Tonight, Thursday, the Jaguars look to snap a seven-game losing streak to the Rockford Rockets tonight at the B-B-E High School. Coach Mike Tauber, who played four years of Division II ball at nearby University of Minnesota-Morris, has built the Rockets into one of the premier rural boys basketball programs in Minnesota. They are the four-time defending Central Minnesota Conference champions, winning three of the past four crowns alone, while sharing the title with Pierz in 2005-2006.
Last season, the Rockets finished 28-3, including 12-2 in the CMC. They fell 73-59 in the state quarterfinals to a then-undefeated Crosby-Ironton team that ended as runners-up to New London-Spicer.
The Rockets are currently 4-4 overall after winning their CMC opener on Tuesday night over Holdingford (2-4 overall) 73-59. The Jaguars are 7-1 overall and 1-0 in the CMC after their huge come-from behind 65-59 win in Pierz on Tuesday night.
Pre-game on 106.5 FM out of the Norway Lake-Sunburg area will be at about 7:15.
The Jaguars have had 2 memorable losses in their current 7-game skid to the Rockets, one coming in 2005-2006, in which they fell 100-85 at home, and the other coming two seasons ago when they fell 70-67 in a nail-biter in Rockford.
January 25, 2005 was the last time the Jaguars defeated the vaunted Rockets boys basketball team. That year, when the Jaguars finished 21-9 as Section 5A runners-up, the Rockets were tagged with only 3 regular season losses on their way to a 28-5 record, 4th place Class AA state finish (the best-ever in Rockford history). One of those 3 losses was to our Jaguars, who won the game 64-55 in front of a packed crowd at home, a game in which the Jaguars played 4 quarters of flawless basketball. The Rockets other losses were to big-city schools from the Metro area.
Tonight the tables may be turned, if the Jaguars can continue their solid defense and balanced scoring. One thing that can't be overlooked, however, is the tradition of winning for the Rockets boys basketball team.
The Jaguars wrestling team picked up their first win over Pierz in many seasons after defeating the Pioneers 51-30 at the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted triangular on Tuesday night. They were also very competitive against the host Lakers in a 42-28 loss. They now have 2 dual wins so far this season, and they host the Jaguars Invitational tomorrow, Friday, beginning at 3:30 at the high school.
The Jaguars girls basketball team defeated Melrose in a home contest 57-38. Senior forward Heidi Lensing led the Jaguars with 19 points and nine rebounds. The Jaguars (6-3) outrebounded Melrose 42-17. The Jaguars' 6-3 start to the season is the best since 1997-1998 when they opened up with a 5-2 record.
They host Kimball tonight (Thursday) in their 3rd CMC game of the season, before traveling to sub-section opponent and neighboring rival Paynesville next Monday, January 12.
The Jaguars girls basketball team is 2-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference entering tonight's contest with Kimball Area. It is their first 2-0 start in the CMC since 1999-2000, the first year in the league. Last season, the Jaguars finished 9-5 in the CMC, their best record ever in that league, to hold third place alone behind state
entrant Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, and four-time defending champion Eden Valley-Watkins.
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