Step IV: STATE it is!!!

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is state-bound for the first time in school history!!  Tonight at Little Falls high school, they defeated Ogilvie by a 67-25 score. The Lions (17-11) were limited to just 11 second-half points by a truly tenacious, stifling B-B-E defense.

Ogilvie, the Sub-Section 5A-East champions, was gunning for their first trip to state since 2001 (which was also their first trip to state).

The Jaguars will take a 19-10 record into the Class 1A state tournament that begins on Thursday, March 12 in Minneapolis. Other teams qualifying for Class 1A state are Minneota, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown, Heritage Christian and Henning. Those are who I'm aware of. Also going to state is Fillmore Central out of Section 1A.

Seeding for state will be released at around noon on Saturday from what I've heard.

*Below, here's video of senior Jenna Dingmann visiting about winning the section title and also what goes into the practices that got the team to this point:


Dingmann's career-high 25 points against No. 3-ranked Walker-Hackensack-Akeley on Wednesday were a huge factor in getting B-B-E to the section finals.

STATE-BOUND TEAMS in Class 1A

Section 1A championship: Fillmore Central 69, Blooming Prairie 56; Fillmore Central advances to state with a 22-8 record and a No. 12 ranking on the QRF.

Section 2A championship: Waterville-Elysian-Morristown 79, Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 68; W-E-M advances to state with a 26-4 record and a No. 6 QRF ranking; they started the season 15-0, then had a rough 3-4 stretch, and are now on an eight-game winning streak.

Section 3A championship: Minneota 78, Southwest MN Christian 50; the Vikings (30-1) hold a No. 5 QRF ranking and are ranked No. 1 in the Minnesota Basketball News state rankings. Minneota's lone loss was to Goodhue, a team that lost to Rochester Lourdes in the Section 1AA championship last night.

Section 4A championship: Heritage Christian 73, Mayer Lutheran 60; Heritage Christian (22-7) went 14-0 in the MN Classical Athletic Association and holds a No. 7 QRF ranking.

Section 6A championship: Henning 56, West Central Area 50; the Hornets, who B-B-E fans will remember from the consolation semifinals at state volleyball last November, are 28-2 overall and hold the No. 2 QRF ranking; Henning went 13-1 in the rugged Park Region Conference.

Section 7A championship: Cromwell-Wright 68, Mountain Iron-Buhl 43; the Cardinals (28-2) are the No. 1-ranked team in the QRF scale and the No. 2-ranked team in the state via Minnesota Basketball News.

Section 8A championship: Red Lake 64, Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 54; the Warriors (22-9) are the No. 20-ranked team in the state by QRF; they were champions of the Northwoods Conference-North division with an 11-2 record.

State-ranked teams going to the state tournament (ranked in order)
1. Minneota
2. Cromwell-Wright
4. Henning
7. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown

AND congratulations to New London-Spicer and also Sauk Centre for advancing to the Class 2A state girls' basketball tournament! Sauk Centre (28-2) defeated top-seeded Albany in tonight's Section 6AA finals by a 54-38 score. NL-S (28-1) defeated Windom in tonight's Section 3AA finals by a 67-45 score. Sauk Centre handed NL-S their lone loss back on December 19 by a 55-50 score.

THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank for sponsoring this Jaguars Sports playoff update...the Bonanza Valley Voice sports department couldn't do it without the loyal and steady support of countless locally-owned businesses!