Junior High report from Pierz

Coach Evenson huddles up during the Kimball game with his 7th grade team today in Pierz.

The 7th grade Jaguars lost 41 to 24 to Maple Lake in the opener and then had a great effort against Kimball in the consolation semis before losing 32 to 30 in overtime. In the Kimball game, the 7th graders had a 16-7 lead with 4:40 left in the first half on a bucket by Dylan Meyer. The Cubs then scored 19 unanswered points from that point up to the 6:11 mark in the second half. (12-minute halves) Evan Wiener stopped the bleeding with a jump shot at 6:11 to make it a 26-18 deficit. A layup by Payton Van Beck, a layup by Wiener and a three-pointer by Dalton Dingmann made it 26-25 with 4:03 left. Van Beck then drained a three-pointer at the buzzer to force an overtime session with the score tied at 30-30.

Their last game had plenty of drama and exciting moments as well against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted. I'll write out my notes later tonight from that one.

The 8th grade Jaguars lost their opener to Maple Lake and then beat Kimball 35 to 34 in their 2nd game of the Central Minnesota Conference tournament.

*Update: against Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, the 7th grade Jaguars played tough but lost 39-37 in a nailbiter for their last game of the tournament. The 8th graders lost to Rockford Area to finish 6th. When all was said and done, the guys absolutely played their hearts out but came out short in some very close losses. That's sports...and they'll learn from it.

More coming on Sunday including video and photos after I get them uploaded to the Sauk Centre Herald photo gallery. I didn't get a chance to watch any of the 8th grade Jaguars today, unfortunately.

Please be safe this weekend...roads are still icy just about all over.