One point loss...and some startling vote totals from BOLD

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team fell in an incredibly close and hard-fought battle at Eden Valley-Watkins tonight by a 62-61 score. The Eagles led 22-21 at halftime, and both teams posted 40 points in a wild second half. The Jaguars shot a solid 40 percent on field goals, making 22 of 54 shots from the floor. Next: the Jaguars (6-2, 4-2) host Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on Friday this week.

More to come in the morning.

*Okay, well it's Wednesday night and I'm finally getting around to adding updates here. Further below are recent basketball and wrestling scores from last night (Tuesday).

I just read about what happened at the BOLD (Bird Island, Olivia, Lake Lillian) school district yesterday (again, Tuesday)...it was rather shocking. I'm not really shocked that voters said "No" to a huge tax increase for building construction. The shocking part to me is the volume at which they delivered their message. It was a resounding "NO!" from voters. On their first question, which was the most important question, voters turned down a $57.4 million project to build a new preK-12 school building by a 1,549 to 366 vote margin.

I empathize with the leaders of the BOLD district, from administration to teachers to non-licensed staff to school board members. This is an extremely difficult time to be asking taxpayers for a tax hike.

To be clear: I have only loosely followed the building drama of the BOLD school district. I am not well-versed on all of their issues. I know the building in Bird Island is very outdated. Just getting it up to "code" would cost upwards of $20 million from the last articles I've read. 

Yikes! To show how outdated my information is...I read that the campus in Bird Island was closed last year due to mold issues. That figure of $20 million still stands. That's roughly what it WOULD have cost if they went ahead and updated the building to get it up to code and make it useable again. As it stands, the pre-K-12 students at BOLD are housed at the Olivia campus.

The BOLD schools building soap opera reminds me in very clear terms that we are so extremely blessed and fortunate to have what we have at B-B-E schools. Our $20 million project is moving along nicely. All signs suggest it should be completed by September.

I can't wait!

Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on Feb. 9:
Kimball Area 43, Maple Lake 39
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 55, Holdingford 54
Paynesville Area 68, Royalton 49

Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on Feb. 9:
Kimball Area 71, A-C-GC 31
Paynesville Area 42, Royalton 34

Area boys' basketball scores on February 9:
Renville County West 62, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 57
Minnewaska Area 50, Sauk Centre 41
Litchfield 56, New London-Spicer 50
Watertown-Mayer 54, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 52
Hinckley-Finlayson 58, Rush City 51
Rothsay 61, Battle Lake 57
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 84, Underwood 47
Central MN Christian 61, Dawson-Boyd 50
Sebeka 54, Bertha-Hewitt 40
New York Mills 92, Pillager 68
Barnesville 65, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 52
Parkers Prairie 57, West Central Area 51 OT
Lakeview 63, Canby 56
Ashby 60, Brandon-Evansville 35
Minneota 56, Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 54
Henning 52, Wadena-Deer Creekk 40
Nevis 57, Nashwauk-Keewatin 43

Area girls' basketball scores on February 9:
Mayer Lutheran 63, Eden Valley-Watkins 39
Maple Lake 70, Rush City 59
Pine River-Backus 73, Nevis 34
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 74, Verndale 35
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 37, Ashby 29
West Central Area 70, Battle Lake 55
Central MN Christian 49, MACCRAY 43
Albany 68, St. Cloud Cathedral 25
Marshall Area 58, Willmar 49
Browerville 52, Osakis 46
Ogilvie 60, Swanville 54
Braham 54, Upsala 52
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 61, Benson 47
Lac qui Parle Valley 58, Renville CountY West 35
Minnewaska Area 50, Melrose Area 40
Sauk Centre 63, Montevideo 57
New London-Spicer 63, Litchfield 40
Watertown-Mayer 67, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 27

CMC wrestling scores on February 9:
Eden Valley-Watkins 40, Holdingford 37

Area wrestling scores on February 9:
Willmar 57, Alexandria 18
West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 63, Benson 14
WCA/A/BE 45, Crookston 29
Crookston 51, Benson 27
EV-W 60, Osakis 12
Holdingford 60, Osakis 18
Minneota 44, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove 27
Jackson County Central 54, Minneota 19
New London-Spicer 40, Morris Area/Hancock/Chokio-Alberta 27
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 43, MA/H/CA 26
K-M-S 34, NL-S 31
Dawson-Boyd/Montevideo/Lac qui Parle Valley United 71, Ortonville 6
Minnewaska Area 34, DB/M/LQPV United 26
Minnewaska Area 70, Ortonville 6
BOLD 44, Norwood-Young America 36
Tri City United 52, BOLD 14
Bertha-Hewitt/Parkers Prairie 58, Staples-Motley 12
BH/PP 60, Pelican Rapids 20
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville 60, Aitkin 13
LPGE/B 51, Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus 12
Albany 53, Milaca/Faith Christian 15