A great night in Jaguar country - girls basketball and wrestling teams both pick up wins

Julie Hieserich driving against heavy pressure from the Irish defense early in the first half of tonight's game.

The Jaguars girls basketball team came back from a 24-27 halftime deficit to defeat visiting Maple Lake 49-46 in a Central Minnesota Conference game. The Jaguars trailed the entire first half and didn't pull in front until there was 11:19 left, when Maggie Gruber hit a shot down low to put her team up 34-33.

Up next for the girls basketball team: a short road trip to neighboring rival Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, next Tuesday night, for a non-conference game. The Jaguars are now 5-9 overall and 3-5 in the CMC.

Central Minnesota Conference results on Jan. 28:
Eden Valley-Watkins 44, Kimball Area 41
HL-W-W 47, Pierz 45 (CMC race is up for grabs))
Rockford 52, Holdingford 48 ...parity has forced its way into the CMC.

Near the end of this clip, Hieserich drains a three to get the Jaguars' offense moving in the first half, after they fell behind 12-2 vs. Maple Lake.

The Jaguars closed the first half with a 5-0 run to get within three, down 27-24 at the break.

Action from the final two minutes of the second half, up to 39 seconds remaining, when the Jaguars held a 48-46 lead.


Up in Browerville, the Jaguars wrestling team picked up two wins in a dual meet tournament. They lost to state-ranked Border West before defeating West Central Area and Browerville/Eagle Valley.

Border West is the favorite to win Section 6A this year. Against WCA, the Jaguars limited the Knights to wins in only three matches. The win over the Browerville/Eagle Valley Broncos is important for sub-section seeding purposes. The Jaguars (5-13) have a real shot at a #7 playoff seed and a play-in round home match for the beginning of the Section 5A team tournament in mid-February.

Area girls basketball result on Jan. 28:
Sauk Centre 72, Paynesville 32
Underwood 40, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 33 (OT)
Brandon/Evansville 52, Rothsay 37
Breckenridge 51, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 45
KMS 59, Lakeview 28
Maccray 68, Dawson-Boyd 58
West Central Area 54, Frazee 44
Upsala 64, Osakis 52

Area boys basketball result on Jan. 28:
Melrose Area 64, Mora 59
New London-Spicer 63, Foley 55
West Central Area 84, Frazee 51
Benson 66, Morris Area/C-A 55 (a huge sub-section and conference win for Roger Lindahl's sub-.500 Braves, who improve to 7-8)
Hancock 63, KMS 35 (Owls' first win of the year)
ACGC 69, YME 56
Montevideo 53, LPQV 35
Ashby 55, Brandon/Evansville 53 (B/E is in a tailspin)
Eden Valley-Watkins 67, Paynesville Area 52

Regarding the Benson win vs. MA/CA, the senior point guard for MA/CA is out with some type of ligament injury, according to Minnewaska head coach Phil Johnsrud. Coach Johnsrud and his Lakers squad is gearing up for a battle at Morris next Tuesday night. From what he's heard, Erickson is out for 2 to 3 weeks, a status that could change for the better or worse. Erickson, who was a talented quarterback for the last-ever Chokio-Alberta/Herman-Norcross football team the past two years, helped lead MA/CA to a West Central South Conference championship last season and a 25-3 overall finish.

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