Jaguars boys basketball wins playoff opener 63 to 27

The Jaguars boys basketball team limited the Holdingford Huskers to a mere 9 points in the first half. In the second half they led by as much as 50-20.

It marked the second year in a row that they hosted the sub-section opener, and it was their first playoff win since 2005.

Recent playoff results: 2006, 79-75 OT loss at Maple Lake; 2007, 56-48 loss at Paynesville Area; 2008, 71-69 loss at home to Paynesville Area.

The Jaguars are now 23-4 going into Saturday's sub-section semi-final game. They will face neighboring rival Melrose Area at 6:30 at St.John's University on Saturday, March 14. Melrose defeated Paynesville Area tonight 80-71 in a game between huge rivals that not only neighbor one another, but reside in the same conference, the West Central North.

Paynesville hung around for the whole game, after falling behind by double-digits midway through the second half. They trailed by one point at halftime, and fell behind by as wide of a margin as 63-48 during the second half. The Bulldogs finish their season 12-12 overall.

Senior guard Ryan Klassen led the Dutchmen with 31 points.

Melrose Area, the #4-seed, is 11-14 going into Saturday's game. They are a very tough team that's without a doubt capable of beating the Jaguars. Both games at St.John's on Saturday night will be great battles that will also be carried on 106.5 FM radio.

Second-seeded Albany withstood what was nothing less than "war" on its own hardwood, when they picked up a come-from-behind win over West Central North Conference rival Sauk Centre 59-56. The Mainstreeters were the #7-seed. The Huskies trailed by 7 points at halftime, and then with 11:00 left, had a deficit of 39-35 to work out of.

I've got more information from the Albany-Sauk game that I will post later tonight.

Section 6AA scores:
Morris Area 51, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 46 F/OT!!
Albany 59, Sauk Centre 56 (#2-seed Albany survives a big scare)
Benson 69, Minnewaska Area 66
Breckenridge 67, West Central Area 42
Melrose 80, Paynesville Area 71
New London-Spicer 84, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 50
Staples-Motley 90, Osakis 50

In the Sub-Section 6AA-West semi-finals, Morris takes on Benson, and Staples-Motley faces Breckenridge. In the east semi's, NL-S faces Albany, and B-B-E takes on Melrose.

Scores out of Section 5AA:
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 58, Kimball Area 45 (HL-W-W is 19-7)
Pierz 61, Maple Lake 24 (Pierz is the #1-seed in Sub-Section 5AA-18)
Watertown-Mayer 73, Rockford 63
Foley 63, Eden Valley-Watkins 56
St.Cloud Cathedral 80, Zimmerman 71
Norwood-Young America 63, Litchfield 56

In the Sub-Section 18 semi-final, Pierz will face St.Cloud Cathedral. HL-W-W will take on Foley in the other semi-final.

Section 3AA scores:
MACCRAY 83, Redwood Valley 69 (Maccray is 26-1, Redwood finishes 20-6)
Martin County West 59, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 45
Montevideo 66, Minnesota Valley Lutheran 53

Neighboring rivals Maccray and Montevideo, who reside in different conferences, will slug it out for the 3AA-North championship on Saturday. The game will be held at 6:00pm at Southwest State University in Marshall. What a game that one will be!

Section 6A scores:
Hancock 103, Underwood 64 (Wow!)
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 68, Parkers Prairie 47
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 66, Battle Lake 33

Section 3A scores:
Ortonville 56, Dawson-Boyd 52 (Ortonville was the #1 seed, D-B was #5)

Section 5A score:
Swanville 68, Verndale 55

Hancock advances to face #2-seeded Wheaton/Herman-Norcross.

A score in girls basketball playoffs...
Section 2AAA: Worthington 54, Willmar 31 (Willmar finishes 22-4)

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