**Final: 18th-ranked Cromwell-Wright 65, B-B-E 52.
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| The Jaguars gather one last time on the court after they received their runner-up trophy and medals. |
After falling behind by a steep 51-34 margin with a little over seven minutes to go, the Jaguars found some spark and cut it down to 55-43 on a beautiful floater in the lane by Will VanBeck with 4:14 left.
Later the Jaguars cut it down to a 57-50 deficit heading into the final minute of play.
The Cardinals improve to 25-3 and head to state. Their star guard, No. 4 junior Micah Pocernich, who averages 19 points a game, tallied 37 points tonight to power his team to the big dance. He was dynamite. He buried seven three-pointers on 10 attempts beyond the arc. All you can do is tip your hat.
The next-highest scorer for the Cardinals was No. 32 Cameron Cahoon, a senior forward who had 12 points on five two-pointers and two free throws.
The Jaguars left it all on the court. I felt both teams gave it everything they had. It was a terrific ball game. Both fan sections were large, loud and proud. A fabulous atmosphere that had a state tournament berth on the line.
The Jaguars finish their best season since 2013-2014. It's been a hell of a ride!! They went 17-13 overall and 8-6 in the Central Minnesota Conference.
**Below is about a 10-minute long video that features second-half action tonight starting with about eight minutes left in the game. At that point, Cromwell-Wright led 49-34.
I see Henning won 60-58 to beat Parkers Prairie in Section 6A at UM-Morris. What magnificent game that had to be!!! Parkers Prairie led 26-21 at halftime, and the Panthers had a 10-point lead with just four minutes remaining. Crazy! Henning was on fire down the stretch.
That's all until closer to midnight. I am signing off to enjoy a late supper in Brainerd and then head home.
The winter sports season in Jaguar Country had its curtain call tonight. Yes, it was disappointing to lose, but we could not be prouder of the effort our Jaguars gave this season!!!
Note: in the previous blog post that had first-half updates, I've added video from tonight's game.
I see at the girls' basketball state tournament that Menahga lost 47-43 to Goodhue in one of the two Class 1A semifinal games today. What a game that had to be!
Area boys' basketball playoff scores on March 15:
No. 8 Henning 60, Parkers Prairie 58
Redwood Valley 74, St. James Area 49
Springfield 92, Minnesota Valley Lutheran 85
Perham 55, Barnesville 39
Ada-Borup/Norman County West 66, Cass Lake-Bena 56
Westbrook-Walnut Grove 80, Dawson-Boyd 72 (W-WG heads to state for the first time since 1994)
Melrose 52, Albany 51 (HOLY COW!!!!!!!! Can you imagine that game?) Congrats to Coach Duscha and his crew! They take a 26-4 record into the state tournament; they trailed by 11 points at halftime in this epic border battle!!!
And thank you again to our local business sponsors for helping provide the necessary resources to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's sports department!
Good night all...and remember to ##ConquerEveryDay. Our days are all special. Make the most of it.
