Jaguars rip apart Royalton

Coach Montbriand took about 8 minutes of halftime to honor the 9 seniors on the team. This wretched winter we've had so far pushed "Senior Night" into the playoffs.

THESE GUYS!!!

Here's some pregame footage plus tip off and the opening minutes tonight!


The Jaguars boys' basketball team defeated 8th-seeded Royalton 84-29 to open the Sub-Section 5A-South playoffs tonight. They led 7-0 just 77 seconds after tip off and held a 24-5 lead at the 10-minute mark. Two consecutive slam dunks by James Kuefler, a one-hander and a two-hander, electrified the packed hometown crowd and put the Jaguars up 36-7 with 4 minutes before halftime.

The six-time defending Central Minnesota Conference champion Jaguars completed their 5th straight season of perfection on the home court. It's an amazing record that puts them at #2 in terms of the longest home winning streak in Minnesota. We're at 71, with Walnut Grove (1952-1960) holding 72 in a row at the top of that lofty list.

More details on the game will follow after 10:30pm tonight.

**Update: the Jaguars will face Swanville on Saturday night in Little Falls. The Bulldogs (14-10) beat Isle 59-56 tonight. More details to follow on that later. 

Upsala beat East Central 87-69, and Kimball Area beat Onamia 86-47. 

Upset special in 5A-North: #7 Bertha-Hewitt 52, #2 Verndale 45.

If you haven't "liked" the B-B-E Jaguars on Facebook, do it now! https://www.facebook.com/BBEJaguars?ref=hl

**Update: here's the photo album from the playoff opener at the Sauk Centre Herald website:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2014-BBE-basketball-playoffs/Step-I-BBE-boysBB-84-Royalton-

Here's the final ticks on tonight's historic game:


Up next is a date with either Swanville (13-10, 4th seed) or Isle (13-12, 5th seed) in the semifinal round at Little Falls this Saturday at 6:00pm.

At Melrose, 7th-seeded Holdingford led 30-22 in a Sub-Section 6AA-North quarterfinal. The Dutchmen made things right in the second half and won 59-42.

Area boys' basketball playoff scores on February 27:
Sauk Centre 73, Osakis 45
Staples-Motley 65, Pierz 56
Paynesville Area 74, Minnewaska 73 OT
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 68, Pillager 51
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 56, Hancock 41
New London-Spicer 67, St. John's Prep 44 (Wildcats trailed by one at halftime but scored the first 22 points of the second half)
Litchfield 50, Benson 38
Eden Valley-Watkins 67, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 58