Area basketball scores on Dec. 30

Boys basketball...
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 57, Minnewaska Area 56 (OT...Lakers trailed 29-20 at halftime, then led 56-52 with 90 seconds left in the overtime period...LP-GE is 8-0, Lakers fall to 1-6)
Litchfield 69, Melrose Area 55

Girls basketball...
New London-Spicer 46, Willmar 45 OT
A-C-GC 66, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 51
LP-GE 53, Minnewaska Area 44 (Lakers blew a 28-20 halftime lead)

Smooth Magic coaches' roundup program to have Coach Vos on Saturday

An interview with Jaguars wrestling Coach Rich Vos will be aired on Smooth Magic 107FM beginning at about 7:20am on Saturday morning, New Year's Eve day.

Local man and young son saved from Fairy Lake today

The black item seen in the middle of this photo is the father's cap sitting on the edge of the ice by the site where his Polaris Gator plunged into the water around 12:30 p.m. today...the site is right near the "landing" on the west side of Fairy Lake in far southern Todd County.
Fairy Lake and its public beach is a popular summertime destination for many folks in the area. It's located about 6 miles north of Sauk Centre.

Click on the link to see an article at the Sauk Centre Herald talking about today's dramatic rescue:
http://saukherald.com/main.asp?ArticleID=13648&SectionID=12&SubSectionID=48

Swany White flour mill burns to the ground in Freeport last night

Click on the links below to see more on the devastating flour mill fire in Freeport last night...
Melrose Beacon website link: http://melrosebeacon.com

http://melrosebeacon.com/main.asp?SectionID=18&SubSectionID=66&NewsVideoID=12

http://theenterprisenews.blogspot.com/2011/12/freeport-mill-destroyed-by-fire.html

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Albany-Enterprise/183250261761102

...and below, a link to a photo album of the fire fighter response...
http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1386231&CategoryID=72045&ListSubAlbums=0

More scenes from Thursday night's win over Minnewaska Area

Jaguars are in a dog fight vs. Minnewaska...then the Lakers are demolished in the second half

The Jaguars played a pretty solid first half defensively but for a couple of possessions where they gave up easy baskets in the paint to the Lakers...

The Minnewaska Area Lakers, just 1-3 coming into the game, have led on only a couple occasions, but they are playing an inspired game against the Jaguars boys basketball team tonight. The stands were full, with the Lakers bringing a very large crowd over to the gym tonight. It was quite an atmosphere!

At halftime, the Jaguars are now up 30-27 after once holding a 28-13 lead. They've only had a couple strong scoring surges and have missed countless buckets from point blank range. Part of it is the hustling defense being played by the Lakers, no doubt, but having a week off from their last game isn't helping either.

Crazy...can you say, "shaking the rust off!" **In the second half, the Jaguars are destroying Minnewaska...with 9 minutes left it's 53-31! They buried the Lakers with an 18-2 run to open the second half. The Minnewaska crowd, who was very vocal (with good reason) in the first half...was sitting on their hands in shock, jaws dropped, for almost the entire second half. (Yeah, I enjoyed that.)

**Final: the Jaguars won 73-44 to improve to 7-0 overall. They shot exactly 50 percent from the floor (31-of-62), which is a pretty remarkable figure considering they threw up bricks at least 10 times in the first half on close-range field goal attempts. Brian Goodwin had 8 assists and James Kuefler followed with 5 assists to help guide the offense.

The B-squad Jaguars defeated the Lakers in another blowout by a 54-36 score. The C-squad Jaguars won a closer game 46-39. It's always fun to get a 3-0 sweep against a neighboring school.

With a little over 3 minutes gone in the game...the Jaguars led 6-0 tonight...

Both times on shots from point blank, B-B-E goes up 26-13 with 6:52 left and then takes a 28-13 lead with 6:24 on the clock...


At halftime, the Jaguars girls' basketball team leads 19-18 at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City.

Final: A-C-GC 63, B-B-E 40.

Down in Paynesville, the Jaguars wrestling team lost 38-21 in a dual meet. Dillon Knutson earned a 50-second pin at 182 pounds for the only win by fall for B-B-E.

Area boys' basketball scores on Dec. 22:
Ashby 67, Brandon/Evansville 34
Benson 71, Paynesville Area 51
Melrose Area 82, Holdingford 42
Dassel-Cokato 76, New London-Spicer 71
Pierz 80, Mora 58
Litchfield 60, Albany 50
Bertha-Hewitt 79, Upsala 72
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 67, Delano 58

Area girls' basketball scores on Dec. 22:
Albany 72, Sauk Centre 68 (Albany led 33-28 at halftime)
Pierz 67, Little Falls 54
Paynesville Area 57, Melrose Area 54 (a great West Central North Conference win for the Bulldogs...they're 7-1!)
Benson 67, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 62
New London-Spicer 68, Minnewaska Area 43
Parkers Prairie 83, New York Mills 14 (Ouch!)

Thursday night's games will be on the radio

The Train 106.5 FM is in Grove City with the girls' basketball team, while at home Smooth Magic 107.1 FM is covering the boys' game.

More scenes from last night's win at Minnewaska Area...and a clip from last week

Senior Amy Bast knocks down a shot against Minnewaska with just over 12 minutes left in the game...

Brittany Winter has a nice drive to the basket and dishes off to Amy Bast on the left block with just over one minute left in the game...

The Jaguars boys' team defeat Sauk Centre on Dec. 13...

A few fun facts I learned from the Minnesota State High School League...
Did you know? In a survey of 300 high schools in Minnesota, the average GPA for student athletes was 2.84, while the average student's GPA was 2.68. The study also showed that student athletes miss an average of 7.4 days of school each year, compared to the average student missing 8.8 days a year.

Jaguars snap 4-game skid with a win at Minnewaska - Wrestlers drub Sauk Centre/Melrose

Taylor Braegelman bolts down court on a fast break opportunity tonight at Minnewaska...

Final at Minnewaska: B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball 57, Lakers 53. After being tied 28-28 at halftime, the Jaguars (2-5) broke open the game and took a 44-36 lead on Raeann Sorenson's three-pointer with 11:21 on the clock. The Lakers (2-5) cut the deficit to 44-43 with a 7-0 run over a three-minute stretch, but the Jaguars held on while snapping a four-game losing skid. They travel to Grove City (A-C-GC) on Thursday night for another non-conference game.

(Below) Raeann Sorenson takes it to the hole and is fouled about 5 minutes into the second half...


In a home match, the Jaguars wrestling team defeated Sauk Centre/Melrose Area 45-27. Recording wins by fall for B-B-E were Josey (113 pounds), Tyler Tensen (120 pounds), Ross Rath (126 pounds) and Matt Schmitz (152 pounds). The Jaguars travel to Paynesville on Thursday night for a key Section 5A dual against the Bulldogs. The stakes are high, as both teams are battling for a top-5 seed for the playoffs. A-C-GC and Kimball Area undoubtedly will take the top two spots, but everything below them is up for grabs at this point.

Area girls' basketball results on Dec. 20:
Albany 68, Foley 50
Melrose Area 42, Holdingford 30
New London-Spicer 72, Annandale 71
Sauk Centre 52, Osakis 43
Paynesville Area 52, Pierz 48 (Bulldogs are 6-1)
Hancock 60, Ashby 24
A-C-GC 52, Yellow Medicine East 41 (Falcons will host the Jaguars on Thursday night; this was their first win, while YME was on a four-game winning streak)

Area boys' basketball results on Dec. 20:
Sauk Centre 77, Osakis 69
New London-Spicer 63, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 56
Pierz 68, Paynesville Area 55

Jaguars girls' basketball gets off to a good start at Minnewaska

The Jaguars' girls basketball team has been running and gunning along with the host Lakers and are tied 13-13 with 6 minutes gone in the game. They've taken two two-point leads at 4-2 and 13-11.

With 6:39 left before halftime, the Lakers have taken a 21-16 lead. Megan Weller hit a short jumper to get the Jaguars within three, down 21-18. It was B-B-E's first field goal since Mariah Rach's outside shot gave them a 12-11 lead with 12:30 on the clock.

At halftime, the Jaguars fought back to tie the game at 28-28.

Check back later for game results, photos and video from the game.

Tuesday night's girls' basketball game at Minnewaska will be on Smooth Magic 107...also, K-6 wrestling is at 5:00 before the home varsity dual

If you can't get 107.1 FM on your radio, tune in to the game online at
http://www.kmgk1071.com

Here's a note I got from a B-B-E wrestling mom: The K-6th grade Sauk Centre/Melrose wrestlers will be wrestling against the K-6th B-B-E wrestlers before the JV match starts on Tuesday night at the high school in Belgrade. The JV wrestling is scheduled to begin at 6:00, and the elementary wrestling will start one hour prior at 5:00.

Album uploaded from last week's halftime danceline show from the B-B-E Dazzlers

The link is: http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1380290&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=1

Walsh family in Glenwood loses their belongings in house fire

The Mike and Shannon (Douvier) Walsh family of Glenwood suffered a serious house fire in Glenwood on Thursday night, two nights ago.

Both are recent Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa high school graduates and have two young children, a three-year old and a one-year old.

Fortunately, the family was not home at the time of the fire. One sad note is that they recently adopted a new puppy, Tucker; the puppy died in the fire.

Mike is an employee with the ambulance service for Glacial Ridge Health Systems of Glenwood.

Below is a message posted by Diane Meyer, who is the marketing manager for the Glenwood hospital:
Another co-worker's house burned last night and they lost everything. Glacial Ridge Ambulance is collecting donations for them to re-start w/ the esentials. They need towels, bedding, cleaning agents, food, anything that comes to mind when you think of what you'd need if it happened to your family. Drop them off @ the EMS office in Glenwood (across from the ambulance garage) anytime -always staffed unless out on call - or contact me and I can bring them to work. (They have a home to stay @ already.).....They have a 1 year old boy who wears 24 mo. clothes, needs diapers, crib bedding, toys, books, etc. Their daughter is 3 and wears size 5t. Beside clothing, she needs pull-ups, twin size bedding, toys, books, etc.

I'll post more information on this as I learn it.

Santa Days in Belgrade is a big success, draws huge crowd *Video added

Bob Mathison and George Borgerding and the Belgrade Days royalty helped with the toy giveaway at last night's annual Santa Days in Belgrade...
More to follow this weekend from that event!

More from last night in Belgrade...*video below

More video from this past week...

From halftime of the boys' basketball game on Tuesday night against Sauk Centre...

The National Anthem prior to last night's girls' basketball game...

Jaguars girls' basketball shows promise in tonight's loss to Maple Lake

Brittany Roelike dribbles against the Maple Lake defense...
Senior Raeann Sorenson guides the ball down court tonight...she split time with Mariah Rach (shown in back) at the point...
Against a very solid Maple Lake Irish squad tonight on the home court, the Jaguars girls' basketball team fell behind by 10 points early in the first half but battled back to make a game of it in their second Central Minnesota Conference game of the season.

At one point the Jaguars pulled ahead 43-41 midway through the second half. The Irish put the clamps down, though, while cranking up the defensive full court pressure before winning 58-53. Maple Lake improves to 1-1 in the CMC and 4-1 overall with the win.

Light game notes...
Maple Lake scored eight unanswered points through the first four minutes and 10 seconds of play. The Jaguars got on the scoreboard with 13:40 left in the half on a layup by Megan Weller.
Weller scored the Jaguars' second bucket from 10 feet out to make it a 13-4 deficit a little over a minute later.
The Irish went ahead 16-6 before the Jaguars came alive with an 8-0 run to make it 16-14 with 7:30 left.
The Irish again took a 10-point lead before the Jaguars fought back to get within four two different times before halftime. At the break, Maple Lake led 30-22.
The Jaguars came out with a solid effort through the first half of the second period. Brittany Roelike drained two key 15-foot shots from different spots that helped cut into a 9-point Irish lead with five minutes elapsed. Becca Gruber then hit a couple shots from point-blank range to make it a five-point game. A three-pointer by Raeann Sorenson cut the Irish lead to 41-39 with 8:00 remaining.
Two free throws by Megan Weller put the Jaguars up 43-41 with 7:05 left. Maple Lake's Brooke Decker earned a three-point play to swipe the lead back at 44-43. The Jaguars then earned their final lead at 45-44 with 6:30 remaining. In a matter of only a few seconds later, though, Maple Lake went 3-for-4 at the line to go up 47-45. They led 51-47 before Weller drained a rebound shot in the paint to cut it to 51-49 with 2:48 left. Maple Lake then made it a two-possession game and the Jaguars could get no closer down the stretch.
I thought the Jaguars played well in this game against a tough opponent if you take away the first nine minutes of the first half. They weren't crisp the entire game, but for the most part they were able to run the offense well, crash the boards, run the transition game at times and apply good defense in the paint. They were hurt a few times in the second half during their comeback when Maple Lake hit a couple long outside shots to loosen up the zone.
I definitely look for good things to happen next week, with the team making trips to Minnewaska and then Grove City on Thursday. A-C-GC is 0-5 but by all means is not a pushover. If the Jaguars could take a 3-4 record into the Christmas break, that would give them a spark to carry into the January and February portion of the schedule. They were in three of their four losses for most of the second halves of play; they just need a little more consistency to get back to their winning ways from last season's 14-13 campaign. The Kimball loss was really the only one where they had a poor showing on the hard court.


Below, Raeann's three-pointer with 8:07 on the clock in the second half...


Tonight's game was aired on Smooth Magic 107 of Glenwood.

Up next: a short trip west to Minnewaska Area high school next Tuesday for a non-conference game with the Lakers, who are 2-4 overall and just scored an impressive 41-30 win at Benson last night.

Another scheduling note: the B-B-E Dazzlers danceline team will be at the 17-team BOLD Invitational tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 17) for their second competition of the season. I don't know what time they dance, but I do know they are in a group of dance teams at the Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart high school campus in Hector. (BOLD's basically borrowing extra gym space due to the large number of teams at this invitational.)

Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on Dec. 16:
Eden Valley-Watkins 54, Kimball Area 35
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 63, Pierz 44

Area girls' basketball scores on Dec. 16:
West Central Area 59, Royalton 42
Braham 91, Albany 47
Melrose Area 49, Osakis 40
Sauk Centre 69, Montevideo 60
Paynesville Area 46, BOLD 39 (Paynesville's girls' basketball team is 5-1 for the first time in a long time)

Area boys' basketball scores on Dec. 16:
Paynesville 61, BOLD 34
Montevideo 75, Sauk Centre 41
HL-W-W 75, Litchfield 67 (an impressive Section 5AA win for the Lakers)
Upsala 65, Pillager 59

B-B-E girls fall to 1-4 on the season in a competitive game at Melrose; Wrestlers defeat Eden Valley-Watkins

Junior guard Mariah Rach dribbles around the Melrose defense in last night's game. Rach hit one three-pointer and two free throws to finish with five points on the night. Altogether, eight Jaguars hit the scoring column. PHOTO BY Herman Lensing, Melrose Beacon.
Midway through the second half, the Jaguars pulled ahead 42-41 on a bucket from Megan Weller, but the Dutchmen then got two three-pointers from Gabi Sawyer and hit 7-of-8 free throws down the stretch to seal the close win. Senior Raeann Sorenson led the Jaguars with 16 points on three field goals and a 9-of-10 performance at the free throw line.

At the A-C-GC Triangular on Thursday night, the Jaguars wrestling team went 1-1 to improve to 3-1 in duals this season. They lost to the Falcons before defeating section and conference rival Eden Valley-Watkins 40-27. It's a great win for the Jaguars that will help them at seeding time. To be certain, they have to continue beating Section 5A opponents in the regular season to. They've definitely got the right level of talent and determination to build a resume worthy of a top-four playoff seed next February.

Jaguars jump all over Paynesville in the opening minutes

It's 7-0 with the Jaguars boys' basketball team in the lead with 16:11 remaining in the opening half of tonight's game at Paynesville.
The Bulldogs called a timeout to see what could be done.
The Jaguars ultimately scored the game's first 17 points before Paynesville hit their first successful shot.

Update at halftime...the Jaguars have an incredible 42-10 lead at the break.

The game is on Smooth Magic 107 of Glenwood.

D-Mac's halftime stats include: Connor Goodwin has 18 points, all from the floor; scoring then reads Brian Goodwin 9, Billy Borgerding 6, James Kuefler 4, Kirby Montbriand 3, Austin Imdieke 2. The Jaguars have a rebounding edge by a 20-9 margin; they shot 1-for-6 on the arc, while the Bulldogs are 0-for-6. The host Bulldogs have 13 turnovers, while the Jaguars have only turned the ball over five times through the first 18 minutes of play.

With 10:30 left in the game at Paynesville, the Jaguars lead 66-17!

Final score:...with nine minutes left, running time (mercy rule) was put into effect. The Jaguars ended up winning 74-28, a 46-point spread!

**Update from Melrose...the Jaguars girls' basketball team trailed 8-6 with 8 minutes of the game gone. With just around 3:00 left, the game was tied at 14-14! At halftime, Melrose leads 19-16.

Final score from Melrose: Dutchmen 57, Jaguars 50.

More scenes from last night's border battle win against Sauk Centre

Junior Trey Heinsius grabbed a steal and eyes the basket in this shot, a layup which he converted to spark the Jaguars to an early lead against Sauk Centre last night...
Kirby Montbriand drained this layup shot in the opening minutes of the 2nd half...

By the way, tomorrow night's game at Paynesville for the Jaguars boys' basketball team will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 of Glenwood.
Connect online at http://www.kmgk1071.com (Thanks, D-Mac!)

(Video) B-B-E Industrial Technology club teaches automotive design

Mr. Gjerstad demonstrates wire-feed welding on a thin piece of metal, where the vehicle is having suspension modifications done...

Be sure to read all about this project on page A5 of this week's Dec. 15 issue of the Sauk Centre Herald.

Not a subscriber? Sign up for an online subscription at http://saukcentreherald.mn.newsmemory.com

Schedule update for B-B-E girls' basketball

The Jaguars girls' basketball team will travel to Melrose tomorrow night (Thursday, Dec. 15) for a non-conference game. At www.vikinglandsports.com as of today (and Monday earlier this week) it shows the Jaguars hosting the Dutchmen.

It also shows B-B-E hosting Minnewaska Area next Tuesday, Dec. 20...but that's wrong too, as the Jaguars will travel to Minnewaska Area High School that night.

I should have stuck to following what's posted at the official CMC website. I enjoy being able to use Vikinglandsports.com because it makes it very quick and simple to look up the records of B-B-E's opposing teams.

Lesson learned.

Below, action from the closing seconds of the first half of last night's B-B-E vs. Sauk Centre game...


And below, action from late in the second half...

Jaguars lead Mainstreeters 29-23 at halftime

The B-B-E Dazzlers danceline team unveiled their new look for the 2011-12 season during halftime tonight...
In the opening seconds of the 2nd half, Brian Goodwin laid in a transition bucket to make it 31-23.

With 14:41 left, Connor Goodwin is at the line shooting two free throws. He made the first one to make it 37-27. At that point, Sauk Centre called a timeout.

The Jaguars pulled ahead for a 50-36 lead before the Mainstreeters rallied to close the gap to five points with a 9-1 run, down 51-46 with 3:30 remaining. B-B-E went 6-of-11 on free throws in the closing minutes, just enough to keep Sauk Centre at a distance.

Final score: B-B-E 59, Sauk Centre 50.

It was a clean sweep for the Jaguar boys, as the B- and C-squad Jaguars both won by 46-36 and 44-34 scores, respectively.

An update at Kimball in varsity girls' basketball action: with 3 minutes left, the Cubs lead 53-24. Final: Kimball 58, B-B-E 34.

Below, a scene from the first half vs. Sauk Centre with under 3:00 to go...

Below, a small clip from the Dazzlers' halftime performance...


More to follow shortly!

Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball openers on Dec. 13:
Eden Valley-Watkins 58, Maple Lake 45
Pierz 63, Rockford 51
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 65, Holdingford 34

Area girls' basketball scores on Dec. 13:
Alexandria 60, Sauk Centre 44 (1st Sauk Centre regular season loss since Dec. 4, 2010)
West Central Area 69, Swanville 59
Upsala 74, Browerville 46
Osakis 53, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 39
Hancock 62, Battle Lake 35
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 58, Minnewaska Area 44
New London-Spicer 63, Foley 50

Area boys' basketball scores on Dec. 13:
Melrose Area 80, Foley 51
Ashby 81, Osakis 69
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 80, Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 63
Parkers Prairie 69, Brandon/Evansville 68 (held at Parkers Prairie)
Paynesville Area 55, Yellow Medicine East 42
Delano 74, Rockford 41 (ouch)
Royalton 62, Kimball Area 61
Battle Lake 54, Underwood 41

Tonight's boys' basketball game will be on the Train

Bill Dean will be providing play-by-play coverage at tonight's boys' basketball game against undefeated Sauk Centre.

Jaguars pull away from Melrose in final minutes...

The Jaguars (4-0) put their undefeated record on the line tonight against Sauk Centre (3-0) at the B-B-E elementary gymnasium. The new floor will be unveiled to the public as well.

Remarkable: Jaguars wrestling goes 2-0 at the MACCRAY/RCW triangular

The Jaguars wrestling team started out the 2011-12 dual meet campaign with an impressive performance at Clara City on Friday night.

They defeated BOLD 34-33 for their first win over the Warriors on the mats since the 1990s. It may be B-B-E's first-ever win against BOLD in wrestling, but I don't have complete records from the 1980s or 90s.

Both teams traded forfeits at the upper weights (195 and 220), but the closest win of the night went to B-B-E at the 106-pound class. There, Kaleb Voss won a 4-3 decision to start the dual with the Jaguars ahead 3-0.

In the second dual of the night, the Jaguars beat MACCRAY/Renville County West 43-29. What is pretty shocking is that MACCRAY/RCW gave up forfeits at 160, 170 and 182 pounds. Both teams had forfeits at 220.

For comparison's sake, the top four grades (9-12) combined enrollment for MACCRAY/RCW is 320; B-B-E's is 178...yet it's the Jaguars who are fielding the more complete varsity wrestling lineup. (That data is based on the 2010 enrollment figures.)

The last time B-B-E's wrestlers started 2-0 in dual meets was in the 2007-2008 season. On Dec. 6, 2007, the Jaguars began that season by beating Royalton/Swanville 34-27 and Rockford 55-25 in a home triangular. Going into the final three matches of the Royalton/Swanville match, the Jaguars trailed 27-21 before picking up a major decision, a pin and a decision to cap a thrilling win.

Jaguars girls' basketball loses to Paynesville Area

Final: Bulldogs 58, Jaguars 51.

The Jaguars girls' basketball team (1-2) closed the gap to one point with around 7:00 left, but with 4:00 remaining they were behind 52-44.

They open up the Central Minnesota Conference schedule next Tuesday at Kimball Area. The Cubs were 3-0 going into tonight's game against undefeated Litchfield. (Litchfield beat Kimball Area 56-37 tonight on the Dragons' home court.)

Below, the three-pointer is in this video that put the Jaguars back in front against Melrose last night...made by Kirby Montbriand with about 7:55 left in the game.


**Next Thursday's boys' basketball game between B-B-E and Paynesville Area, in Paynesville, will be broadcast on Smooth Magic 107 of Glenwood. Next Friday, the girls' basketball game at home against Maple Lake will be on Smooth Magic as well.

Area boys' basketball scores on December 9:
Benson 62, Minnewaska Area 61 (**The Lakers led 25-23 at halftime, then built a 13-point lead in the first few minutes of the second half...but Roger Lindahl's Braves stormed back for the epic border battle win; what's crazy is that the official scorekeeper missed one made field goal in the book for the Lakers...that ultimately cost them the game!
Royalton 56, Osakis 42
Maple Lake 62, Foley 48
HL-W-W 76, Sibley East 54 (HL-W-W's first win after two losses to open the season)
Sauk Centre 65, Staples-Motley 47 (Mainstreeters are 3-0; they come to town next Tuesday to face the Jaguars in a battle of unbeatens)
Montevideo 84, New London-Spicer 57
Jordan 51, Rockford 45
Albany 68, Holdingford 42

Scenes from last night's win vs. Melrose...plus B-squad action from WCA last weekend...plus link to photo album from the varsity Melrose game

The lane got crowded in a hurry every time either team made a move for the basket...
The game was well-covered via the airwaves, with both BOB FM and The Train giving outstanding coverage to the teams...

The B-squad team defeated Melrose Area last night as well...below, a clip from the overtime win at West Central Area...


...and the above-mentioned link: http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1376211&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=1

Jaguar boys basketball survives test from Melrose

In the season opener for the Melrose, the Dutchmen came to play tonight in front of a packed crowd at the B-B-E High School. The undefeated (coming in 3-0) Jaguars boys basketball team came to play too, and the result was a wildly entertaining border battle between a group of athletes who enjoy good friendships off the court.

After leading 33-26 at halftime, the Jaguars fell behind by a 48-39 deficit with 10:10 on the clock. Like all great teams do, however, they stormed back with a vengeance and pulled ahead 53-50 with around 8 minutes to go and never looked back in a 75-64 win. The Jaguars outscored the Dutchmen 33-12 over the game's final 7 1/2 minutes!

Some great run-and-gun basketball for the Jaguars kept Melrose at bay in the closing minutes. The Dutchmen trailed only by two points at 62-60 with 4:23 left in the game. The Jaguars were sparked with a three-pointer by Billy Borgerding with 3:00 left and a layup by Borgerding with 87 seconds remaining that put the Jaguars up 71-64.

Below, the closing seconds of the game...it was a classy scene to witness...gotta love seeing that in high school ball...


Up next:...next Tuesday, a very talented Sauk Centre squad comes to town for the "second home opener" of the season for the Jaguars, who will christen a brand-new floor at the elementary school gymnasium that night.

Area boys' basketball scores on December 8:
Benson 84, Hancock 60
Browerville 77, West Central Area 59
Kimball Area 70, A-C-GC 51
Underwood 57, Brandon/Evansville 42
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 62, Henning 51
Battle Lake 52, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 33

More video from last weekend...basketball and wrestling action

At WCA, with under 8:00 to go in the game...Brian Goodwin punches in two straight layups...

Jaguar boys' basketball pummels MA/CA

Hopefully it's a sign of things to come!

After winning by huge margins against Class A competition in the first two regular season games, the B-B-E Jaguars boys basketball team traveled to Morris to face the Class AA Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Tigers in a non-conference game. The Tigers are always a conference contender and have a strong crew of players on this year's team.

They were no match for the Jaguars, though, as they lost 71-43 to the visitors. What a win for B-B-E!

In their home opener, the Jaguars girls' basketball team defeated Ortonville 54-31.

Area boys' basketball scores on Dec. 6:
Osakis 62, Swanville 50
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 67, Upsala 55
Sauk Centre 62, Holdingford 52 (Sauk trailed 42-29 at halftime at Holdingford)
Mayer Lutheran 51, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 50
Pierz 93, Wadena-Deer Creek 38
Broweville 89, Sebeka 53
Henning 56, Underwood 39
Ortonville 39, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 32
New London-Spicer 74, Foley 46

Area girls' basketball scores on Dec. 6:
Parkers Prairie 60, Brandon/Evansville 34
Sauk Centre 56, Holdingford 30 (12 players score for Sauk Centre!)
West Central Area 48, Minnewaska Area 47 (WCA wins on a 19-foot shot with 4.1 seconds left in Barrett)

More from Barrett last night...

Action from the final seconds of the first half against WCA...Trey Heinsius drives down court for a layup attempt at the buzzer...

I've got more wrestling and basketball clips from over the weekend that I'll add later today. As of Tuesday afternoon, Youtube is undergoing internal maintenance, so I can't edit the tags and titles of my uploads.

On Tuesday night, the Jaguars boys' basketball team travels to Morris, while the Jaguars girls' basketball team hosts Ortonville in their home opener. Both games have a 7:30 tip off.

Jaguars lead at halftime 47-26 vs. West Central Area

Junior Alex Wosmek brought plenty of intensity to the Jaguars' defense as one of the many substitutes who saw action in the first half tonight...
A hustling B-B-E Jaguars boys basketball team jumped out to an 11-0 lead with 14:44 left in the first half against West Central Area, then led 27-4 with 9:42 left on their way to a big lead at the break in the Preaseason 2011 Clash title game.

The second half is set to begin at about 9:16.

Below, the starter introduction prior to tip-off tonight at WCA...

Action with about 11 minutes left in the first half...


In the second half, the Jaguars started out with a 12-0 run and never looked back, holding a comfortable lead all the way to a 84-55 win.

They take a 2-0 record into Morris next Tuesday to face the undefeated Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta Tigers. It's the first meeting of the two teams since the 1998-1999 season, the last year B-B-E was a member of the West Central South Conference. And yes, the Tigers are still coached by Mark Torgerson, who like Coach Montbriand is one of the great ones out there.

On that subject, Coach Montbriand earned his 300th career coaching win last night during the Jaguars' season-opening win over A-C-GC. He now has 301 wins in his 19th season as head coach at B-B-E.

More on that will appear in next week's Sauk Centre Herald.

Jaguars are set to tip-off with WCA at around 8:20 tonight

The Jaguars B-squad game just went to 2-0 on the young season with an exciting 54-53 overtime win over West Central Area in a preliminary game tonight in Barrett.

Last night, the Mike Brower-coached Jaguars beat A-C-GC 58-39 in their season opener.

Tonight's B-B-E vs. WCA varsity game was supposed to begin at 7:30, but for some reason K-M-S arrived at the WCA High School about 45 minutes late. The third-place game is in its final minutes right now (at 8:00) with A-C-GC beating a very inexperienced K-M-S team 70-40.

Santa is in Elrosa this morning!

I just talked to someone in Elrosa who said he spotted Santa Claus sneaking in the back door at the Elrosa Parish Center.

Santa will be meeting children from the Elrosa area from 9:30 to 10:30 this morning.

Boys' basketball team lights up A-C-GC in season opener

The Jaguars boys basketball team won 80-56 tonight over Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in the first night of the Preseason 2011 Clash at West Central Area. The Jaguars play in the championship game at 8:00 tomorrow night back in Barrett. They will face West Central Area, who defeated Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 73-43 in the other semifinal game.

Tonight's game at WCA was the Jaguars' first trip there in boys' basketball since the 1995-1996 season, when WCA and B-B-E were both members of the West Central South Conference. That was WCA's last season in the WCCS; B-B-E exited the league in 1999.

At Benson, the Jaguars girls' basketball team trailed 28-25 at halftime before losing 68-56. Their next game is next Tuesday at home against Ortonville.

Area boys' basketball results on December 2:
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 66, Albany 57
Battle Lake 58, Henning 41
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 56, Underwood 53
Watertown-Mayer 72, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 24 (I don't think an HL-W team has ever been limited to only 24 points!)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 41, Minnewaska Area 39
Litchfield 80, New London-Spicer 62
Browerville 68, Bertha-Hewitt 43
Sauk Centre 85, Wadena-Deer Creek 57
Holdingford 68, Royalton 55
Eden Valley-Watkins 60, Osakis 47
Paynesville Area 54, Kimball Area 50 (OT; Bulldogs win a game for 1st time since the 2009-2010 season)

This Jaguars sports update, the first basketball update of the 2011-12 season, is brought to you by:

Jaguars wrestling leads tournament after first round - they end up placing 2nd!

Junior Patrick Rooney right after winning his quarterfinal match by pin (1:46) over a Yellow Medicine East wrestler...
Here's junior Marshall Zachman rolling a Browerville/Eagle Valley guy over prior to pinning him in the quarterfinal round heavyweight match...my camera picked a grant time to act up on me, and I ended up missing out on taking a nice shot of his pin.
The Jaguars led with 31 team points after the first round of wrestling was completed today in their home invitational. New London-Spicer was in second place with 29 points.

Josey Tensen, Tyler Tensen, Patrick Rooney, Ross Rath and Dillon Knutson all earned spots in the championship matches for their respective divisions.

Knutson won his semifinal round with a 31-second pin over a Willmar wrestler!

Patrick Rooney in the quarterfinal match tonight; he won by pin (1:46) over a Yellow Medicine East wrestler...

Josey Tensen in action...


Josey Tensen, Ross Rath and Patrick Rooney all won their respective championship round matches. Tyler Tensen and Knutson both took second. As a team, the Jaguars placed second behind champion New London-Spicer. This is the first time since at least 2002 that the Jaguars have place 2nd at a home tournament.

Team scores — 1. New London-Spicer 197.50; 2. B-B-E 127; 3. Willmar 119; 4. Holdingford 109; 5. Morris Area/CA/Hancock 108; 6. Yellow Medicine East 85; 7. Renville County West 60; 8. Browerville-Eagle Valley 49.

Up next: next Friday, December 9, the Jaguars travel to Clara City for a triangular against BOLD and host MACCRAY/Renville County West.

Another exciting season of B-B-E boys' basketball is set to begin tonight

Connor Goodwin and Kirby Montbriand are senior co-captains of this year's Jaguars boys' basketball team...
The B-B-E Jaguars tip off tonight at 6:00 against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in the Pre-season 2011 Clash to begin the 2011-12 season.

Check out the full season preview of the Jaguars in this week's Dec. 1 issue of the Sauk Centre Herald.

I'm off to the B-B-E wrestling tournament shortly. That 8-team event begins at 2:30 and will probably run at least until 8:00 tonight.