Step II: grinding out a win

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is heading to the 'ship!! They are sub-section finals bound for the SIXTH year in a row!

They earned the sub-section finals berth with a 48-37 win over Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg tonight. The Jaguars trailed 22-20 earlier in the first half after going into halftime down 20-15.

Next: the Sub-Section 5A-South championship game is Tuesday, March 5 at 7 p.m. against either Swanville or East Central. The game will be played back at Little Falls high school.

In the 126-pound championship match tonight at the state tournament, Canon Swanson lost a 5-2 decision to junior Brett Willaby of Windom-Mountain Lake. Swanson finishes the year 45-1 overall with his second state runner-up medal of his career.

I just learned that Benson boys' basketball head coach Roger Lindahl coached his final high school game of his long and decorated career. Coach Lindahl's Braves lost 50-37 to Minnewaska Area in the opening round of the Sub-Section 3AA-North playoffs last night. He is a former Belgrade Redmen student-athlete who played football under the tutelage of Coaches Weimerskirch and Evenson.

Section 5A girls' basketball playoff scores on March 2:
Menahga 60, Sebeka 42
Pine River-Backus 56, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 40
Swanville 48, East Central 43

Area girls' basketball playoff scores on March 2:
Royalton 56, Rush City 50 OT (Royalton was seeded No. 7 out of 16 teams; Rush City was seeded No. 2)
Marshall 59, Mankato West 45
Pelican Rapids 58, Henning 52
Ada-Borup/Norman County West 56, Park Christian 44
Parkers Prairie 43, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 29
Sauk Centre 54, Holdingford 36
Underwood 57, West Central Area 52
Albany 49, Foley 30
Waseca 69, Hutchinson 48
Alexandria 45, Sartell-St. Stephen 26
Crookston 63, Park Rapids Area 48

Area boys' basketball scores on March 2 (some playoffs):Minneota 74, Lakeview 32
Dawson-Boyd 75, Central MN Christian 58
Southwest MN Christian 77, Ellsworth 40
Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 72, Hills-Beaver Creek 44
Osakis 91, Swanville 39
Holdingford 66, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 54 (CMC game)
Lac qui Parle Valley 72, MACCRAY 64
Renville County West 59, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 51
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 90, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 65
New London-Spicer 74, Montevideo 35
Redwood Valley 80, Paynesville Area 63