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