Jaguars boys basketball takes over first place in the Central Minnesota Conference, Coming out on top of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 92-82

The Jaguars are now 10-2 in the CMC with two games left on the schedule. Now 20-4 overall, the Jaguars have the inside track on the CMC title, as well as a good shot at the number one seed in Sub-Section 6AA-East. Seeding takes place by a coaches vote tomorrow night.

HL-W-W falls to 10-3 in the league, with one game left, this Friday at home against fourth-place Rockford. The Lakers are 17-7 overall. HL-W-W had just defeated the 20-4 Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity Bulldogs 67-47 on Monday night.

The Jaguars led by 15 at halftime, 52-37, mostly due to 7-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc. The Lakers poured it on near the end, cutting the deficit down to three at 80-77 with just over 2:00 left. The Jaguars pulled away in the end with prolific free throw shooting.

After halftime, Rodgers was 11-of-13 from the free throw line, including 8-of-8 in the last 90 seconds.

The 92 points scored is a season-high. It's also the most points scored by the Jaguars boys basketball team since early February of 2006, when they hit the century mark in a 100-69 win over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City.

New London-Spicer won the West Central North Conference title outright for the second straight season, when they defeated Melrose on Tuesday night 60-48 in New London. NL-S improved to 14-2 in conference play and 18-8 overall. Melrose falls to 7-9 in the WCCN and 10-13 overall.

Area boys basketball results:
Eden Valley-Watkins 56, Rockford 48
Pierz 73, Kimball Area 45
Holdingford 66, Maple Lake 56
Albany 69, Mora 60
New London-Spicer 60, Melrose 48
Sauk Centre 41, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 35
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 71, BOLD 68 (*A-C-GC ends a tough four-game slide)
Hancock 61, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 49
Montevideo 62, Minnewaska Area 59
Morris Area 70, Paynesville Area 37
Redwood Valley 67, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 51
Osakis 49, St. John's Prep 41 (*Osakis locks up the Prairie Conference title all alone)
Upsala 76, Royalton 56 (Royalton's hopes of winning a share of the Prairie Conference title are dashed with this tough loss to their neighboring rivals)
Swanville 59, Verndale 37

Area girls basketball scores:
Paynesville 44, Melrose 40 (Paynesville goes into playoffs 4-18, Melrose is 1-23)

Area girls basketball playoff scores:
Section 3A:
Adrian 61, Murray County Central 60
Canby 56, Minneota 48
Southwest MN Christian 69, Red Rock Central 66
Wabasso 48, Lakeview 41

Section 6A:
Barnesville 74, Mahnomen 39
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 59, Henning 47
Lake Park-Audubon 50, Ulen-Hitterdal 44
Rothsay 69, Waubun 50
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 54, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 46 F/2OT

Just found this...Girls basketball Sub-Section 6AA-West seedings:
1. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta, 2. West Central Area, 3. Minnewaska Area, 4. Osakis, 5. Staples-Motley, 6. Benson, 7. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle, 8. Breckenridge.

I predict that all four top seeds will win. That sets up the following showdowns for Saturday, March 7...at the University of Minnesota-Morris: Morris vs. Osakis at 6:00pm and then Minnewaska vs. WCA at about 7:45. I also predict that West Central Area will come out on top of this sub-section for the second straight season.

In Sub-Section 6AA-East...The Jaguars girls basketball team (17-8 overall, 11-3 CMC) should be able to defeat Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on Thursday night to advance to the semi-final round for the second straight season. If they beat A-C-GC, they will face top-seeded New London-Spicer (25-1) at 6:30pm on Saturday, March 7 at St.John's University.

Seedings for Sub-Section 5AA-20, which includes numerous Central Minnesota Conference girls basketball teams:
1- Eden Valley-Watkins
2- Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted
3- Litchfield
4- Pierz
5- Foley
6- Zimmerman
7- Kimball Area
8- Maple Lake

March Madness is here!

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