CMC Indoor Meet Results....Great Job Lady Jaguars...Third Place Finish, Highest Finish since 2000 in a CMC Meet.

Not since the 2000 Central Minnesota Conference meet have the Lady Jaguars done as well as they did tonight, when they finished in third place (79.83 points) at the CMC Indoor meet at St.Cloud State University. The coaches were very pleased by beating the paired team from Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball by a three-point margin. Great job to a young squad (only two seniors on the roster). Meanwhile the Jaguars squad also did well, finishing in sixth place (45.2 points). Two key members of the Jaguars squad were unable to compete tonight and their return to action will give the team a big boost. Both boys and girls had eight teams participate in tonight's meet.

Great performances were put in on the girls side by Ashley Lensing, with a 7'0" finish in the Pole Vault (1st place), Kelsey Kampsen, with a 14:04 time in the 3200m race (4th place), April Hansen, with a second place finish in the triple jump (31'11.5"), and Heidi Lensing, with a second place finish in the 400 dash (65.68 seconds).

On the boys' side, top performers were Austin Jasmer, who took third place in the 1600 race (5:14.2) and 3200 race (11:39), Mac Derichs, who finished in second place in the 400m dash (55.87 seconds) and third place in the 200 dash (25.15 seconds), and Levi Anderson, who finished in a five-way tie for second place in the high jump (5'5").

Their meet at NL-S that was scheduled for Monday, April 2, has been postponed but the date has not been announced yet.

The Jaguars baseball team's home and season opener is in limbo (originally set for Tuesday, April 3rd) against the Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg Fighting Saints. The Fighting Saints were Section 3A Runners-up in 2006. This game has been postponed to May 10. Their scheduled game with Upsala-Swanville on Thursday will not happen this week either. (Gee thanks, snow!)

The Lady Jaguars softball team will open their season on Tuesday, April 10, with a trip to Holdingford. It will also be their CMC opener. Last year they lost a close 4-3 battle on the Huskers' diamond.

The Lady Jaguars golf team was set to open their 2007 campaign with a CMC meet at Howard Lake on Thursday, April 5. That will not take place this week. Their next scheduled meet is for next Thursday at Melrose. The Lady Jaguars were CMC and Sub-Section 5A-10 Runners-up in 2006, winning B-B-E's first team playoff trophy in the program's history (dating back to 1996). The boys golf team has won sub-section hardware in the first half of this decade.

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Track and Field Season Set to Begin at the CMC Indoor Meet on Friday

Last week a few Varsity tracksters are shown jogging a lap at the high school athletic complex.

At 6:00 on Friday night (March 30), the boys and girls Track and Field squads will open their season at the Central Minnesota Conference Indoor Meet, held annually at the St.Cloud State University campus. Key losses to both squads that they will work to overcome this season include losing Jordan Weller on the boys side and sisters Lia and Nicole Sobiech on the girls side. The dates of the home meet(s) for this season will be published in next week's local newspapers.

Next week, the Jaguars baseball team hosts K-M-S on Tuesday (Apr 3) for their home opener. It will most likely be played in Regal. They also host defending Section 5A champion Upsala-Swanville Area on Thursday.

The Lady Jaguars softball team traveled to Paynesville today for a scrimmage. I don't have their home opener, but they are set to travel to Holdingford on April 10.

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Section Playoff Assignments Released by High School League for 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 Seasons

Complete coverage of the Jaguars' future playoff pairings is being published in this week's local newspapers, beginning with a fall preview last week. In this week's newspapers, area sports fans can view the spring pairings.

By now golf, baseball, softball, and track have all began pre-season practices. The only date I have for a season opener is April 3rd for baseball against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. K-M-S finished as Section 3A Runners-up last spring.

The Track and Field squads open on Friday, March 30, at the St.Cloud State University Indoor Meet.

Coming Soon: Advertising Collection (Sidebar), Winter Sports Wrap-ups, Spring Sports Previews

...also, look for more information being posted regarding the section assignments for the next two years for B-B-E sports teams.

Early reports are in with the Lady Jaguars softball team, which has a reported turnout of 34 student-athletes in the 9th-12th grade teams, which is Varsity and Junior Varsity. They look to improve on their 11-9 record from last spring, including 7-7 in the Central Minnesota Conference and 1-1 in Section 5A.

The Jaguars baseball team will be led by "first-year" Head Coach Dave Montbriand. A special note must be made that this will be his second stint as head coach of the Jaguars baseball program, as he coached the program from 1991 to 1996. Those years also included the program's only conference title (West Central South, 1995) and only sub-section championship appearance (Sub-Section 5A-4, 1995).

Slight changes have been made in the track and field coaching staff. Micki Weller and Mike Richards take the reigns, with Sara Fults taking over the junior high coaching position, formerly held by Coach Richards. Their season opener is the annual indoor meet at St.Cloud State University next Friday (March 30) at 6:00pm.

Update on Area Basketball Playoff Action

Brief notes from area boys basketball games tonight:
Sub-Section 3AA-North Championship:
Benson 83 (20-9), West Central Area 82 (22-5, WCA school record)
*In a remarkable comeback at the R/A Facility at Southwest Minnesota State University, the Braves trailed the Knights 77-66 with about three minutes left in regulation. They trailed 80-79 in the final minute before pulling ahead 81-80 in the final 30 seconds. Both teams then traded field goals before the game ended.
*Benson hits the 20-win mark for the third straight season, as well as landing themselves in their third straight Section 3A Championship game. They will face the Luverne Cardinals for the third straight time in that game. Luverne advanced to state in 2005, while Benson made it in 2006. Hats off to Roger Lindahl's talented and high-scoring Braves team.

Sub-Section 5AA-20 semi-finals:
New London-Spicer 72 (19-6), Eden Valley-Watkins 69 (17-7)
*NL-S is the defending Section 5AA champion.
Paynesville 61 (18-5), Maple Lake 54 (14-13)
*Paynesville will play in the SS-20 championship for the first time since 1998, when they lost to our B-B-E Jaguars. NL-S lost twice to the Bulldogs in the regular season. The SS-20 title game is on Tuesday, March 13 at 8:00 at the Dassel-Cokato High School.

Sub-Section 6AA-North semi-final:
Pierz 70, Foley 60
*Pierz (24-4) advances to its sub-section final game for the second straight season. Their 24 wins sets a new school record for wins in a boys basketball season for Pierz.

Sub-Section 4AA-West semi-final:
Rockford (21-7) 93, Holy Family Catholic (20-7) 94
*Rockford, who started the year state-ranked and finished as Central Minnesota Conference champions for the third straight season, goes 1-1 in the playoffs. It is the first time since the 2002-2003 season that they will not play for a sub-section title.

Sub-Section 6AA-South Final Four:
Sauk Centre 58 (15-11), Staples-Motley 51 (14-12)
Melrose 47 (19-6), Minnewaska 41 (11-14)
*Sauk and Melrose will meet in the "rubber" match, as they split their conference series during the regular season on their home floors in overtime and double-overtime. Their sub-section championship game will be Tuesday, March 13 at 8:00 at St.John's University. Sauk has done a remarkable job to regroup for March Madness after losing five straight going into their playoff opener. It is a heavy understatement to say that this Sauk-Melrose meeting will be the most intense crosstown battle this area has seen in many years.

Section 5A-South Final Four:
Ortonville 61, St. John's Prep 58
Osakis 70, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 67

**In girls basketball, Eden Valley-Watkins lost in the Section 5AA championship game to Norwood-Young America 56-43. The Eagles finish another remarkable season 23-5. N-YA is now 28-2 and will play Esko (27-3) in the first round of the Class AA state tournament next week. The Pierz Pioneers lost in the Section 6AA Championship 72-48 to the Albany Huskies, who advance to the state tournament for the fifth straight time. The Pioneers, who also had a great season while ending in third place in the CMC, finish their season 21-9. The talent-laden, high-scoring Huskies are now 27-1 and will face Fairmont (18-8) out of Section 2AA in the state quarterfinals. Good luck to the Huskies as they hope to improve on last season's first-round exit (they lost a close game to Eden Valley-Watkins).

Jaguars Basketball Pushes Number-One Seed Paynesville to the Final Minute in 56-48 Loss During Sub-Section Opener

During their Sub-Section 5AA-20 quarterfinal game tonight, at a hostile gym in Paynesville, the Jaguars basketball team pushed the number-one seeded Bulldogs to the final minute in a close 56-48 loss.

On paper the Jaguars had very little chance of upsetting the Bulldogs. They shook off the underdog status and played a spirited first half of basketball, leading 25-21 at the first buzzer.

The Jaguars fought hard the entire second half, but the Bulldogs pulled away in the final 10 minutes of the game, holding a two possession lead the rest of the way.

Paynesville (17-5) will advance to the semi-final round this Saturday night to face the fourth-seeded Maple Lake Irish (14-12), who won tonight 55-41 over Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (9-18). Good luck to the Bulldogs the rest of the way.

Scores from around Sub-Section 5AA-20 tonight, boys action (Seeding, Overall Record):
@ Eden Valley-Watkins 71 (2nd, 17-6), St.Cloud Cathedral 69 (7th, 8-19)
@ New London-Spicer 68 (3rd, 18-6), Kimball 55 (6th, 6-16)
@ Maple Lake 55 (4th), HL-W/W 41 (5th)

Other noteworthy scores from around the area:
Sub-Section 3AA-North Semi-Final
Benson 71 (19-9), Montevideo 70 (21-4 finish)
*The Braves were the 4th seed, Montevideo was the 1st seed. A very huge win for the Roger Lindahl-coached Benson Braves. Benson will face West Central Area (2nd seed, 22-4) on Saturday, March 10, at 8:00 at Southwest State University.

Sub-Section 5A-South Quarterfinals (Seed, Overall record)
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 77 (4th, 16-9), Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 75 (5th,
10-11)
Ortonville 68 (6th, 10-14), Swanville 65 (3rd, 19-7)
*The Swanville Bulldogs finish their best season since the 1980s without conference or sub-section hardware. A very tough loss indeed.

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Update on Area Playoff Girls Basketball Action

In a Sub-Section 5AA-20 semi-final game, the second-place team from the Central Minnesota Conference defeated the second-place team from the West Central North Conference 51-41. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (22-6) won over New London-Spicer (21-7) for the second straight year in this game. It is the second straight season that NL-S finished without a trophy from their conference or their sub-section. It is only the third time since 1982 that NL-S has gone 1-1 in girls basketball playoffs. The Lakers' win over the Wildcats tonight speaks volumes about the toughness of the CMC.

In the other game in Sub-Section 5AA-20, Eden Valley-Watkins (22-4) pounded St.Cloud Cathedral (14-14) by a 66-30 score.

This win also echoes the fact that the CMC is the toughest small-school girls basketball conference in the area.

In 2006, Howard Lake lost to Eden Valley-Watkins 55-50 in the Sub-Section 5AA-20 championship game. Eden Valley went on to win Section 5AA and place fourth in the Class AA state tournament. They will meet again in the same game tomorrow night (Wed March 7) at Dassel-Cokato High School.

Score in girls basketball from Section 6AA:
6AA-North championship:
Pierz 46 (21-8), Braham 42 (18-11) @ St John's University
*The Pioneers avenge a 64-38 beating in December from the Bombers.
6AA-South championship:
Albany 48 (26-1), Sauk Centre 41 (22-5)
*A tough loss for the Mainstreeters, as three of their five losses this season have come against the second-ranked (Class AA) Huskies. Their 22-5 season is a school record in girls basketball at Sauk Centre. Hats off to them for bringing their girls basketball program back to a competitive level after numerous losing seasons this decade.

Jaguars Basketball Regular Season Finale -- 67-59 Loss at Pierz

Tonight at Pierz against the host Pioneers, the Jaguars basketball team took on another Central Minnesota Conference giant and lost by single digits 67-59. Pierz finishes 12-2 in second place alone in the league and 22-4 overall.

If they want any chance of advancing in the playoffs, the Jaguars will most definitely have to play defense on Thursday night (March 8) when they face the 16-5 Paynesville Area Bulldogs on the Bulldogs' home court in the Sub-Section 5AA-20 opener. Tip-off is at 7:30. Tonight at Paynesville, the Bulldogs hosted Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (12-14) and won 87-70. The Bulldogs have averaged 71 points per game in the regular season.

Score from boys basketball action tonight:
Eden Valley-Watkins 55, Sauk Centre 48

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Lady Jaguars Fall in Sub-Section Opener 74-57 to St.Cloud Cathedral

The homecourt advantage did not come through for the Lady Jaguars basketball team today on a sunny yet frigid Saturday afternoon, as they fell to St.Cloud Cathedral (14-13) in the Sub-section 5AA-20 quarterfinal.

The lead switched numerous times during the first half, with the Crusaders building a 33-26 lead at the first buzzer. Soon after the second half began, the deficit was double-digits and while the Lady Jaguars played hard to the final buzzer in a physical, fast-paced game, they could not come back at the end.

It was the final game for three seniors who contributed heavily to the girls basketball program at B-B-E, Katie Gruber, Kelly Hieserich, and April Hansen. Hansen will graduate as the all-time leading scorer and rebounder (in boys or girls basketball).

A large number of Lady Jaguars will return, led by a strong 2008 class with eight basketball players who will undoubtedly lead the program to another strong season.

Monday night the Jaguars basketball team will travel to Pierz. They're all that's left for winter sports action.

Around the girls Sub-section 5AA-20 from Saturday's quarterfinal action:
@Eden Valley-Watkins 76, Kimball Area 38
@Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 74, Paynesville Area 51
@New London-Spicer 55, Maple Lake 40

Boys basketball scores from Saturday:
@ Rockford 78 (13-1 CMC, 20-6), Holdingford 70 (7-7 CMC, 17-9)
*With this win, the Rockets clinch the CMC title outright.
@ Eden Valley-Watkins 64 (10-4 CMC, 15-6), Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 54 (3-11 CMC, 9-17)

From Section 4AA:
Breck 61 (11-12), @ Rockford 52 (finishes 13-14)
The Rockets were the 4-seed.

From Section 6AA (that includes Sauk Centre and Albany):
Sub-Section 6AA North Semi-finals: Pierz 40 (20-8), East Central 32 (12-14)
*The Pioneers defeated Rush City 72-38 in the quarterfinals on Feb 27. They will face the 18-10 Braham Bombers in the sub-section championship on Tuesday (March 6) at St.John's University at 7:30. The Bombers defeated the Pioneers 64-38 on December 8 as the only loss for Pierz in their first eight games. Pierz is the number one seed and will play in their fourth sub-section championship game in the past five seasons.
They were nipped 59-57 by Foley in last year's sub-section title game.

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