Jaguar girls' basketball gets 4th win

Peyton Miller closely guards Kimball's Madison Libbesmeier on the top of the key tonight.

Kinlee Swanson looks to pass on the wing during the first half. She hit the game-winning bucket on a bank shot with 63 seconds on the clock. Swanson got a free throw to boot on the three-point play to make it 44-41.

In a tight ball game, dozens of small things have to go right in order for it to result in a win. A little luck helps too, and the combination of all that is what led to an exciting 44-42 win for the Jaguars girls' basketball team over Kimball Area tonight. The Jaguars did it the hard way, coming back from being 9 points down in the opening minute of the second half.

It was a night when the Jaguars swept all three games: the C-squad won a 54-48 overtime thriller to stay undefeated at 2-0, and the B-squad girls won 39-28 to improve to 3-2 on the year.

In the varsity night cap, a 4-0 lead quickly vanished when the Cubs drilled consecutive threes up to the 15:10 mark. A Megan Weller bucket tied it at 6-6, and two Hailey Braegelman free throws put the Jaguars up 8-6. Weller got two free throws with 12:29 left for a 10-8 lead before both teams traded threes. Peyton Miller sniped from the arc for a 12-11 lead, and sure as you guessed...the Cubs got their 4th three of the night to go back up 14-12 with 10 minutes left.

Alex Evenson got off a tough shot in heavy traffic in the low post for a 14-14 tie with 9:43 left, but from there the Jaguars went absolutely cold up to halftime. They managed just two points, a bucket by Weller, and trailed 23-16 at the break.

The good stuff was yet to come, though, in the second half.

The Cubs scored the first after halfitme, but a three by Miller and a point-blank shot in the lane by Hailey Braegelman put new life into the Jaguars, down 25-21 with 16:55 left

Again, both teams traded threes, with Miller's shot on the arc making it 28-24 with 15:47 left. Braegelman got a rebound shot on the left block, and Kinlee Swanson got a steal and layup to tie it at 28-28. Braegelman got another shot down low, this time on the right block, for a brief 30-28 lead. The Cubs hit their 7th three-pointer of the night to go back up 31-30.

Bailey Buchholz drained a long outside shot, but a Cubs free throw tied it at 32-32 with 12 minutes left. Just over 2 minutes later, Swanson swatted the ball away while guarding the wing, bolted forward and grabbed a steal on her own tip while blasting down court for a layup. That sequence is at the end of the video below.

Here's a 5+ minute long video clip from the second half tonight:


The 34-32 lead on Swanson's steal and layup was short-lived, with the Cubs firing in the paint with 9:31 left for a 34-34 tie. Two more minutes went by before either team scored, when the Cubs got a second straight paint shot to go up 36-34. With 7 minutes left, Miller drained a three to put the Jaguars ahead 37-36. With 6:24 left, Evenson got a fast break shot. They went cold, though, going over 4 minutes without scoring; meanwhile, the Cubs got a free throw and paint shot to tie it at 39-39 with 3:31 left. Braegelman drained two free throws with 2:16 left to make it 41-39, but just as the entire night played out, the Cubs tied it with two bonus free throws with 95 seconds remaining.

Swanson made a gutsy move around one defender on the right wing, then pulled up against Kimball's tallest player (Madelyn O'Brien, standing 6'2") on the right block and nailed a bank shot with 63 seconds left while getting an and-one shot to complete a three-point play. B-B-E 44, Cubs 41.

The lone point from there was a Kimball free throw, and the Jaguars hung tough in the end with great defense to preserve the win. The Cubs had a shot in the closing seconds, but on an inbounds play with 4.4 seconds left they passed from the half court to the baseline, and the ball sailed quite high and hit the gym's east wall.

Here's more video, this time showing the last moments of the game...marginal quality shot on my SmartPhone:


(GREAT job cheering, Jaguar student section!!!!)

The Jaguars, now 4-1 on the season for their best start in five games since 1996-97, have a very tough game ahead of them when they travel to Osakis (3-1) on Thursday night. They have a short turnaround the following night with their third CMC game of the year when Maple Lake visits on Friday.

Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on Dec. 17:
Eden Valley-Watkins 56, Maple Lake 40
Rockford Area 66, Pierz 55
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 65, Holdingford 35

Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on Dec. 17:
Eden Valley-Watkins 66, Pierz 49

The B-B-E Dazzlers dance team competed in Fergus Falls tonight. I haven't heard any results yet. Alexandria, Wadena-Deer Creek and Melrose Area were other teams in attendance.

Area boys' basketball results on December 17:
St. Cloud Cathedral 63, Sauk Centre 58 (back-and-forth game plays out at CHS, Mainstreeters get 1st loss)
Upsala 69, Browerville 60 (a great Section 5A match up)
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 45, Osakis 34
Holdingford 68, Foley 54
Benson 64, BOLD 60
New London-Spicer 68, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 50

Area girls' basketball scores on Dec. 17:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 56, Melrose Area 51
K-M-S 58, MACCRAY 38
ACGC 68, Benson 32
Sauk Centre 82, Paynesville Area 40
Isle 55, Parkers Prairie 33 (Isle is a top team in Section 5A)