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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