Jaguars Basketball Team Drops Rough-and-Tumble Home Contest With Eden Valley-Watkins 60-57

In their final home game of the season, the Jaguars basketball team fought valiantly to the very end of a physical, hard-nosed game against conference rival Eden Valley-Watkins. The Eagles were sitting alone in third place in the Central Minnesota Conference coming into the game, while our Jaguars were tied in last place (7th) with Kimball. The Jaguars trailed 30-28 at halftime and led in both the first and second halves. Three seniors on the Jaguars' roster were also honored in their final game at the B-B-E High School gymnasium.

The Eagles had defeated the first-place team in the CMC, the Rockford Rockets, last Friday night in an 85-83 overtime game, to go to 8-4 in third place alone in the league standings. In the sub-section seeding, the Eagles picked up the number two seed.

Up next for the Jaguars is a road trip to Pierz to face the 21-4 Pioneers on Friday (March 2). The Pioneers will be fighting for a chance to tie Rockford for the CMC title for the second straight season. They need a win over our Jaguars and a Holdingford win at Rockford in order for that to happen. The Huskers have a chance of defeating the Rockets, but our Jaguars also have a chance of winning at Pierz. Their last win at Pierz was in the 2004-2005 season, a 74-69 overtime win. Friday night's game will be their final tune-up before playoffs begin next week Thursday (March 8) when they travel to Paynesville Area High School to face the neighboring rival Bulldogs (15-5) in the Sub-Section 5AA-20 quarterfinals. At tonight's game against Eden Valley, a number of Bulldogs basketball players were seen in the stands, as well as their head coach Phil Carlson. With so many B-B-E students being friends with Paynesville students, it will set up an intriguing matchup between two long-time rivals separated only by an invisible school district boundary.

Tonight around the CMC in boys basketball:
@ Holdingford 69 (8-6 CMC, 17-8), Kimball 48 (2-11 CMC, 6-15)
@ Maple Lake 66 (6-7 CMC, 13-12), Pierz 81 (11-2 CMC, 21-4)
@ Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 65 (3-10 CMC, 9-16), Rockford 71 (12-1 CMC, 19-6)

CMC standings going into conference finale:
Rockford (12-1)
Pierz (11-2)
Eden Valley-Watkins (9-4)
Holdingford (8-6)
Maple Lake (6-7)
HL-W/W (3-10)
B-B-E (2-11)
Kimball (2-11)

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