half, though, scoring only 15 additional points in the 63-46 loss to the Pioneers, who sit alone in second place in the conference standings (4-1 CMC, 10-2).

Meanwhile, down the road a short trip at the New London-Spicer High School, the Jaguar wrestlers had a fine outing against very tough Class A and Class AA opposition. Led by Austin Kampsen and Travis Winter's second-place finishes at 140 and 125, respectively, the Jaguars placed five in the Final Four, and seven in the top six spots overall.

Next week for the Jaguars...the boys basketball team has only one game, a road trip Thursday down to Maple Lake for a conference clash with the Irish (2-3 CMC, 7-7), who hung on tonight for an overtime victory over Kimball. They travel to Osakis for non-conference action on Monday, January 29.

The Jaguar wrestlers have only one event next week, a dual meet at Osakis on Thursday (Jan 25). The Silverstreaks were 8-2 in duals as of January 10.

The Lady Jaguars basketball team has a busy week, with three home games beginning on Monday when they host Osakis (9-2). Tuesday night they host first-place Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted in CMC action, followed by a Friday night game hosting Holdingford.

Tonight around the Central Minnesota Conference, in boys basketball action it was a wild night as the CMC produced two overtime games, with two games where both undefeated teams in the CMC won by only two and seven points. Holdingford (2-3 CMC) lost a second CMC game by a two-point margin to first-place Rockford tonight, 63-61 in overtime. The Rockets outscored the Huskers 10-8 in the overtime frame. The Huskers were snakebitten in December at Pierz 53-51.

@ Holdingford 61 (2-3 CMC, 10-4), Rockford 63 (4-0 CMC, 10-3) OT
@ Maple Lake 72 (2-3 CMC, 7-7), Kimball 66 (1-4 CMC, 2-8) OT
@ Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 49 (1-4 CMC, 4-8), Eden Valley-Watkins 56 (5-0 CMC, 8-1)

Updated Boys Basketball Central Minnesota Conference Standings:
Eden Valley-Watkins (5-0)
Rockford (4-0)
Pierz (4-1)
Holdingford (2-3)
Maple Lake (2-3)
HL-W-W (1-4)
Kimball (1-4)
B-B-E (0-4)

Games involving CMC girls basketball teams:
@ Eden Valley-Watkins 73 (10-3), Paynesville 54 (1-12)
@ Pierz 41 (10-5), Albany 43 (13-1)!!!!
@ Princeton 65 (8-7), Holdingford 41 (4-10)

In back-to-back nights, Pierz has lost two games by a combined five points. Tonight's loss was as heartbreaking as the previous nights' loss, when they blew a 47-32 lead to Eden Valley-Watkins on the Eagles' floor, losing 61-58. The Pioneers had led for 35 1/2 minutes (out of 36 minutes) of the game! Tonight they hosted number-three ranked (Class AA) Albany and gave the Huskies a big scare, though coming up short in a 43-41 loss between the top teams in each sub-section of Section 6AA. The game speaks volumes about the toughness of the Central Minnesota Conference.

A quick update about Sub-Section 5AA-20 girls basketball standings... Last night New London-Spicer was dealt a tough one-point loss at St.Cloud Cathedral in West Central-North Conference action. The Wildcats were sitting in third-place in the sub-section standings at 11-3 prior to the loss to the 8-8 Crusaders. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted and Eden Valley-Watkins are currently duking it out for the top seed, although playoffs are far-away on the calendar right now. Our Lady Jaguars are 5-6 overall, sitting in sixth-place in the sub-section standings, although they made one positive step towards moving up by defeating Maple Lake last night. Maple Lake and St.Cloud Cathedral sit in the four and five spots in the sub-section.
If New London-Spicer happened to drop two or three more games, and they most likely will lose to Albany when they face the Huskies a second time, the Wildcats could be facing the possibility they will not get a high seed come playoff time. That has not happened since the mid-1970's! In fact, when the Wildcats went 1-1 in the playoffs in March 2006, it marked the first time since 1982 that they had not advanced three games into district/sub-section play. It is entirely possible that the Lady Jaguars could lose only one or two more games, possibly during tough Central Minnesota Conference play including second meetings with Rockford, Eden Valley-Watkins, Pierz, and Maple Lake. However, they have the depth and talent and scoring punch needed to win the necessary games to earn a top-four seed for the playoffs. If New London-Spicer defeats Sauk Centre in their second meeting with the Mainstreeters, it could be used as a tie-breaker with the Lady Jaguars come seeding time, as the Mainstreeters defeated the Lady Jaguars in the season opener. Needless to say, nothing is for certain at this point, and in the Central Minnesota Conference, any team can win on any given night (except games including last-place Kimball). Let's all hope for more NL-S losses to come down the pipeline. If the Lady Jaguars lose only one or two more games, they would have a strong case come seeding time for a three or four playoff seed in Sub-Section 5AA-20. They must see the opportunity to make a statement during this season and the March playoffs and make the most of it by playing with a sense of urgency the rest of the season.

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