Blast from the past - March 11, 1998 West Central Tribune article - "BBE is one game away"

"BBE is one game away"
Jaguars outscrap Paynesville

by Rand Middleton

Any resemblence to a football game was strictly intentional.

BBE survived a rough and tumble battle with Highway 55 neighbor Paynesville before several thousand fans 61-48 in Howard Lake.

The Jaguars will face Sibley East at Halenback Hall for the 5AA title.

The Jaguars (18-7) led all the way, 26-20 at halftime.

The battle under the board for position in rebounds was fierce, and more than once a player hit the deck fighting for a free ball.

P'vile coach Darrel Carstens said the Bulldogs' game plan was to go right at the Jaguars' versatile 6-7 center Brent Frikken.

"But we didn't do it," said Carstens. "It looked like we were a little scared of him. A couple of our guys didn't step up tonight."

"We wanted to make it a contact game but it turned out they were more physical than us. And they were quicker."

But Carstens felt very good about the season, which ended 11-14. "This was a good year for us."

Frikken finished with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 6 blocks. The long-armed senior also swished a pair of threes. Kasey Schoumaker sparked the offense with 17 points and 7 assists.

"Brent and I have been playing together all our lives," said Kasey. "He's a great player. Get him the ball and he'll score. That's where I get all my assists, passing to him and my brother."

Travis supplied 9 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 steals. Guard Eric Lindstrom chipped in 13 points.

"Paynesville was shooting poorly (16-46) so we were going to the boards hard and there was a lot of physical contact," said Dave Montbriand. "This was a good year to have good football players on our team."

Just when it looked like BBE would cruise home, the Bulldogs pulled to within 54-46 on an 18-footer by Brent Heinen, who finished with 14 points on that shot and 4 threes.

But the next time down, Frikken blocked a shot by Joe Bergstrom on the wing and recovered the ball, then at the other end was fouled and made two free throws to lock it up at 56-46 with 90 seconds left.

BBE shot 21-39 FG, 11-18 FT, 4-11 on threes. Both teams hauled down 29 rebounds.

Note: Coach Montbriand's reference to having good football players on the team goes back to the Fall 1997 season, when the Jaguars went 7-4 (3-3 in the WC conference south) and finished 2nd in Section 5AA. It is the second-best season ever in football at B-B-E.