One stunning upset, and another would've been stunning-upset that didn't materialize in girls basketball playoffs...

In Section 5AA, where the Jaguars played for the past two seasons, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted knocked off number-one seeded Eden Valley-Watkins 53-45 in the Sub-Section 5AA-20 championship game at Dassel-Cokato High School.

Eden Valley-Watkins finishes their season 24-4, including a perfect 14-0 run through the rugged Central Minnesota Conference. It is the third time in the past four seasons they have gone undefeated in the CMC. They went 13-1 last year. The HL-W-W Lakers (24-5) move on to the Section 5AA championship, where they will face Holy Family Catholic (26-3) next Friday at about 8:15pm at Halenbeck Hall at SCSU in St.Cloud. We wish the Lakers luck as they hope to advance to their first-ever girls basketball state tournament.

In Section 6AA, New London-Spicer almost knocked off Albany in the Sub-Section 6AA-19 championship game, losing 42-37. Ironically, the score was identical to their win over Sauk Centre two nights ago. They must have somehow slowed the pace of the game, in an attempt to stay within striking distance of the high-powered Huskies.

Albany is now 26-2 and will face West Central Area, who won 53-28 over Minnewaska Area in the Sub-Section 6AA-17 championship game. WCA is 21-6, and they jumped all over the Lakers tonight with a 17-6 game-opening lead in the first half.

The West Central Area Knights play a let-it-all-loose fullcourt pressure style defense that has had a tendency to overwhelm their opponents early in their games. It will be very interesting to see how Albany handles that and gets their three 1,000-point scorers going in the section championship.

In Jaguars sports news, the Jaguars boys basketball team (13-11) will play at Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted on Tuesday night, for the first of two road games this week. Both are the final games on the Central Minnesota Conference schedule as well. They play at Eden Valley-Watkins on Friday. Seeding for Sub-Section 6AA-East takes place on Wednesday night.

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