Jaguar boys basketball wins handily at Eden Valley-Watkins 72-50, Jaguar girls drop high-scoring game at K-M-S

Connor Goodwin led the Jaguars tonight with 22 points on 11 field goals, with three other teammates also getting into double figures.

The #2-ranked Jaguars boys basketball team is 17-0 overall and 8-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference. Not too shabby! They pulled away from a 35-22 halftime lead against the Eagles tonight to go up 63-46 with six minutes remaining. Also noteworthy: Brady Koehler scored all 10 of his points in the first half, while Kirby Montbriand scored all of his 10 points in the second half.

Eden Valley-Watkins falls to 5-12 overall, 1-7 in the CMC. In February 2002, the Jaguars won a thrilling 58-57 overtime game at Eden Valley in which senior Zach Dingmann sunk the game-winner at the buzzer on a bullet-like assist from junior Ryan Koehler (the older brother of Brent and Brady Koehler). The following season, a very good Jaguar team lost 70-58 at Eden Valley on a night in which the Eagles shot an unbelievable 74% from the field (hitting 26-of-35 shots). The Jaguars were on a stretch that lasted six seasons in which they came back up Highway 55 with a loss at Eden Valley.

The Jaguars have now won three in a row at "the Cave" over the Eagles. Needless to say, it's never easy to win there, regardless of what type of season EV-W is having.

Up next, the Jaguar boys travel to Maple Lake on Friday night, in a game that will be on Smooth Magic 107 of Glenwood. The Irish are 11-6 overall and 4-3 in the CMC, having just won an overtime game against Kimball Area tonight.

Against the Camden North Conference-leading Fighting Saints, the Jaguars girls basketball team lost a high-scoring affair at Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg by a final score of 73-66. K-M-S (11-4) sits at 7-2 in their conference, one game ahead of MACCRAY with five Camden games left on the schedule.

Up next, the Jaguar girls travel to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted on Thursday night to face the CMC-leading Lakers.

Central Minnesota Conference boys basketball results on Feb. 1:
Pierz 71, Holdingford 53 (Pioneers led 44-26 at halftime)
Maple Lake 62, Kimball Area 61 (OT!)
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 63, Rockford 48 (a good win for the Lakers at Rockford)

Central Minnesota Conference standings as of February 1:
B-B-E (8-0)
HL-W-W (5-2)
Pierz (5-2)
Maple Lake (4-3)
Kimball Area (3-5)
Rockford (2-5)
Holdingford (2-6)
EV-W (1-7)

Note: Pierz travels to Howard Lake on Friday night in a game where the winner will have second place alone in the CMC with six league games remaining. By no means is the race over, and if B-B-E wants to "three-peat" they have a long road to endure.

Area boys basketball results on February 1:
Sauk Centre 73, St.Cloud Cathedral 63
Hawley 63, West Central Area 58
Richland (ND) 55, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 43
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 63, Melrose Area 48
Minnewaska Area 68, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 59
Albany 59, Mora 52
Barnesville 62, Ulen-Hitterdal 60 (two top teams in Sub-Section 6A-North faced off)
Upsala 60, Eagle Valley 56
Swanville 67, Osakis 57

Area girls basketball results on Feb. 1:
Sebeka 78, Eagle Valley 64
Mora 57, Albany 53
Ashby 40, Rothsay 35
Battle Lake 62, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 53
Pierz 58, Osakis 41
Foley 51, Maple Lake 44
Parkers Prairie 61, Underwood 44
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 58, Minnewaska Area 36
West Central Area 53, Brandon/Evansville 49
Bertha-Hewitt 61, Henning 47

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