There were plenty of smiles and hugs prior to pregame drills tonight, as Parents Night was held to honor those involved in the athletic programs who basically make the world go around day to day.
Without the help and support of parents, clearly we wouldn't have a Jaguar athletic program.
Once the game got going, it was clear that Pierz was determined to bring home the win. The Pioneers put the Jaguars girls' basketball team into a 12-2 hole early with under 4 minutes gone and kept in control basically the entire game.
A three by Kinlee Swanson got the Jaguars within one, down 14-13, with about 11 minutes left in the first half. Swanson's rebound shot with 8:30 on the clock tied it at 19-19. Alex Evenson's bucket tied the game again at 23-23 with 6:52 left. Swanson scored next to give the Jaguars their first lead of the night at 25-23.
Hailey Braegelman's free throw put the Jaguars up 26-25, and soon they held their final lead of the night at 28-27 in the closing minutes of the first half. With 1:49 left, Braegelman scored, and in the last minute Megan Weller knocked down two bonus free throws to make it a 35-34 deficit at the break.
To start the second half, the Jaguars gave up a 5-0 run to Pierz and got a rebound basket by Weller to make it 40-36 with 16 minutes left in the game. That four-point spread was the closest the Jaguars got from there in a 77-68 loss. They launched a whopping 84 field goal attempts but made just 26 of them. At the line the Jaguars shot 15-for-28. Swanson scored a career-high 28 points to lead all scorers.
In boys' basketball news, Royalton, the #8 seed, beat #9-seed Ogilvie 73-57 in the Sub-Section 5A-South play-in round tonight. That means Royalton (3-21, 0-13 Prairie South Conference) will travel to B-B-E on Thursday night for the quarterfinals with a 7:00pm tip off with our top-seeded Jaguars boys' basketball team. Ogilvie finishes the season 0-24.
Second-seeded Upsala, meanwhile, hosts East Central (#7 seed) for their playoff opener on Thursday.
Area girls' basketball scores on Feb. 24:
Rockford Area 66, Minneapolis Henry 21
Albany 85, Milaca 68
Browerville 81, Upsala 61
Sauk Centre 69, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 46 (Mainstreeters win 5th straight West Central North Conf. title and 4th in a row all alone)
Brandon/Evansville 49, Melrose Area 46
Area boys' basketball scores on Feb. 24:
Hancock 50, Ashby 42 (sub-section opener, #10 Owls upset the Arrows)
Melrose 68, Staples-Motley 45
Browerville 66, Osakis 45
Upsala 95, West Central Area 59 (Cardinals shred 17-7 WCA)
Rockford Area 85, Pierz 67 (Rockets finish 7-7 in the CMC in a tie for 4th with Eden Valley-Watkins)
