Three big wins tonight!

*Note: on Friday, an important historical correction has been posted below regarding the wrestling team. Also, I'm adding a small basketball scoreboard on Friday from Thursday night games.

The wrestling team went 2-0 at the ACGC triangular, and the girls' basketball team won 64-48 over a very tough Holdingford team.

A light recap:

At the A-C-GC triangular, the No. 3-ranked B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team defeated West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville by a 45-24 score. They followed that with a thoroughly impressive 37-22 win over No. 2-ranked Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City! B-B-E won 10 of the 14 weights against the Falcons. The A-C-GC Falcons are the defending state runners-up in Class 1A. B-B-E is now 7-1 in dual meets this season, and they have no time for rest or a let down as they head to the Kimball triangular tomorrow night. The Cubs (4-0) are ranked No. 9 in the latest Class 1A Guillotine rankings. Also competing will be the always-tough Willmar Cardinals.

After each team won by pin to split the first two weights, the No. 3-ranked Jaguars throttled No. 2-ranked A-C-GC with six straight wins through the 152-pound match. Mark Jenniges clinched the win with a win by a thrilling 4-3 decision over Taylor Fester at 195 pounds. This was the first win over A-C-GC in three years. *Friday update = the Jaguars won 32-20 over the Falcons on January 11, 2018 in a triangular at A-C-GC high school. The Jaguars also had a big win over Minnewaska Area that night by a 51-21 score. Incredibly, I completely forgot about that win when I was blogging last night. I am stunned that I did not remember that win, which sent the Jaguars to a 10-0 overall record. They left the ACGC gym that night with a perfect 12-0 record in dual meets. A-C-GC went on to win the Section 4A title and advance to the state tournament, where they went 0-2 to finish the season 26-9 overall. B-B-E went 1-1 in the Section 5A playoffs and finished 20-3 in duals. They also won 20 duals last season, and that remains the school record for most wins in a season as B-B-E.

Meanwhile, the No. 6-ranked B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team improved to 4-0 on the young season with a 64-48 win over visiting Holdingford. Their game at Minneota tomorrow is postponed. The varsity team led 33-24 at halftime. That score is impressive considering that the Huskers held a 12-4 lead with just four minutes gone in the game's opening stages. Harley Roering's layup put the Jaguars ahead 13-12 right at the 10-minute mark. The Jaguars forged a 21-16 lead before the Huskers got two free throws and a field goal to cut it to one point. Then with five minutes left, a layup by Liz French put the Jaguars ahead 23-20. You can see more action from that point of the first half in the video posted below.

For the game, B-B-E shot an abysmal 12-for-26 at the free throw line but shot a very solid 48 percent on field goals against a very physical, talented team that liked to push the ball down court as much as the Jaguars did.

Also, I learned that the C-squad Jaguars won tonight over Holdingford, making the night a 3-0 sweep for B-B-E.

Below, here's a video clip taken during the first half of tonight's game, beginning near the five-minute mark with the Jaguars holding a slim lead.

Senior Allisa Knight had a career night with 24 points on incredible 11-of-14 field goal shooting. She also added eight rebounds, two steals and three blocked shots. Sophomore Abby Berge added 20 points with four assists, five rebounds and five steals.

With the win, the Jaguars take over first place alone in the Central Minnesota Conference at 4-0. The Huskers sit in second place at 3-1.

More to come. Time to get some video uploaded.

Area wrestling scores on January 28:
New London-Spicer 58, Paynesville Area 24
Benson 48, Osakis 32
A-C-GC 43, WCA/A/B-E 25

Area girls' basketball scores on January 28:
New London-Spicer 76, Dassel-Cokato 27
Annandale 55, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 46 (OT)
Battle Lake 46, Ashby 43
Canby 48, Renville County West 42
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 44, Onamia 33
Swanville 51, Upsala 47
Ogilvie 62, East Central 31
Braham 70, Hinckley-Finlayson 53
Henning 53, Menahga 47
New York Mills 66, Sebeka 46
Pillager 66, Bertha-Hewitt 22
Brandon-Evansville 60, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 56
MACCRAY 71, Yellow Medicine East 43
Hancock 54, West Central Area 46
Lac qui Parle Valley 61, Dawson-Boyd 10

January 28 Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores:
Paynesville Area 61, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 15 (first win of the year for the Bulldogs after an 0-3 start)
Kimball Area 53, Eden Valley-Watkins 45
Royalton 51, Maple Lake 45 (the Royals get their first win of the year after an 0-3 start)

Area boys' basketball scores on January 28:
Renville County West 72, Minneota 65
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 86, BOLD 66
Minnewaska Area 54, Sauk Centre 52 OT
Annandale 64, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 40
Willmar 67, St. Cloud Tech 53
Osakis 64, St. John's Prep 23
Lakeview 60, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 40
LQPV 75, Canby 28
Mora 70, Pierz 42
Paynesville Area 74, Holdingford 30 (a CMC game)
East Central 69, Pine City 51
MACCRAY 78, Yellow Medicine East 57
Alexandria 72, Sauk Rapids-Rice 59
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 63, Dawson-Boyd 41
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 49, Ortonville 36
Nevis 82, Pine River-Backus 51
Benson 80, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 49
West Central Area 62, Hancock 58

THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten for their strong, steady and loyal support of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper and our sports department.