Jaguars boys basketball team earns #1 seed in Sub-Section 6AA-East, will host 8th-seed Holdingford on Thursday, March 12

Tip-off for the opening round of playoffs will be at 7:00 next Thursday, March 12. They will host Central Minnesota Conference rival Holdingford, who was the bottom seed in the sub-section. The Huskers are 6-18 overall and 3-10 in the CMC, with one game remaining on their schedule, Friday against Kimball at home.

Coach Montbriand was able to deliver a number-one seed for the Jaguars, during Wednesday night's playoff seeding meeting. He has bruised through numerous such meetings before, and that experience no doubt paid off in what was probably a tense meeting amongst some very sub-section coaches from A-C-GC, Albany, NL-S, Melrose, and Paynesville. He has coached 17 of the 21 Jaguars boys basketball teams, beginning in the 1990-1991 season.

A win over Holdingford would send the Jaguars into the semi-finals at St.John's on Saturday, March 14. That game would take place at 6:30pm, against the winner of the Melrose vs. Paynesville quarterfinal game. (The Dutchmen vs. Bulldogs matchup will be a heckuva game, between 4-seeded Melrose and 5-seeded Paynesville.)

Another big game will be in Albany, where the second-seeded Huskies host neighboring and conference rival Sauk Centre, who is seeded number seven. Albany has had a "Cinderella" type of season, as they went from a 5-20 season last year to 19-5 this season with one game left before playoffs.

Third-seeded New London-Spicer (West Central North Conference champs) will host sixth-seeded Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on quarterfinal night, March 12. NL-S is the defending Section 6AA and Class AA champion. NL-S has won every sub-section that they've played in since the 2005-2006 season. In 2006 and 2007, they won the Sub-Section 5AA-20 title; then winning the Sub-Section 6AA-East title in 2008.

This is the first time since 2002-2003 that the Jaguars have earned a #1 playoff seed in boys basketball. That year, the Jaguars entered Section 5A playoffs with a 20-5 record but were upset by a score of 67-56 to fourth-seeded Hancock in the sub-section semi-finals. The Jaguars finished 21-6 that year. Hancock went on to win Section 5A and finish 3rd at state. Leaders on that senior-dominated team were Ryan Koehler, Troy and Andy Rosengren, and Martin Gjerde.

• A little more history is as follows:

In 2004-2005, the Jaguars were seeded #2 in Sub-Section 5A-South, and ultimately defeated fourth-seeded Wheaton-Herman/Norcross 53-41 in the championship. W-H/N upset top-seeded Osakis 47-45 in the semi-finals to earn a shot at B-B-E. The Jaguars bowed out after a 58-56 loss to Battle Lake in the 5A championship game, finishing 21-9 overall. Key players on that team included a large number of seniors, including 2005 graduates Robbie Leukam, Pete Marthaler, Cody Sobiech, and Justin Montbriand.

In 2003-2004, the Jaguars were seeded number three in Sub-Section 5A-South, then proceeded to knock out 2-seeded Hancock 44-41 and 1-seeded Osakis 86-69. They fell in a tough loss to Bertha Hewitt 62-54 in the Section 5A championship, finishing 16-13 overall. (Awesome considering that they started that season 0-5!) Leaders on that team were 2004 graduates Jonathan Olmscheid, A.J. Hadley, and Kevin Gruber.

In 2001-2002, the Jaguars opened the season 13-0 (the school record for consecutive wins) and went 12-2 in the Central Minnesota Conference, finishing one game out of first place to 13-1 Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted. They set the current school record for regular season (21) and overall wins, finishing 23-4 after losing 65-41 to top-seeded Ortonville in the Sub-Section 5A-South title game. The Jaguars were seeded number two that season. Ortonville went on to finish 2nd in state. HL-W-W finished 4th that year at state also, coming out of Section 4A that year. Leaders on that team were 2002 graduates Zach and Adam Dingmann.

One other season, 1997-1998, the Jaguars earned the number-one seed in the old Sub-Section 5AA-20, after going through the regular season with a 15-7 record. They defeated Paynesville Area for the sub-section championship, ultimately losing 61-52 in a heartbreaker to Sibley East in the Section 5AA championship at Halenback Hall, SCSU. They finished 18-8 that year. Leaders on that team were 1998 graduates Kasey Schoumaker and Brent Frikken.

In 1996-1997, the Jaguars began the season 12-0, cracked the State Coaches Poll for the first time in B-B-E history (rising to #7 before falling out), and entered Sub-Section 5A-South playoffs as the number two seed behind Hancock. A mid-season slump cost them the West Central South Conference title, as they finished 8-4 behind champion Morris Area, who went 9-3 in the league. B-B-E regrouped to make a strong playoff run, farther than any B-B-E team had in school history. The Jaguars ultimately lost 54-31 in the Section 5A championship game to Hancock, who went on to win the Class A State championship in the first year of 4-classes in Minnesota. Leaders on that team were 1997 graduates Jeff Zenner and Tony Nemmers. They finished 20-6 that season.

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