Boys' basketball Step III: heading to a bigger 'SHIP!

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team is heading to the Section 5A finals for the first time since 2014! They defeated defending champion Hinckley-Finlayson 59-56 tonight in the subsection finals at Foley.

B-B-E took a 57-51 lead over Hinckley-Finlayson on two bonus free throws by Will VanBeck with 2:28 remaining. The Jaguars from Pine County then stormed back and closed it to 57-56 on a three-point play with 1:15 on the clock. Needless to say, the last 75 seconds of the game were nerve-wracking!

**Below, action from the first half...I mis-identified a B-B-E shooter as Abe Peter, when in fact it was Jackson Peter (his brother) who knocked down a three-pointer near the 11-minute mark. At that point, the Jaguars held a 17-13 lead.


B-B-E takes a 17-12 record up against Cromwell-Wright (24-3) for a trip to the state tournament. The top-seeded and defending champion C-W Cardinals defeated No. 3-seeded Nevis 69-51 for the Sub-Section 5A-North title tonight. They've now won 14 games in a row. Nevis finishes the year 18-11.

Last year, Hinckley-Finlayson pummeled Cromwell-Wright 72-40 in the Section 5A championship.

Also, congratulations to the Albany Huskies girls' basketball team! They took down the No. 2-seeded team in the Class 2A state tournament tonight, defeating Holy Family Catholic 60-49 to advance to the semifinals. This is Albany's first state appearance since 2008 when they won it all. That year, they beat our B-B-E Jaguars in the sub-section semifinals.

**Click here to learn the site of Friday night's game: https://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2019/03/game-site.html.

Area boys' basketball playoff scores on March 13:
Albany 56, St. Cloud Cathedral 52 (the No. 2-seeded Huskies hold the Crusaders 20 points below their scoring average)
Melrose Area 70, Spectrum 54 (this sets up a real treat for the Section 6AA finals: a border battle between Albany and Melrose on Friday "just down the road" for the two schools at St. John's University)
Henning 82, Mahnomen/Waubun 52 (Henning thrashes the defending Section 6A champion)
Parkers Prairie 72, Ortonville 56
North Woods 61, Deer River 46
Minneapolis North 53, Litchfield 49
Lakeview Christian 71, Cook County 63
Randolph 70, Rushford-Peterson 53
Breck 75, Maranatha Christian 65