Video from last night's banquet

At Classic Co. Dinner Theater in Brooten:


The website for Classic Co. is http://www.classiccompanydinnertheater.com

Boys' basketball holds team banquet

Nick Benton, Most Improved Player award on varsity.

Senior Adam Heinze, co-captain of this year's Jaguar basketball team.

 All five starters were named to the All-Central Minnesota Conference team. Nick Benton earned the Most Improved Player award, and David Rodgers earned the Jaguar Award. Many more awards were named for C, B and varsity-squad players.

I have more to be posted tomorrow on the team awards and the banquet.

**Also, tune in to WCCO news this weekend to see the B-B-E Kindergarten class on a field trip at St. John's University. It will be aired twice: 8-9am on Saturday and 6-7pm on Sunday night (during the news broadcast in those time slots).

B-B-E Kindergarten students featured on WCCO tonight

Tune in to WCCO news tonight to see B-B-E Kindergarten students on a field trip to the Sugar Shack at St. John's University.

See more about the Sugar Shack at the following web address:
http://www.csbsju.edu/arboretum/stewardship/projects/landstewardship/maplesyrup.htm

Nope, it did not air on Wednesday night. Once I hear when it will be on the news, I'll post that information.

News from our neighbors: nothing good, and the pain is everywhere

A number of area school districts are in deep financial trouble, starting with Benson Public Schools.

Their district, which has a K-12 enrollment of around 900, needs to cut a whopping $650,000 to balance their budget for 2013-14. Three entire academic programs are facing the budget ax: French, Art and Home Ec. (Family and Consumer Science or FACS).

In the Mar. 27 issue of the Swift County Monitor-News, Benson Superintendent Lee Westrum commented, "We are losing complete programs, and we haven't had to do that before. There is significant pain and it is not anything that you would want to do."

Hold on, it gets worse: Benson needs to go to the voters in the fall of 2013 to raise their per-pupil local property tax levy from $670 per student to $1,000 per student in order to stave off even deeper cuts. They are also asking their teachers union to agree to a hard salary freeze for a two-year period.

The newspaper article states that while projected enrollment for 2013-14 in Benson improves by four students, they face huge drops after that: down 15 in 2014-15, down 21 in 2015-16, down 19 in 2016-17 and down 32 in 2017-18. Altogether, over the next five years, Benson is projected to lose $581,000 in state funding due to the loss of 83 students on their enrollment.

Benson's kindergarten class actually increases from 57 in 2012-13 up to 68 in 2013-14 (+11), but the numbers drop after that. Within five years, Benson's kindergarten class is projected to have only 46 kids.

For the past three years, Benson has enacted "deficit spending" where they've used reserve funds in order to cash flow. They had an unassigned reserve fund of just under $2 million in 2009-10, but that number drops to $883,896 this summer. They want to keep a fund balance of $1.3 million in order to stay within proper budget guidelines given by auditors.

Without assigning budget cuts, the projected 2013-14 budget at Benson will spend $562,200 more than their projected revenue.

Here's an example of how the cuts really hit home: Benson's current 5th grade class (Class of 2020) is split into three sections for their 65 students. The cuts would shift 6th grade to two sections from three, meaning their 6th grade classes next year would have 33 and 32 students.

Long Prairie-Grey Eagle needs to make cuts of at least $250,000 - and they voted last week to enact $17,000 or so in athletic department cuts. Their boys' and girls' golf programs have been axed effective for 2013-14.

Swanville needs to cut $170,000 to $200,000 from their budget.

Just up the road, Sauk Centre is facing $300,000 in budget cuts this spring.

New London-Spicer is considering at least $200,000 in cuts.

I'll report more figures at other districts as I learn them.

Knock on wood, say a few Hallelujahs and thank the Lord that B-B-E is not in significant budget trouble. I tip my hat to every last person working in the school along with any parent or child who has anything to do with our school: it is not easy to keep a school budget in order. Superintendent Bullard reported that B-B-E will not cut any programming this spring. (Read the local papers to learn more on that terrific news.)

Still having some 'quiet' time

Spring sports are just around the corner, but for now I'm laying low with the sports blogging world.

I will have much to cover once things get started. I am excited to take in Jaguar baseball games this spring, as former B-B-E Jaguar stand out baseball player Pat Illies takes over the program from former head coach Dave Montbriand.

Illies, a 1992 B-B-E graduate, was on Montbriand's first two varsity teams in 1991 and 1992.

State legislature is on break: time for Town Hall meetings

Note: the following was taken from the "Childcare providers who are happy to be Union-free" Facebook page. The source of the 'town hall' list is the Minnesota DFL Party Facebook page. It is an incomplete list of town halls across the state. It focuses on where DFL members of the Legislature are holding town hall meetings over their Easter break from the Legislative session. Perhaps folks will read this who are in other areas of the state. It wouldn't hurt if you could share this with friends and neighbors in your area. Being informed helps.

For B-B-E area residents, DFL Rep. Mary Sawatzky is holding a town hall meeting in Spicer (see info below) next Saturday morning. She represents the area of the B-B-E school district that lies in Kandiyohi County.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Childcare-providers-who-are-Happy-to-Be-Union-Free/181095595292446?fref=ts

"Town hall meetings are a great way to educate our legislators and the public about this issue. Here are some upcoming town hall meetings and we need people to attend and ask some good questions. Make sure they have the facts..."

Which ones can you attend?

Saturday, March 23
Rep. Joe Radinovich
8 a.m., 1865 County Café and Bar, McGrath
11 a.m., Hill Lake Café, Hill City
1 p.m., Emily City Hall, Emily

Rep. Peter Fischer
9 a.m., Mahtomedi City Hall

Rep. John Persell and Sen. Tom Saxhaug
9 a.m., Bemidji City Hall

Rep. Barb Yarusso
9 a.m., Raz’s Coffee and Ice Cream Café, Shoreview

Rep. Laurie Halverson and Jeff Soloman Education Forum
10 a.m., Dakota Hills Middle School, Woodbury

Rep. Ben Lien
10 a.m., Oak Port

Monday, March 25
Rep. Paul Marquart and Sen. Kent Eken
9 a.m., Detroit Lakes High School Library
11 a.m., Hawley High School Media Center
2 p.m., Barnsville High School Library
6 p.m., Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School Media Center

Tuesday, March 26
Rep. Paul Marquart and Sen. Kent Eken
9 a.m., Ulen-Hitterdal Public School Library
11 a.m., Norman County East High School, Twin Valley
2 p.m., Norman County West High School, Halstad
6 p.m., Ada High School Library

Rep. Zach Dorholt
5 p.m., James W. Miller Learning Resources Center, SCSU

Rep. Barb Yarusso and Rep. Jascon Isaacson
7 p.m., MAPE, Shoreview

Saturday, March 30
Rep. Mary Sawatzky
9 a.m., The Westwood, Spicer

Rep. Yvonne Selcer
9 a.m., Caribou Coffee, 14444 Excelsior Blvd., Minnetonka

Rep. Laurie Halverson
10 a.m., The Westcott Library, Eagan

Oh by the way: Patrick Reusse, you are a flaming idiot!

Read his baseless, pointless diatribe here:
http://m.startribune.com/?id=199552111

Patrick Reusse is a writer with the Star Tribune, which in my opinion is a worthless, worthless liberal rag - especially after they spent all of last year ripping on private day care business owners across our great state.

Hey, Reusse, "big schools" can't be kings at a state tournament, because they don't know how to turn out a huge fan base for a state tournament event.

saukheraldreporter@gmail.com

Upsala falls in state semis 71-62

Upsala lost in the Class A state semifinals to Southwest Minnesota Christian today at the Target Center. The Cardinals were undefeated heading into the game. I heard that the Eagles held a 9-point lead with about a minute to go. SWMN will play in the state title game for the second year in a row; they'll face Maranatha Christian Academy.

I haven't gotten any other information from the state tournament. Eventually I'll probably read up on what happened down there this weekend. I honestly could care less about it - we are not there!

FYI - Upsala brings back their top player (Christian Pekarek) for next season, and while graduation takes some of their regular lineup in 2013, they'll be the top competitor for the Jaguars if they want to get back to the state tournament in 2013-14. Pekarek will be a senior next year. Overall, Upsala has six seniors on their 17-player varsity roster. They will be a force to reckon with in Section 5A next year.

Here's the bad news we were waiting for (make-up days)

At least we're not chewing up our summer like other area schools are.

From the B-B-E School Facebook page:

Additional Changes to School Calendar:
April 8 School in Session
May 6 School in Session
May 20 Teacher Workshop
May 31 School in Session (New Last Day)

Busy times in the "off" season

Time to blog has been scarce lately, as you probably can tell by the extreme lack of updates here. We've had sickness in our home with multiple doctor trips that have consumed time and energy...plus the snow and ice storms we've had lately...made a mess of things to say the least! As tough as some moments are, it's important to count our blessings. A good idea for anyone living a hectic lifestyle.

I do want to thank all of the readers who visited throughout the winter and make it worthy for businesses to advertise. Generally it was 250 to 300 per day and much higher during playoffs...a crazy amount considering in the first 2 years I was lucky to get 30 readers clicking here in one day.

I am also neck-deep in fighting a deeply disturbing push by AFSCME (a public workers' union) towards child care business owners in Minnesota. I have blogged about this here in the past, but in the future I am trying to keep political opinions off of this B-B-E sports blog. If you really want to see my rantings on that issue, bookmark this link and visit often:
http://saukheraldreporter.blogspot.com

Here's another one of my "gems" on that issue:
http://saukheraldreporter.blogspot.com/2013/03/afscme-what-are-you-trying-to-pull-on-us.html

Yeah, if I want to, I still can and will be a pit bull when I disagree with something a powerful group is trying to do!

Spring is literally right around the corner...at least on the Jaguar sports schedule. It's almost laughable to think that the baseball opener is on Thursday, April 4 in Elrosa (vs. Upsala/Swanville Area).

Think spring, and hope for some moderate and reasonable heat!

Video from the basketball playoff opener

Action from the second half against Underwood:

Town Hall meeting in New London is Saturday morning

State legislators representing B-B-E's area in Kandiyohi County will be in New London tomorrow morning for a Town Hall meeting from 9:00am to 10:30am at McKale's Family Restaurant.

Good grief...just heard the last minute of the first half of the Section 6AA championship game...Litchfield has a 39-20 lead over Melrose Area going into the locker room. The Dragons made 7 three-pointers in the first half. The Dutchmen had an early 11-5 lead but then faded...the Dragons took a 28-11 lead! Wow. Litchfield went on a 23-0 lead to take control.

This just wasn't our year for local basketball teams.

In the Section 6A championship game, the Battle Lake Battlers won the championship in an incredibly competitive contest by 2 points. Final: Battlers 56, Ada-Borup 54. Battle Lake advances to the state tournament for the first time since 2005.

*Update: The Dutchmen scored first in the second half with Scottie Stone hitting his first three of the night. Litchfield had two early turnovers and let Melrose go on a 5-0 run to make it 39-25.

Litchfield then hit their 8th three-pointer of the night to go up 42-25. Mitch Niehaus then scored for Melrose to make it 42-27 with two minutes played.

With 9 minutes left, the scoreboard at SCSU shows: Litchfield 51, Melrose Area 38. Then another three-pointer makes it 54-38. With 6:30 remaining, Litchfield is up 56-42. With 4 minutes left, Litchfield has a 60-49 lead. Seconds later, two Scottie Stone free throws made it 60-51. Then Seth Noll drove down court and made a lay up after his team got a steal off of the trap for a 60-53 lead.

With 3:10 left, it's 62-53. With 3 minutes left, Ryan Elfering scored to make it 62-55. Elfering scored seconds later and it's 62-57. Litchfield called a timeout with 2:36 to go.

Litchfield pulled away in the final minute and has a 71-59 lead with 14 seconds to go. They'll win the Section 6AA championship for the second year in a row. Melrose Area finishes 28-2...their last state tournament trip was in 1974. *Final: Litchfield 73, Melrose Area 59. The Dragons take a 24-5 record into the state tournament.

Litchfield shot 10-of-21 on three-pointers (48 %!) compared to 3-of-18 shooting on the arc by Melrose Area. There's the glaring difference in the game. One Dragons player shot 7-of-10 on the arc...I didn't catch that athlete's name.

B-B-E schools closed for March 15

B-B-E was two-hours late, and then at 08:20 the announcement went out that school will be closed all day.

Thank goodness for the four-day week. Even with all these school closings this year, rest assured that our students won't be attending school in June.

Railroad crossings always present some danger

The railroad crossing in Brooten this morning at 8:00am.

Here's a good example of why you should always look ahead and be on guard for trains while driving across a railroad crossing. Even with stop arms and flashing lights. Guess what, folks, they do not always work! Just like anything mechanical or electrical, malfunctions happen.

Such was the case this morning, when the stop arms malfunctioned at 6:00am or earlier and were not fixed until after 8:00am. I spoke with the Stearns County Sheriff's Office and learned they were reporting it to Burlington Northern Railroad.

I'm not sure when exactly it was finally fixed.

More from the sub-section championship game

Here's action from the second half while Battle Lake was pulling away...



...and here's the final buzzer and post-game celebrating by Battle Lake...

Area boys' basketball playoff scores on March 12:
Mayer Lutheran 47, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 45 (Sub-Section 5AA-South championship)
Ada-Borup 49, Ulen-Hitterdal 47 (U-H's final season; the Spartans merge with Norman County West for all sports in 2013-14)
Annandale 84, St. Cloud Cathedral 74
Upsala 68, Browerville 61 (Cardinals are 29-0 and face Barnum for the Section 5A championship)

*Now I can put my notes on the 2012-13 winter sports season to rest. It's over. That's all she wrote.

Great game playing out in sub-section title bout!

With 3:32 left in the first half, the game is tied 25-25! The Warriors came out truly on fire and led 8-0 with less than three minutes burned off the clock.

*Halftime: Battle Lake 34, W/H-N 30. Dan Marso is pacing the Battlers with 15 points at halftime, while Matthew Pederson's 10 points leads a balanced attack for the Warriors.

W/H-N got to within one point on a three by Truman Raguse with 15:32 left in the game, down 36-35. The Battlers then got 5 straight points on a 22-foot shot by Dan Marso and a steal and layup by Tyler Ukkelberg. With 13:18 left, W/H-N then called a timeout trailing 41-35.

VIDEO from the first half:


With just over 9 minutes left, Evan Van Erp (the senior transfer from Wadena/Deer Creek) cleaned up the glass on a missed three-pointer by Marso and put his team up 50-39. W/H-N called a prompt timeout.

Not much drama at the end here, as the Battlers have pulled away and have a 64-45 lead with 68 seconds left. They'll advance to the section title game.

*Final: Battle Lake 65, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 47.

Bravo, B-B-E NHS!

Lifted from the Facebook wall:

From Monday night, March 11 in Willmar.

Great job BBE National Honor Society for busing tables Monday night at the Pizza Ranch in Willmar! They raised $211.56 and all the money will be given to the Jocelyn Dickhoff family. Jocelyn is a 1st grader at BBE Elementary fighting cancer. Each NHS member that worked should be proud of the character and service they have shown! Way to go!

Tonight's sub-section championship

I'll be in Morris tonight seeing how the Sub-Section 6A-South boys' basketball championship game turns out. Updates will be posted as I am able to do that.

Tie game with 5:30 left

WHN's Carter Thiel scored from the right block at this juncture with 5:30 left in the game...making it 47-47.

Here the Jaguars played great defense...Nick Benton posted up in text book fashion to defend the shot...but Thiel drained it and tied the game at 47-47. B-B-E had a 46-39 lead with 8 minutes left but then faded.

I am still scratching my head. The Jaguars withstood some incredibly tough, physical defensive pressure of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted only 9 days earlier and won 70-50. HL-W-W, the conference runner-up, is playing for a sub-section championship in Class AA. I am almost second-guessing myself on some of my earlier rantings...the Jaguars were tough enough in all aspects of the game or they wouldn't have gone 25-1 against their schedule...they simply weren't tough enough on Saturday night.

(Recall the Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta win in early December...that was a TOUGH game and the Jaguars withstood the challenge by an all-senior Tigers lineup.)

More action from last night's playoff loss

From early in the first half...a view from the top perch at UMM's P.E. Center. 

More from the first half.

We have the greatest fans!!

B-B-E fans during a second-half time out.

Somehow we will eventually get over that loss, just as we did 10 years ago after Hancock beat the heavily-favored Jaguars out of the sub-section playoffs in the same semifinal game at UM-Morris. B-B-E was odds-on favorite to win the Section 5A championship that year but lost 67-56 to the fourth-seeded Owls while finishing 21-6 overall.

Here's the lion's share of the last minute of the game. I started recording while Brian Goodwin was making the last of his three free throws with 57 seconds remaining...I stopped recording when W/H-N was at the line for a double-bonus opportunity in the closing seconds. I re-started it to record the final seconds (seen below in a video clip)...but here's most of the end of the game:

Spring can come ANY time now.

Here's the end

Area boys' basketball playoff scores on March 9:
Annandale 75, Maple Lake 40
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 72, Glencoe-Silver Lake 64
Albany 76, Sauk Centre 65
Dawson-Boyd 61, MACCRAY 37
Battle Lake 78, C-G-B 44
Browerville 65, Verndale 60 (Whew! Pirates give the Tigers a scare)
St. Cloud Cathedral 50, Kimball Area 31
Upsala 72, Nevis 57
Litchfield 52, Eden Valley-Watkins 21
Ulen-Hitterdal 39, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 35
SW MN Christian 77, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 58
Ada-Borup 74, Park Christian 65 Melrose Area 63, LP-GE 60 (Scottie Stone drills a 3' right before the final buzzer for the W)

So back to the shocking loss. I wondered all year long if Connor Goodwin graduating would catch up to us...and tonight it definitely caught up to us. In my opinion we got enough production in the paint tonight, but if Connor was down there he would've drawn more attention from the defense and made it a little easier for our outside shooters. And I can't forget Kirby Montbriand, he was one tough player and brought his own share of points to the table. The name of the game in playoff basketball is being physically tough. Being able to handle physical defense. And getting the rebound after you miss a shot. I keep replaying in my mind numerous times where W/H-N got a defensive rebound that should have instead been another field goal shot for the Jaguars. It's still perplexing...the fire I saw in the eyes of our players while they were taking apart countless conference teams (Kimball, Pierz, etc.) was definitely lacking tonight. Don't mis-read what I am saying and think that I'm saying the Jaguars weren't tough enough this year. By all means, we took a lot of shots from many teams this year and came out winners on 25 of 27 nights. But if our team wasn't as physically tough last year as they were, we certainly lose to SW MN Christian and settle for 2nd two years in a row, and we possibly could have gone 0-1 with a quarterfinal loss to Lakeview Christian.

One other thing people don't think of too readily about the two players I mentioned is that they were All-Central Minnesota Conference linemen on the 2011 Jaguar football team, a team that arguably had the best offensive line in the conference. They were very physically tough...next year, we will have to be very physically tough if we're going to have a shot at winning state.

Go after it! Next December will be here before we know it.

At the end of the day what I want our B-B-E community to reflect on is how extremely valuable it is to raise students and student-athletes who are able to handle tough times. That isn't something that just happens. It takes good parents, good neighbors, and good people in general to do that. We've been through quite a bit this year, still reeling from the loss of Coach Vos. I was very impressed with how our players and our fans handled themselves after the final horn sounded tonight. Do we always exhibit perfect behavior? No, and I myself certainly don't either. What B-B-E coaches instill in our student-athletes is 'you win with class and you lose with class.' That means more than just about anything in high school sports. Believe this: I would want nothing to do with B-B-E if there was even a part of the garbage attitudes and selfish ways that I've seen at other communities in central Minnesota. I've seen and heard more than enough of that around the area, and I am glad to say that I am not from those communities. I am very proud to be a part of the B-B-E community, which has special and valuable qualities that should never be taken for granted. B-B-E parents: keep up the great work!!! And it is definitely work, and it needs to be applauded.

I'll part with these words, lifted from the Facebook wall:

Someday everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and remind yourself everything happens for a reason ♥

Sub-section semis: Jaguars trail by 2 at halftime...and then a shocking loss

Against Wheaton/Herman-Norcross in the sub-section semifinal round in Morris, the Jaguars boys' basketball team is down 24-22 at halftime.

Video from the first half:


Head of steam built up in the second half fades... The Jaguars picked it up in the second half and built a lead as large as 7 points. With 8 minutes left, Trey Heinsius grabbed a steal and drove it in for a solo layup and B-B-E had a 46-39 lead.

Then it all went south...from the 8 minute mark until the 3-minute mark, the Jaguars did not make a single field goal. They managed three free throws in that span, but W/H-N drained three three-point shots along with two trips to the free throw line where they hit both...and suddenly the Warriors (17-8) are up 57-49 with 3 minutes to go.

James Kuefler hit a shot on the right block with 2:45 left, but the hole ended up too large to come out of with W/H-N up 57-51 at that point. Kuefler fouled out with 2:34 left, while the Warriors got two double bonus free throws. They scored later in the paint with 2:11 left to make it a 10-point game. W/H-N opened the door quite a bit for a comeback when they went 0-for-4 at the free throw line on two double-bonus opportunities with 1:26 and 1:12 left. They went 1-for-2 at the line with 61 seconds left, making it 62-51. At the other end of the court, everything the Jaguars put up glanced off of the rim.

With 57 seconds left, Brian Goodwin was fouled on a three-point shot and made all three free throws. It looked a little better at that point, down 62-54. With 48 seconds left we missed the front end of a bonus opportunity, but Trey Heinsius ripped down the rebound. We proceeded to miss two field goal shots, and the Warriors hit a free throw on the other end.

With 26 seconds left, Billy Borgerding drained a 10-foot floater to get it down to 7 points. W/H-N hit one of two double bonus free throws with 23 seconds left to make it an 8-point game. They again went 1/2 at the line on double bonus with 16 seconds left.

With 10 seconds left, Austin Imdieke nailed a three at the top of the key to make it a two-possession game. In high school ball, two possessions is doable in 10 seconds but next to impossible unless you are red hot at the three-point line.

With 8 seconds left, W/H-N again went 1/2 on double bonus for the game's final margin.

Final: W/H-N 66, B-B-E 59. The Warriors made 19 field goals in the game compared to 23 by the Jaguars. The difference was B-B-E going 11/19 at the free throw line compared to 24/33 by W/H-N. Inexplicably, the Warriors out-rebounded the Jaguars by a 32-27 margin.

No secret, stating the obvious...the Jaguars have to shoot better at the line, that's about all there is to say about it. That never really haunted them during the regular season, but it sure did tonight.

Battle Lake and Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley will tip off just shortly before 8:00pm. I hope everyone makes it home safely tonight. Tread lightly out there!!

Video is coming...I have to get some popcorn...maybe that will help with the pit in my stomach.

**Just released today: the Jaguars will compete in Section 5A next year...here's the other teams for the boys' basketball playoffs (similar or identical for the girls):
Ogilvie, Onamia, Parkers Prairie, Pine River-Backus, Royalton, Sebeka, Swanville, Upsala, Verndale, Browerville, East Central, Bertha-Hewitt, Eagle Valley, Hill City, Isle, Kimball Area, Menagha, Minisinaakawang Leadership Academy, Nevis and Northland.

Time to hit the road. In the second half, Battle Lake is up on C-G-B 62-28 with 10 minutes left in the game.

Video from the Pierz win

With 11 minutes left in the first half...the Jaguars were on their way to blowing out Pierz in the first half after they fell behind 12-10 ...

Radio coverage of Saturday night's playoff game

That's how we do it!!!

I forgot to mention last night...the game against Wheaton/Herman-Norcross in the sub-section semifinals will be broadcast on both 106.5 FM the Train and also Smooth Magic 107 FM.

HLWW's Ailid hits a '3' to get OT in their playoff opener

See the video below...it was a very, very tough shot!



The three-pointer tied the game and sent it into overtime. HL-W-W won the game 84-83 in overtime; they are the #2 seed in Sub-Section 5AA-South.

Give me a break! Check out this other score...shows the depth that the CMC has this year...#6-seed Maple Lake (5AA-North) knocked out #3-seed Foley 79-73 last night. Now the Irish (9-16) get neighboring rival Annandale (17-9) in the semifinals. Kimball Area (12-13) knocked out #4-seed Rockford 47-46 in another 5AA-North quarterfinal game. The Rockets finish 14-13 overall; this was their first winning season in a few years.

Here's more photos from last night:

The three seniors on the team were interviewed on 106.5 FM the Train by Bill Dean and Don Leukam.

Love that school spirit!!! Can't beat it.

Here's the last part of the first half:

**Spread the word! (Hopefully the roads won't be too terrible) I want to see over 1,500 B-B-E fans taking up our side of the bleachers at the University of Minnesota-Morris! Let's do this!!!!

Click on this link and check out and consider purchasing a copy of the Breakdown Sports' March Madness issue. http://www.breakdownsportsusa.com/page/show/165550-home  (only $6.49!) Easy to download as well.

More from tonight's big playoff win

What a terrific defensive effort! Holding the Rockets to 17 points in the first half and 18 in the second.



Because I wasn't ready to record this dunk, but I could tell it was coming...I got the recorder started late...once you spool this clip on your computer you'll want to re-start it at the beginning and watch the slam dunk go down.

Holy cow!!! The Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley Wolverines knocked out the #2 seed in Sub-Section 6A-South tonight! C-G-B was seeded 7th....they beat Henning 55-53 in OVERTIME tonight with a buzzer-beater in the extra session! Crazy! C-G-B, who led 17-13 at halftime, improves to 15-11 overall with the win, while the Hornets finish 21-5 overall. Henning went 10-2 in the Park Region Conference to win that title outright. What is shocking, though, is their 0-1 playoff record. Henning returned all but one of their top players from last year's co-conference champion team.

C-G-B, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross and Ortonville all shared the Pheasant Conference championship this year in a three-way tie. They were all 4-2 in the league.

March madness indeed!!

Check out our student section tonight at the game...second to none!

Regarding W/HN, who the Jaguars play in the next round of the playoffs, they shot 51% in field goals tonight (25/49) and 66% from the free throw line (20/33). Ashby was only 5-for-21 from the three-point line (23%).

Jaguars by a lot at halftime...and then a 42-point win!

The Jaguars defense collapses on Underwood's Zane Lind as he drove to the hoop.

As halftime is about to wrap up at 19:46, the Jaguars boys' basketball team is gearing up for the second half while holding a 56-17 lead over visiting Underwood. In the second half, the Rockets did not score a point until 13:36 remained.

OTHER SCORES!

At halftime, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross has a 23-20 lead in Ashby.

With 14 minutes left at Battle Lake, West Central Area trails 30-24.

*FINAL: B-B-E 82, Underwood 35. The Jaguars improve to 25-1 overall and advance to the Sub-Section 6A-South semifinals; they face #5-seeded Wheaton/Herman-Norcross on Saturday at the University of Minnesota-Morris with a 6:00pm tip off. That game will be broadcast on 106.5 FM the Train.

Action from the first half...


Other boys' basketball playoff-opener finals:
New London-Spicer 67, Benson 57
Battle Lake 67, West Central Area 63 (WCA led 39-37 with 8:50 left but faded near the end)
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 73, Ashby 56 (Arrows fell apart in the last 3 minutes)
Melrose Area 67, Osakis 27

Final weekend of 'Don't Hug Me' is coming!

Click to blow up the graphic for better viewing.

The last shows are March 8, 9 and 10 this weekend at the Classic Company Dinner Theater in Brooten.

http://www.classiccompanydinnertheater.com

Playoffs tonight: come early for seating!

The Underwood Pep Band will be attending tonight's game and taking up a small part of the visitor's side of the bleachers for tonight's playoff boys' basketball game between the Jaguars and Rockets.

Spread the word to come early for good seating to see what is hopefully a relatively routine win for B-B-E to start another run towards a Section 6A championship!!

By the way, I finally got the photo gallery uploaded from the season finale for the team in last Friday night's win:
http://saukherald.mycapture.com/mycapture/folder.asp?event=1621688&CategoryID=69413&ListSubAlbums=0

Scenes from the Kimball win last Friday: winning a CMC title!

James Kuefler drives hard to the hoop against the Cubs.

Trey Heinsius hauls down a defensive rebound and looks to make a quick outlet pass.

The 5th grade boys played at halftime.

More excitement coming up on Thursday with the home playoff game! Go Jaguars!!!

Sub-Section 6A-South opening-round boys' basketball scores:
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 82, Parkers Prairie 60
West Central Area 64, Hancock 32
Underwood 58, Brandon/Evansville 42

News from Melrose

The B-B-E Dazzlers dance team in action at Alexandria in early January.

At the February 25 meeting of the Melrose Area school board, the resignation of Melrose Rosettes dance team head coach Sarah Sykora was accepted. She had been head coach at the program for at least the last four years. Her assistant coach is likely to take over the program, although that has not been decided yet.

I'm not sure exactly how long she had been coaching at Melrose, but it does give me a chance to say how lucky we are that B-B-E Dazzlers coach Kim Kulzer has stayed with the program. If memory serves me right, she just completed coaching her third season with the Dazzlers.

Make no mistake about it, the dance program at B-B-E is a very, very important feature of our athletic department. Other area schools who do not have a dance team are at a disadvantage in that respect.

Snow, snow, go away - come back next year

B-B-E schools began with the release of a a 2-hour late notice at 5:45am today...then it changed to "closed"!

Some roads are pretty bad out there. I've already logged 2 hours on the snow blower...and that doesn't get my stories written!!!

So about the school closing today...the school attempted to send a second call out via the automatic dial alert to all B-B-E families (and JKC families)...it did not work. They accept responsibility on their end.

It illustrates why Mr. Bullard says specifically in the initial message (the one at 05:44 this morning for 2 hours late)..."Please stay tuned to the radio and other school alert outlets for other weather-related announcements"...if memory serves me correct, he says that in all his messages when calling school two hours late.

...of course I went right from the snow blower to getting the kids ready for school to hopping on Hwy 55 and heading to school...arriving in Brooten to see a sparse number of cars in the lot, no buses at the front door...and I'm thinking "Huh? No school?"

I pulled up KSAX.COM on my cell phone and quickly saw the list...yeah, there it was: "B-B-E - closed". It didn't change my day much, as fortunately staff at JKC was there to take care of my daughter today.

With school closings there's always the concern about children standing at the end of a driveway or at a bus stop waiting for a bus pick up...kids being at home part or all of the day supervising themselves...that illustrates the importance of family, friends and neighbors...we need to do everything we can to help one another out and look out for each other. It's a great feature included in small town life!!

Ready for business: more from state wrestling

Patrick Rooney and the B-B-E coaches walk out to the mat at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday night, prior to his state championship match. PHOTO BY AARON SWANSON

...and here's the start of Josey Tensen's 106-pound state opener on Friday afternoon:


Memories the guys will remember the rest of their lives.

After Friday night's win over Kimball Area, Tia Halvorson and Becca Gruber showing their support for the B-B-E boys' basketball team - and the three valuable seniors who have had a big role in the team's success this season.

Some BIG games coming up! The Section 6A playoff dates are Thursday - Saturday - Tuesday - Friday over the next two weeks.

Tooting my own horn: nice to see the St. Cloud Times catching up to me

The St. Cloud Times touts themselves as one of the first newspapers owned by Gannet Publishing to equip their reporters with video cameras and digital cameras.

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20130303/OPINION/303030008/Bodette-column-Welcome-our-newest-newsroom-staffer

Well, I've been doing that for over four years now.

Nice to see others are catching up in the digital age!

And then there's Alexandria's Echo Press...they really messed this up:

http://www.echopress.com/event/article/id/102503/group/homepage

All wrong, just plain wrong. (Stating that Brandon/Evansville lost to Underwood 49-44 on Saturday in the sub-section semifinals? No, that was the B-B-E vs. B/E score from Thursday night.)

Sloppy, just plain sloppy. I'll post a screen shot in the morning.

Traditon: taking the nets down after winning the conference

On Friday night after defeating Kimball Area...



It doesn't get old!

...and here's a clip from Tyler Tensen's semifinal win yesterday at the state wrestling tournament:


...and from Patrick Rooney's semifinal win on Saturday afternoon...

A big THANKS to all the parents and fans who helped provide coverage, content and results from the state wrestling tournament.

126 championship: Tensen falls by decision

Tyler Tensen lost 5-2 in the championship match. He wrestled his heart out and left it all on the mat. He's the third of only four wrestlers in B-B-E history to compete in a state championship match.

In the 182-pound championship, #8-ranked Will Balow defeated Patrick Rooney 13-4. Rooney leaves the B-B-E wrestling program with third-place and second-place medals. Congratulations!

Coach Vos would be proud!!!

Two other quick notes: the B-B-E 7th grade girls' basketball team won a tournament at Yellow Medicine East today; also, the B-B-E Speech team won first place in Sauk Centre in the medium-size school category. Great job!!!

More from state wrestling

You can hear coverage from the state wrestling tournament online at youaretheresports.com, with coverage mainly of the five Foley, 1 Royalton and 1 Holdingford wrestlers in tonight's finals. 

Patrick Rooney was named Academic All-State in wrestling.

Photo by Zach Stottler, All Rights Reserved.

It's go time!

 

Tyler Tensen, Patrick Rooney heading for 1st place matches!

Tyler Tensen is shown working over a Paynesville Bulldog wrestler back in December. He'll go for a state title tonight at the Xcel Energy Center! Amazing!!

Tyler Tensen won his semifinal state wrestling match this morning in four overtimes!!! He picked up an escape to earn the 3-2 win in the last overtime session. What an inspiring performance for an athlete who entered the state tournament un-ranked in the last Guillotine poll. Tyler, now 42-4 overall this season, beat Kyle Drehmel of Goodhue (39-7) in the semifinal.

He's bound for tonight's 126-pound state championship at the Xcel Energy Center, when he will face conference rival and #1-ranked Quinten Berres (sophomore, 41-1) of Kimball Area for first place. Tyler becomes the first B-B-E wrestler to make it to a state championship match since 1990, when Brendan Bogart got into the finals and won a state title for the Jaguars.

Patrick Rooney nearing a pin during the Jaguar Invite back in January.

**Update: after two periods in the 182-pound semifinals, Patrick Rooney trails 4-2.*And another update! With 48 seconds left on the clock in the third period, Patrick has a 6-4 lead!!! Hoping and praying for the best!! Goose bumps all over. 

Patrick wins 6-5!!!! He prevailed over #6-ranked Colten Carlson (38-4) of United South Central to improve his season record to 43-0!! Tonight he will wrestle junior Will Balow (29-2) of Lake City. Balow took out #1-ranked Collin Huckbody (37-3) of

Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis in his semifinal match with a pin (3:12).

Two B-B-E Jaguars are headed for tonight's state championship matches! Win or lose tonight, today is the best day in the 25-year history of the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling program!!

Stay tuned for more.

Jaguar boys basketball holds slim lead at halftime against Kimball Area before winning 5th straight CMC title!

It is a five-peat in the Central Minnesota Conference! How amazing is that!?!

At halftime in the last game of the regular season: B-B-E 33, Kimball Area 30.

The fifth grade boys' basketball team played at halftime and did a great job. They play at a tournament in Morris tomorrow morning. Their 6th grade counterparts play at Morris in the afternoon.

With 2:17 left in the game, the Jaguars have a 61-46 lead.

**Final: B-B-E 66, Kimball Area 47. And then the nets came down!! The Jaguars went 14-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference for the third straight season. They begin the playoffs next Thursday at home with a 7:00pm game. The Train (106.5 FM) will carry the action.

Video! End of the game:



**Update on wrestling: Josey Tensen won't wrestle again, as the guy who beat him in the opener lost in the quarterfinals. Tyler and Patrick both wrestle in the semifinals which begin at 11:15am tomorrow at the Xcel Energy Center.

Central Minnesota Conf. boys' basketball scores on March 1:
Rockford 76, Maple Lake 71

Area boys' basketball scores on March 1:
Sauk Centre 61, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 58 OT
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 55, Benson 42
Battle Lake 77, #8-ranked Pelican Rapids 75!
Ashby 66, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 59 (Ashby earns the #4 playoff seed with this in in Wheaton)
Barnesville 56, Ada-Borup 44
Braham 84, Pierz 73
Minnewaska Area 72, Eden Valley-Watkins 65

Josey Tensen falls in OT, Tyler Tensen and Rooney win by decisions!

In his first appearance at State, sophomore Josey Tensen lost his opener 2-0 in overtime at 106. Tyler Tensen (126) won his opener 10 to 4. Patrick Rooney (182) won his opener 6 to 3. GREAT JOB!

The state quarterfinal round begins at 5:00pm tonight. Tyler and Patrick, both seniors, will compete in that round for a spot in tomorrow's Final Four at their respective weight divisions.

Photo courtesy of the MSHSL staff.

 At around 9:00 tonight, quarterfinal round results will be posted once the boys' basketball game is over...stay tuned!

**Quick update: Tyler Tensen won 13-6 in his quarterfinal match! And then Patrick Rooney won by pin in his quarterfinal at 182! Way to go!!

State wrestling

Not sure when I'll get results posted today. Hopefully by 3:00pm regarding the first round.