extended sports coverage for the B-B-E community brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in Brooten, MN. (Address: P.O. Box 250, Brooten) http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. ALL VIEWS posted are strictly and without exception the opinions of the newspaper owner and no one else; they're written in first hand format. Please submit feedback in writing to the address posted above. **This is Minnesota's oldest varsity high school sports blog. We hope to keep it going into the future!
Thursday, March 31, 2022
B-B-E zip codes post a zero
Quite the news!
After posting a one each of the past two weeks, the Belgrade/Brooten/Elrosa zip code areas have posted a zero for new COVID-19 cases. This was released in today's March 31 Minnesota Department of Health report. You can look at the March 24 data by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3tXyXuq.
Also noteworthy: the Glenwood 56334 zip code posted a zero one week after posting a one.
Crazytown: in Germany, where they are 76 percent fully jabbed, their per-capita COVID counts today is equivalent to the United States reporting over 922,000 new COVID-19 cases. (One in 330 people.) New case counts were also extremely high in France. New cases are completely out of control in Australia, where the population is 25 million and the new cases reported were over 64,000 today.
In a new blog post, I will resume sports reporting much later tonight after a three-day layoff.
It's a good thing I can type upwards of 120 words a minute! Because I've been extremely bogged down at the beginning of this new week. The upcoming issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper will have 16 pages...I lost count at how many of them will include state basketball coverage. (Many!)
Speech show case!! Mark your calendars! (April 10)
Back by popular demand! After a many-year hiatus from holding this event, the B-B-E speech team will host a speech showcase event for the public on Sunday, April 10 at the high school from 3 to 5 p.m.
This is a special opportunity for the public to come and see the rich talent on the speech team. A total of three spaces will be in use for the public to catch the action: Olson Auditorium, the band room and room 550. Enjoy a variety of different speeches and then a sweet treat after the performances. Each speaker will perform at 15-minute intervals, so if you need to switch rooms to see someone, you can do that.
Additional coverage of this will appear in the April 7 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
Not much blogging time available today either, but here's a couple videos recorded yesterday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. We are immensely proud of our entire student body for how well we did at the big show!!!
Player introductions:
Here's action from later in the first half:
**And here's the final moment of the first half:
Once B-B-E built a 29-19 lead in the final minute of the first half, the Vikings scored with three seconds to go on Easton Fritcher's move along the right baseline to put the score at 29-21 at halftime. Isaac Matti then scored back-to-back three-pointers in the first 44 seconds of the second half to suddenly make it a one-possession game. That 10-point lead for the Jaguars was all but erased in just 47 seconds of game clock. Ashton Dingmann scored on a right-hand floater shot with 17:01 left. A minute later, Matti launched an air ball. Ashton Dingmann then scored on a left drive of the lane with 15:30 left to make it 33-27. Matti drained two free throws with 15:14 left, and with 14:20 left, he drained a three-pointer to cut the score to 33-32. The game was neck-and-neck for the final 14 minutes, and every play was tense and dramatic building up to the ending.
Crazy: I don't know how it's possible, but I shot over 700 state tournament photos across the three games. Crazy!
I've added two web articles to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website from the state tournament. Tonight a short article was added from the state finals. I hope to get some stats on there too. Click here to see the state championship game summary: https://bit.ly/35eM7cS.
More to come tonight, including a couple highlights from the welcome-home ceremony at the high school. Also! Remember that B-B-E is in session with classes tomorrow. It will be a make-up day for a snow day. And spring sports will all ramp up this week as well. No rest for the restless!
And what a journey it has been! We are SO PROUD of our Jaguars! What they have accomplished this season is truly incredible. And better yet: they are just one of many teams we are grateful to have in our community.
Back-to-back threes by Ashton Dingmann vaulted the Jaguars out to a 13-4 lead with 10:53 to go in the first half. Ashton cashed a right corner three-pointer with 6:13 left to make it an 18-11 lead. The Jaguars then built double digit leads of 27-17 and 29-19 in methodical fashion as halftime approached. Hayfield scored with just three seconds to spare before the first buzzer to make it 29-21 at the break. By that point, the Jaguars made 4 of 9 three-point shots, while the Vikings missed all five three-point attempts. This was a key factor in the first half, but the script changed for the second half.
Junior Isaac Matti went on a tear to open the second half with three three-pointers in the first three minutes. It was a back-and-forth affair from that point on.
Final score: Hayfield 51, B-B-E 49.The Jaguars pulled ahead 44-42 with under 4 minutes to go on a shot by Gavin Kampsen. This capped a 6-0 run after Hayfield grabbed a 42-38 lead. On the next possession, however, Hayfield tied it with a slick alley-oop basket on the right side. With 2:16 left, the Vikings pulled ahead when they made one of two free throws for a 45-44 lead.
The game clock fell to just 32 seconds before any more scoring took place, and it was an uphill climb the rest of the way for the Jaguars, as the Vikings (32-2) cashed six free throws in those last 32 seconds of play.
B-B-E led 23-17 with 2:27 to go in the first half, but back-to-back buckets by Ashton Dingmann and Kaden Pieper gave them a double digit lead at 27-17 as the clock neared the final minute.
**Here's a video from late in the first half today, with the Jaguars expanding their lead to 27-17 as halftime approached:
For the game: B-B-E shot 19-of-46 on field goals, while Hayfield shot 19-of-45 on field goals. The Jaguars made more three-pointers, but the Vikings made more free throws...plus they got to the line more often than the Jaguars. Hayfield went 10-of-12 at the line, while the Jaguars went 1-of-2 at the line. B-B-E made 6 three-pointers, while the Vikings made 3 three-pointers. Isaac Matti led the Vikings with 27 points. Ashton Dingmann was leading scorer for the Jaguars with 20 points.
A welcome home ceremony will take place later this afternoon at the elementary!! Stay tuned! The public is invited.
***Spread the word!!! 3:45 p.m. today!! WELCOME HOME ceremony for the team!!! In Brooten!!!!
**Update: the team's bus passed through Regal at 3:45. So it's time to make tracks to the school!
**Here's a fun moment...going to yesterday, when the Jaguars took the court prior to the player introductions that were televised on Channel 45 TV!
Tonight is the Belgrade Lions Chili Cook-Off at the Belgrade VFW. That will consume a good chunk of my night and prevent me from blogging that much. After that comes the final Open Gym night of the winter season.
In other Class 1A games at state:
For third place, New Life Academy demolished Cherry 75-50 this morning. In the fifth-place game today, Sacred Heart beat Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 63-54. Sacred Heart ended Sleepy Eye St. Mary's season by a 69-52 score in Thursday's consolation semifinal game. R-T-R beat Nevis 74-71 in the other semifinal.
GAME DAY! A day to win another state title (VIDEO**)
LET'S DO THIS AGAIN! Above: the 2013-2014 team hoists their state championship trophy on March 15, 2014 at Target Center in Minneapolis.
It is game day again and we are heading to The Barn at the U of M in the Cities...state championship Saturday! You can't beat it!
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team tips off at 11 a.m. today in Minneapolis against favorite, top-seeded, top-ranked Hayfield...the defending Class 1A state champions. They defeated Hancock 61-60 last year in the finals after the Owls led 35-29 at halftime.
Game updates to follow here after 11 a.m.:
**With under 7 minutes to go, the Jaguars have a 15-11 lead.
With 4:41 to go, the Jaguars are ahead 23-15.
Halftime: B-B-E 29, Hayfield 21. Second half updates in a new blog post**
**Here's the tip-off in today's game:
More to come in a new blog post.
THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten, Bucky's Bar of Elrosa and Coop's Corner of Belgrade for sponsoring this state tournament sports update!
Yesterday in the post-game press conference with central Minnesota and Metro Area media, Coach Anderson and his staff plus Luke Dingmann, Kaden Pieper, Will VanBeck and Ashton Dingmann answered questions in front of the camera in the Williams Arena press room.
I asked the team, "I'm guessing you're already ready to go for the next game...do you have gas in the tank after today for tomorrow's game?"
Ashton Dingmann said point blank with all the authority and confidence that a player of his caliber would have, "For sure, Let's Go!"...and that's all that had to be said. The B-B-E Jaguars are ready to go! And that's all that matters for us!
**Here's a video clip from the opening minutes of the state semifinals yesterday:
A few minutes before 8 a.m. today, the fan bus departed the elementary school...I hope we can fill our side of The Barn! Let's go Jaguars!! Videos have been added to the previous blog post. It's time to head to the Cities.
The magic has returned from the 2013-2014 season! Above: kindergarten students at the March 12, 2014 state tournament pep fest at B-B-E high school. These kids are now in high school. Holding the sign are Josie Buckentine and Tiffany Dingmann. Tiffany's cousins are Luke Dingmann and Ashton Dingmann, starters on this year's state championship-bound boys' basketball team.
**AND THAT MOMENT!!!!!!!! Caught on video at The Barn:
BELIEVE IT!
It's been eight years coming! They did it! The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team is heading to the state championship game!
New Life Academy had the ball with 16 seconds to go and trailing by two. They were unable to get a final shot off in the closing seconds, and Luke Dingmann picked up a loose ball with 3 seconds to spare to end the game. The Jaguars won 55-53 in a classic battle that absolutely went down to the wire!!! Two free throws by Luke Dingmann broke a 53-53 tie with 15.9 seconds to go. New Life Academy had previously tied it up after trailing 53-50.
B-B-E heads to the championship game, which is tomorrow (Saturday) at 11 a.m. at Williams Arena against top-seeded and top-ranked and DEFENDING state champion Hayfield out of Section 1A.
ONCE AGAIN we need a huge crowd! Today our crowd was amazing! The student section was absolutely on fire the whole game. I cannot say enough about the tremendous effort by both the Jaguars on the floor at Williams Arena AND our Jaguars cheering from the stands!!!
The Eagles take a 27-4 record into the third-place game, where they'll play Cherry tomorrow morning at Concordia College-St. Paul. The Jaguars are 28-4 going into the state finals.
More to come later. Time to head out. We're heading to Norway Lake to the wake for my aunt who passed away on Wednesday. There won't be much blogging again until after 9:00 p.m., when I can get video uploaded.
**If you're back home tonight, please go to the KaDe Shack for the Knights of Columbus fish fry!! They serve until 8:30 p.m....all you can eat for just $10!!!!
Just after 10 p.m. and I'm back in the saddle. More to come after I review some game stats.
**Here's a video from the state quarterfinals that begins with about 55 seconds left in the game:
**Here's a clip from when the Jaguars won on Wednesday to advance in the state tournament:
I see in one of the Class 2A state semifinal games that Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta lost 71-63 to Minneapolis North.
I learned tonight that I have an inguinal hernia injury on my right pelvic/right hip area. Being at the state championship game for me is in doubt right now. It's a long story that I will share another time at how I was injured. The good news right now is that, according to my hospital-worker wife, the injury will not require surgery. I certainly hope she is correct, because I cannot be laid up right now. That would be very, very bad - especially with spring sports right around the corner. It has been a crazy day. Crazy crazy crazy! At this point, worst-case scenario is I cannot get to Minneapolis tomorrow but still will be able to limp into the high school for a welcome-home ceremony.
Game notes from today's state semifinal game: With 4:30 left, Luke Dingmann tied the game at 50-50 with a rebound shot in the paint. The Jaguars had fallen behind 50-46 with 5:37 left, but they held NLA to just three points the rest of the way!
New Life Academy went 8-of-21 for very solid 38 percent shooting on three-pointers. For the Jaguars, they shot an equally solid 37.5 percent on 6-of-16 three-point shooting. B-B-E was led by 15 points from both Luke Dingmann and Kaden Pieper. Ashton Dingmann scored 11 points, Gavin Kampsen had 6 points, Tanner Shelton scored 4 points, Gannon Walsh scored 3 points and Will VanBeck had one point...although it was a HUGE free throw point that he made Here's quite possibly the single biggest reason why B-B-E won today: the Jaguars got 10 points off of the bench compared to just three points off the bench for New Life Academy. That is HUGE in a state Final Four contest.
NLA's Kollin Kaemingk led all scorers with 23 points, and Maxwell Briggs added 12 points. Next was 6'8" Erick Reader with nine points.
Other game statistics: a total of seven Jaguars scored in the game, while NLA had six players score. Each team had four players play 30 or more minutes each. Game field goal stats: B-B-E went 18-of-44 (40.9%) in the game, while NLA went 21-of-51 (41.2%) in the game. The key stat separating each team was free throw shooting: B-B-E made 13 of 16 free throw shots, while NLA went to the line just twice and went 3-for-3.
GAME DAY! BRING ON THE EAGLES! (VIDEO* UPDATES!*!)
You're darn right we can!
REMEMBER THIS????!!! Good times!
In the lower left holding the Brian Goodwin fat head is Easton Hagen, current senior on the team.
I hope you can make it to the game!! If not, stop by Bucky's Bar in Elrosa, Brother's Bar in Belgrade, or the KaDe Shack in Brooten to watch on their TVs. Tip-off at The Barn is at 2 p.m.!!
**Here's a second-half video clip from Wednesday's quarterfinal game at The Barn in Minneapolis...it begins with 7:20 on the clock and the game's outcome in the balance!
*Here's another video from the second half:
Game updates will follow here...
At 1:25 p.m., Hayfield and Cherry are still duking it out in the other Class 1A semifinal game. With 5 minutes to go, top-seeded and top-ranked Hayfield has a 57-48 lead over Cherry. **And with 1:24 to go, Hayfield has a 69-57 lead. **Hayfield won, but I don't have a final score.
UPDATE: at 1:51 p.m., the pre-game clock shows 10:40...the teams are on the court warming up!
I am not impressed with the boo-ing I'm hearing from the NLA student section!! In fact, I am rather taken aback by it. Someone should tell them that they are on statewide television!!!
**Update: with under 14 minutes to go, the Eagles have a 10-8 lead. This has been a very well-played game so far. *UPDATE: with 10 minutes to go, B-B-E holds a 16-13 lead. The B-B-E student section has been OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!! They are bringing it today!!!!
**UPDATE: with 2:05 left in the first half, Woolf's cleanup shot in the low post on a missed three-pointer put NLA ahead 22-21.
**HALFTIME:B-B-E 27, NLA 24...the Eagles scored with three seconds left on a quick move to the hole from the right wing by Briggs...he has four points at halftime. NLA is led by Kaemingk's 11 points. THEY ARE GOOD, this second half will be a battle to the end!
**The second half is starting at 2:51 p.m.**** UPDATES IN A NEW BLOG POST.
THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten, Bucky's Bar of Elrosa and Coop's Corner of Belgrade for sponsoring this state tournament sports update!
New Life Academy (26-3) is the No. 3 seed in the Class A dance, marking the Eagles’ third tournament appearance ever, and first since 2004 when they made back-to-back trips. The Woodbury private school, champions of Section 4A and co-champions of the Skyline Conference with Maranatha Christian, has four players averaging double figures scoring. Top scorer has been 6'2" senior guard Kollin Kaemingk, who scores 15 points per game. Kaemingk is the team's lone senior and led them yesterday with 20 points against Sacred Heart of East Grand Forks. The team has 11 juniors on the roster. One of the juniors is 6'8" big man Erick Reader, who had eight points yesterday. He made four of his six two-point shots and missed his lone three-point attempt. Other top scorers for NLA were junior Maxwell Biggs with 13 and junior Austin Woolf with nine.
Overall, eight total NLA players scored in the game. They present multiple offensive threats. B-B-E's defense will have to rise to the occasion to get past them.
Last season, NLA went 8-12 overall and 4-7 in the Skyline Conference during the pandemic season. They went 1-1 in the Section 4AA playoffs.
**Here's a video I haven't posted yet that goes way back to Step III of the playoffs...back on March 15 after the Jaguars defeated Hancock:
I plan on getting a much better job done tomorrow at Williams Arena in terms of getting better pictures and hopefully video too...it's been eight years since I've covered basketball there, and I was lost and confused when I first walked in. Yikes!
It's been almost year since our B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team played at Target Center in the Class 1A state semifinals and championship game. What an incredible experience that was! At the time, if I remember correctly, crowd sizes were limited to 250 fans on each side. This year we can pack The Barn as much as we want to for our B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team! And speaking of fans!!!
FAN BUS INFORMATION:
B-B-E high school is taking sign-ups for a fan bus. Just shy of noon today (Thursday), the high school said that they have six spots available on that bus. To get a second bus going, they'd need another crush of people to line it up. So that's up to what the public wants to do! Contact Nancy Bertram at the high school at 320-254-8211, Option No. 2 for the high school and then Option No. 1 for Nancy's extension.
Let's give everything we can to this experience! Keep it in perspective, of course, but enjoy it while it lasts! We get to be on TV!!! How exciting for Jaguar Country!!!
Click on the following link to re-direct to the B-B-E school's website where you can learn more about the state tournament (short link): https://bit.ly/3ICorgi.
Here's a clip featuring the last minute or so of the Section 6A championship game:
New York Mills had briefly taken a 36-35 lead with 1:07 left in the half...this was after B-B-E had built a 30-19 lead with 7 minutes to go. That was a wild 18 minutes!! B-B-E took a 37-36 lead into halftime thanks to Kaden Pieper's layup with 25 seconds to go.
About the upcoming state semifinal contest: New Life Academy (27-3), winners of 17 straight games, averages 76.3 points per game while giving up 57.5 points a game. Their losses are to Rocori (67-59 on December 30), Maranatha Christian (82-72 on January 4) and Plainview-Elgin-Millville (78-72 on January 22).
Amazing: the community of Hancock, whose school has traveled extensively in the past month for postseason basketball, has shown just one COVID-19 case in the past three weeks. Their girls' basketball team just won the Class 1A state title last weekend. They've traveled all over the map, and COVID-19 spread hasn't overrun their community. Maybe they all double mask over there in Owls country???? Just sayin'!!!
This afternoon I stumbled onto a drive including pictures from the 2014 state tournament. Crazy fun times back then!!! It's been eight years...
Back to present day! Here's a video from the first half yesterday at The Barn:
Remember! Let's BRING IT tomorrow to Minneapolis! We need a huge crowd once again! Click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website for more state tournament coverage (short link): https://bit.ly/3DdgGfQ...that article includes photos from the state tournament trips in 2011 and 2014. Good times!
Class 1A state consolation bracket update:
In today's consolation semifinals, unseeded Russel-Tyler-Ruthton prevailed in a shootout by a 74-71 score over Nevis. In the other semi, unseeded Sacred Heart won 69-52 over Sleepy Eye St. Mary's. I won't have time to look at the statistics on those games until tonight. I'm still reading up on New Life Academy.
STATE is GREAT! Hey, Jaguar Country, let's DO THAT AGAIN! (VIDEOS)
Let's DEFINITELY do that again!!! We are proud, grateful, blessed and EXCITED in Jaguar Country!
We all have tomorrow to prepare for Friday. A huge part of this involves packing multiple fan buses for the state semifinals! At B-B-E, we don't have school on Friday, so the bus route buses are all available! The question is: how many buses can we fill, and how many bus drivers are available? I'd venture to guess we can fill MULTIPLE buses! We need EVERYONE in Jaguar Country to make the trek down if it is at all humanly possible. We need a VERY LARGE, VOCAL, PROUD cheering section! I'll have more to say about this on Thursday. I need to talk to the school and find out what they've got going for fan bus sign-ups.
What I saw from New Life Academy of Woodbury impressed me, both on the court and in the stands. They had a huge, HUGE student section. Even though this is their team's first state tournament in 18 years, they will be a formidable opponent. They looked just flat out GOOD on the court today and were very comfortable flying up and down basket to basket. It is VERY SAFE to say that NLA will be the toughest and most talented team our Jaguars have faced all year. If we can get our "sixth man" in play on Friday, that will go a long way to defeating NLA and getting a crack at another state championship! HOW AWESOME WOULD THAT BE!!!!
**Here's a video featuring the Jaguars taking the court just before the player introduction and the game tip off; our student section was OUTSTANDING!!!!
**Here's a video from after the post-game press conferences...the Jaguars soaking up the win at The Barn!
New Life Academy defeated Sacred Heart of East Grand Forks 64-58 while utilizing 58 percent field goal shooting, which is crazy good. They were led by Kollin Kaemingk's 20 points, which included two three-pointers and four free throws on five attempts. He also had four rebounds and a steal. For the game, NLA made eight of 13 free throw attempts (61.5 percent) while going 4-of-15 on the three-point line (26.7 percent). NLA's biggest lead was 13 points with 7:15 to go in the second half. They led for over 33 minutes of the 36-minute long game. NLA had 16 turnovers to 14 for Sacred Heart. The biggest disparity on the stat sheet was points in the paint: 44 for NLA and 24 for Sacred Heart. What helped Sacred Heart was getting 16 of 23 free throws (70 percent) while equaling NLA on three-pointers (four made).
More to come...most likely in the morning. I need a good night's rest tonight. Busy times lie ahead!!!
**Here's another video clip featuring some of the starters being introduced, plus the coaches, at Williams Arena. It's not professional video! I was doing 3 things at the same time here:
Time to read more about New Life Academy's star-studded basketball team.
STEP V! YESSSS!!!!!! Jaguars win!!! Final Four-Bound! (VIDEO)
After falling behind 52-47 with 10:31 left in the game, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team dug their heels in and pushed back at Sleepy Eye St. Mary's by picking up the tempo and turning up the defensive pressure. Kaden Pieper made two free throws with 10:21 left. The Knights scored in the paint, but Pieper's layup with 9:58 left made it 54-51. Both teams traded empty possessions, and SESM then had a turnover when Trent Steffensmeier stepped on the baseline while running down a loose ball. With 8:42 left, Tanner Shelton scored in the paint to get the Jaguars within one point. With 7:40 left, Luke Dingmann swiped an offensive rebound on his own miss with three defenders crashing the boards. He sank a low post shot to put the Jaguars ahead 55-54.
Little did anyone know in The Barn at the time, but the Jaguars were on what was at least a 13-0 run that put the game away. With 2:02 left, Will VanBeck scored on a layup to make it a 64-54 lead! The Knights cut it to six points with just over one minute to go, but it was too little, too late.
FINAL SCORE:B-B-E 70, SEMS 63!!!! It has been pandemonium here at Williams Arena! I had posted an incorrect final score. This is a truly unforgettable experience to be here and take this all in. I managed to miss the post-game press conference with Coach Anderson and part of the team, but what matters most is that the Jaguars won, and we are moving on in the championship bracket! Special thanks to Joe Brown with the West Central Tribune for explaining to me how the post-game interviewing worked. I didn't get going in time to make it for B-B-E's press conference as I was re-learning how to make my way around Williams Arena, but I did watch and record SESM's press conference. They were very dejected, and they spoke highly of the Jaguars and were a team that lost with all the class in the world. I tip my hat to them! Losing at this level is never easy.
Kaden Pieper led the Jaguars with 24 points, while Ashton Dingmann added 15. Also in double figures were Gavin Kampsen with 12 points and Luke Dingmann with 11 points.
AND HOW ABOUT OUR FANS! Wow!!! The student section from Jaguar Country brought it today!!! Bravo!!! A video was added to the previous blog post that shows when the Jaguars took the court at Williams Arena with a huge crowd of fans cheering.
**Here's a video clip from late in the first half today:
SESM is now 28-3 overall and drops into the consolation bracket, with the semifinals taking place tomorrow. B-B-E is 27-4 going into the State Final Four!!!
UP NEXT FOR THE JAGUARS: the Class 1A state semifinal game on Friday, March 25 at 2 p.m. back here at The Barn!
In the 5 p.m. quarterfinal game...favorite and No. 3-seeded New Life Academy of Woodbury has a quick 4-0 lead in the opening minute. They are FAST!!!!! If they win this game, they play our Jaguars on Friday in the semis. UPDATE: the second minute of the game went just as the first minute went...with NLA now holding an 8-0 lead after another fast break shot. I haven't seen speed like this at the Class 1A level in a long time. Update: with 15:16 left, Sacred Heart's Tomkinson drained a 12-footer to get the Eagles on the scoreboard. Sacred Heart is a private school in East Grand Forks. Update: with 14 minutes to go, NLA has a 10-6 lead. **And with 13:50 to go, the Eagles have scored on a fastbreak shot to make it a 10-8 game.
Update: with 12 minutes to go, Sacred Heart has tied the game at 12-12. They have come to life and are handling the pressure NLA is bringing. Update: with 11:20 to go, Sacred Heart has a 13-12 lead after getting a free throw to pull in front. Update: with 11:13 left in the first half, NLA took a 15-13 lead with a three-pointer.
Update: with 8:22 to go, Sacred Heart has tied the game on a paint shot to make it 17-17. Update: Sacred Heart took a brief 21-19 lead, but NLA has now turned up the pressure and opened up the offense while building a 25-21 lead with a 6-0 run. There's under six minutes to go before halftime.
Update: with 42 seconds left in the first half, NLA has a 34-30 lead. It's been a great game so far now that Sacred Heart has settled in and handled the pressure.
SECOND HALF UPDATE: NLA led 42-32, but the Eagles stormed back to tie it at 42-42. Then NLA surged ahead to take a 53-42 lead. Now with 6:37 left in the game, NLA holds a 57-46 lead. The game is not over!
Final: NLA 64, Sacred Heart 58. New Life Academy improves to 27-3 with the win, while Sacred Heart falls to 28-4 and heads to the consolation bracket. *****We will need multiple fan buses on Friday!!! We need to pack our side of the stands at the Barn!!!! This will be one MAJOR factor in defeating New Life Academy on Friday!!!
It's time to head home and get back to the office. **This blog post is a wrap for the most part...I'll get more state tournament notes added in a new blog post later tonight.
THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten for sponsoring this blog post! Their large color ad (construction loans) paid for multiple barrels of color ink in this week's Voice!!
The No. 5-ranked B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team tips off with No. 3-ranked Sleepy Eye St. Mary's today at 3 p.m. at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. AT STAKE is a berth in the Class 1A state Final Four round. This "Elite 8" round state quarterfinal is gonna be a doozy! The SESM Knights are an OUTSTANDING team. They will be a VERY FORMIDABLE opponent! Remember: they played at Bresnan Arena in Mankato for their section championship, a floor that is very similar to The BARN!
BOTH games will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM and 106.5 FM The Train.
**Here's video from the second half of the Section 6A finals last Friday:
**UPDATE at Williams Arena! Cherry is ahead 66-54 over Nevis in the 1 p.m. quarterfinal; there's just 60 seconds left in the game. FINAL: Cherry 68, Nevis 57.
In the 11 a.m. quarterfinal, top-seeded and top-ranked Hayfield sent unseeded Russel-Tyler-Ruthton to the consolation bracket with a 66-49 win.
Game updates will follow here after 3 p.m...
It's 2:42 p.m., and the pre-game clock shows just over 12 minutes to go at Williams Arena. This is a FABULOUS BASKETBALL VENUE!!!!!
**Here's a video of the Jaguars taking the court at Williams Arena in front of their adoring fans!
**FIRST HALF UPDATE: with 4:48 left, SESM has a 27-26 lead. This is one heck of a contest!!! And with 3:56 left, the Jaguars are ahead 30-27 after Luke Dingmann drained a layup.
HALFTIME: B-B-E 37, SESM 34. Kaden Pieper leads the Jaguars with 11 points at the break. SESM's Walter, a lanky, sharp-shooting guard, has 14 points to lead all scorers. He has been deadly from beyond the arc. HALFTIME started at 3:28 p.m.****
SECOND HALF UPDATE: with 13 minutes to go, the Jaguars are ahead 46-45...and now with 11:43 to go, SESM is ahead 47-46 after scoring five points in a row. Their 2,000-point scorer, Carson Dohmeier, just got to five points in the game with a well-defended shot on the left block to give the Knights a one-point lead. Coach Anderson just called a full timeout to talk it over.
**With 10:31 left, the Knights have pulled ahead 52-47 with Trent Steffensmeier draining a three-pointer. He has 19 points to lead SESM to this point.
MORE TO COME IN A NEW BLOG POST WITH THE FINAL SCORE!
THANK YOU to Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten, Bucky's Bar of Elrosa and Coop's Corner of Belgrade for sponsoring this state tournament sports update!
It has been an utterly wild day...and the state tournament hasn't even started!!!
**Here's the full video featuring today's elementary school pep fest:
I have some video from the high school pep fest, but that probably won't get my attention again until after the state tournament. I have a huge, huge newspaper to get to press tonight!!!
ANNOUNCEMENT:
As of Monday, March 21, face masks are no longer required to attend events at Williams Arena at the U of M in Minneapolis...or any other indoor Gopher athletic events for that matter.
This means that tomorrow's B-B-E fans are no longer required to wear facemasks at state tournament games.
The announcement by the U of M Gophers athletic department added: Fans should follow CDC quarantine guidelines if they are exposed to, or test positive for, COVID-19. Individuals that purchased tickets directly from the University of Minnesota and cannot use their tickets due to quarantine guidelines are encouraged to email gophersports@umn.edu and request an exchange of tickets for a future event. Our staff is working closely with government and campus officials to monitor guidelines and will adjust policies as needed.
Late Sunday night and I'm back in the saddle with the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper sports department fired up.
The Sleepy Eye St. Mary's boys' basketball team defeated BOLD 64-57 in their subsection championship game. Last Friday against Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey, the Knights won 62-40. They are led by a "big three" of proven scorers and have solid threats in their fourth and fifth-best scorers as well. In their playoff opener, senior forward Carson Domeier scored his 2,000th career point. He scored 18 points in both the subsection and section title games last week. He also had 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.
In SESM's state semifinal game last year at Target , a 65-53 loss to Hancock, then-sophomore guard Kaleb Wait led the Knights with 19 points and 4 steals. Then-junior guard Trent Steffensmeier added 17 points. SESM held a 34-29 halftime lead over Hancock, who then tied the game at 39-39 in the second half with 14:27 to go.
Playing the Section 2A championship at Bresnan Arena on the campus of Mankato State University gives SESM an edge in terms of their transition to Williams Arena. This is something to keep in mind for Wednesday's game!
With all that said, B-B-E has one big advantage at this point with a defensive average of about 49 points per game compared to 57 points a game for SESM. The Knights are a high-octane type of team that averages 74 points per contest. For what it's worth, New York Mills averaged 75 points per game before being held to 65 points by B-B-E on Friday night.
In other news...
The B-B-E high school will host a state tournament pep fest and send-off on Tuesday this week from 1:45 to 2:15 p.m.
**Here's a video clip from the final ticks of halftime in the Sub-Section 6A-South semis:
Have you purchased your state tickets yet for Wednesday? The cost is $17 for adults and $11 for students. They must be purchased online at https://www.mshsl.org/tickets.
Also! As of Monday night, the spectator bus for the state tournament has about 30 signed up. They have room for more people!
Let's go to church (VIDEO) and some basketball notes
Here's video from worship service on the final Sunday before Lent began...Sunday, February 27. This is at Sunburg Free Lutheran church, where Pastor Ron Knutson leads worship every Sunday. A dairy farm boy from the Norway Lake area, in his younger days, he was a bruising fullback for the Brooten Buccaneers football team in the late 1950s.
VIDEO:
The video begins with B-B-E Class of 2022 member Ben Thonvold providing the reading of the lessons.
I've had a lot of people ask me about Sleepy Eye St. Mary's and how good they are. I answer every time: they are very good! They are tough as nails! They played a tough schedule and won most of their games. On paper, they are underdogs in the upcoming match up with our B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team, but that doesn't mean it won't be the fight of our lives to get past the state quarterfinals. The game is not played on a stat sheet! I'm still compiling information on them. Stay tuned.
I'm still going over New York Mills statistics. One of their big guns is Noah Noffsinger, who scored just five points. B-B-E survived the game in part because of Noffsinger's shooting performance: 1 of 6 on two-pointers and 1 of 6 on three-pointers, plus he didn't get to the free throw line. Another big gun is Jack Peeters, who scored just four points on perfect 2-for-2 on field goals with no three-point shots and no free throws attempted. A third big gun for NYM is Jonah Johnson, who scored just two points on 1-of-5 field goal shooting with no three-point or free throw attempts. I've got other insights to the New York Mills game, but they will be saved for the print edition of the Bonanza Valley Voice to prevent any possible intel falling into SESM's hands.
Not much blogging time today, but I hope to get to it more tonight...
**Here's video featuring the final 91 seconds of the Hancock game on Tuesday at Minnewaska Area:
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team won 71-44 that night to win the sub-section title.
**Here's the exciting moment when the Jaguars earned their trip to state!
Additional state tournament information will be added to this blog post on Saturday night. There is more in the blog post added this morning about state seeding.
Sleepy Eye St. Mary's was ranked No. 3 in the latest Class 1A Minnesota Basketball News state rankings. They are very, very good!
I see that Hancock won the Class 1A state girls' basketball championship by a 54-43 score over Minneota. The Owls hammered Mayer Lutheran 71-40 in the semifinal round. This is Hancock's second girls' basketball state title in school history. Their first came in 1997. Hancock last appeared at the state tournament in 2011, when they finished in fourth place.
**Here's a video clip from the pre-dual handshakes at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday, March 5...it seems so long ago, but that was just a couple of weeks ago.
Also, I am reading the rules on the state tournament at Williams Arena, which is on the campus of the University of Minnesota. They still have a lengthy list of COVID rules. For STARTERS I recommend always having a water bottle in your hand, and if you get grief from staff because your facemask is around your neck (where mine will absolutely be the entire time), point to your water bottle. That's MY TWO CENTS! Remember: B-B-E high school hasn't had ONE SINGLE case of COVID in over 6 weeks! Think about that!!!
State seeding should be revealed soon! The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team could be seeded anywhere from No. 2 to No. 5, and with what happened on the girls' basketball side this year, all bets are off!!
Bear with me, as I am blogging from my phone while watching JO volleyball in Morris this morning...of course I managed to get here with a battery-poor laptop and no power cord. So here I am tapping away on a phone. I have big news!...
**The Jaguars are the No. 2 seed! The seeds were released before 11 a.m. They play WEDNESDAY at 3 p.m. at Williams Arena in Minneapolis against Sleepy Eye St. Mary's in the Class 1A quarterfinals. The SEMS Knights won the Section 2A championship with a 62-40 win over Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey Friday in Mankato. SESM went 15-1 in the Tomahawk Conference to claim the title alone ahead of runner-up Springfield (18-9, 13-3). Their two losses are to Mankato Loyola and Minnesota Valley Lutheran.
As predicted, top-ranked Hayfield is the number one seed. They play at 11 a.m. against Russel-Tyler-Ruthton.
New Life Academy of Woodbury is the No. 3 seed and on the bottom side of our bracket. They play at 5 p.m. against Sacred Heart, a private school from East Grand Forks.
Nevis is the No. 4 seed and plays No. 5-seeded Cherry in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. I expect that to be a great game.
***IF the Jaguars are fortunate enough to defeat SESM, they play at 2 p.m. on Friday back at Williams Arena against the NLA/Sacred Heart winner.
More to come in the afternoon.
I see that Hancock has a 52-43 lead over Minneota with 46 seconds to go in the girls' basketball championship game.
To recap the Class 1A state quarterfinal schedule:
No. 1 Hayfield (29-2) vs. Russel-Tyler-Ruthton (23-7) at 11 a.m.
No. 4 Nevis (27-3) vs. No. 5 Cherry (26-4) at 1 p.m.
No. 3 New Life Academy of Woodbury (26-3) vs. Sacred Heart of East Grand Forks (28-3) at 5 p.m.
That's a wrap here for this blog post. It's time for Saturday night open gym. AND you will be able to listen to state tournament games on Smooth Magic 107 FM and The Train 106.5 FM. I know those two for sure. Other options and state ticket information will be posted separately.
Hey Jaguar Country! LET'S GO TO STATE! What a battle that was!! In a completely packed house to boot!
The Jaguars built a 63-47 lead with 5:05 left in the game when Ashton Dingmann scored from the right block. You knew they were not out of the woods yet, and sure enough, the Eagles stormed back with an impressive 13-0 run. It got wild in a hurry. Across the next 2 minutes and 55 seconds of play, New York Mills made it a 63-60 game.
It was punch, punch, counterpunch over the game's final 2 minutes. The Jaguars took a 67-60 lead when Will Van Beck two double bonus free throws with 46 seconds to go. After the Eagles cut it to 67-62 with 36 seconds left, Ashton Dingmann cashed two free throws with 21 seconds left for a 69-62 lead. Dingmann drained three more free throws in the final 16 seconds, while the Eagles countered with a three-pointer with 6.8 seconds left. That was all she wrote!
Final at Fergus Falls: No. 5-ranked B-B-E 71, No. 2-ranked New York Mills 65.
New York Mills (28-2) was led by a near-Herculean effort by 6'6" senior guard Tate Olson, who poured in 38 points to lead all scorers. B-B-E's Kaden Pieper, a junior, led the charge for the Blue and Silver with 31 points.
STATE begins on Wednesday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis! Get ready!!!
**Here's a video clip from early in the first half tonight:
Time to get home. **I think we will play on Wednesday afternoon...I will know more in the morning!!! I'm fairly sure that we will not play at 11:00 a.m. Seeding will be completed tomorrow morning, so by the afternoon we'll all know the full schedule of ROUND ONE! Ponder this: the Jaguars have now taken out two of the top-five teams in Class 1A...but looming large is No. 1-ranked and defending state champion Hayfield, who will undoubtedly be the No. 1 seed at state next week. Other teams that have qualified for state in Class 1A are Sacred Heart (an East Grand Forks private school), Sleepy Eye St. Mary's, Cherry and Nevis from what I know so far.
**UPDATE: the Class 1A state tournament field is set in terms of who is heading to the big dance! Based just on QRF, the top four teams in Class 1A have qualified for state. In order they are: Hayfield (29-1), New Life Academy (26-3), B-B-E (26-4) and Nevis (27-3). Next come No. 8-ranked Cherry (26-4), No. 12-ranked Sleepy Eye St. Mary's, No. 16-ranked Sacred Heart (26-3) and No. 35-ranked Russel-Tyler-Ruthton. Based strictly on QRF, the Jaguars would earn a No. 3 seed at state.
**Let's go back a couple rounds! And here's a glimpse of the post-game celebration after the Jaguars survived Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in an epic border battle at Minnewaska Area last Saturday:
The state schedule is not set in stone, but it will involved Wednesday for sure...then either Thursday OR Friday depending on if B-B-E wins their first-round game. They have a potential of playing on Saturday as well!! Let's go Jaguars!!!
**State seeding will be posted in a new blog post on Saturday.
This blog post will include a live video player embedded, or at least the link that you can copy and paste. I am unsure if they allow embedded replay while it's live. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. in case you didn't know with our beloved B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team taking on No. 2-ranked New York Mills! Wow! It will be one heck of a game!!!
You can also tune in to both local radio stations: The Train 106.5 FM and Smooth Magic 107.1 FM, with both stations streaming on their websites.
At the quarterfinals round of the Class 1A state tournament, unseeded Nevis lost 73-38 to No. 3-seeded Hancock today in Minneapolis.
Unseeded Minneota stunned top-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl by a 51-38 overtime score in another quarterfinal game. Both teams finished the game with 27-4 records, but it will be the Vikings moving on to the Final Four round. Minneota outscored the Rangers by a 6-3 score in the extra period. Minneota attempted just two field goals in overtime and made one of them; they went 4-of-5 at the free throw line. MI-B shot five two-pointers and four three-pointers and missed all nine field goal attempts. They went 3-of-4 at the line.
Mayer Lutheran and Hayfield won the other two quarterfinal games earlier today.
In other news...
The Padua Pub held a magnificent St. Patrick's Day parade attended by a crowd of hundreds of people from throughout west central Minnesota. I've got a short video clip added to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website that you can find by clicking here: https://bit.ly/3IsaBgA.
A somewhat urgent message to the public...ticket sales need to ramp up in a hurry for the upcoming Shaw Band concert at the Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Olson Auditorium. The live concert highlights a Grand Opening building project dedication onSaturday, April 2. You can read more by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://bit.ly/36oPApx. **RE-scheduled to April 23 !
This was advertised in the March 3 issue of the newspaper, and readers will see it in this week's paper as well.
The concert is a unique and exciting way you can show support for B-B-E's Fine Arts programming. Please spread the word! Tickets can be purchased by clicking here: https://www.vancoevents.com/us/events/landing/19863.
First off, for those who are able to not have to be tied down at work on Thursday, make tracks to the Padua Pub! Even if it's just for the 1 o'clock parade! They will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day in grand style all day long. This was advertised in the March 10 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
In this blog post I hope to get a few videos added from state wrestling and the girls' basketball playoffs. I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll get one video posted on Wednesday night and more on Thursday.
**Here's an exciting, action-packed video from Wadena-Deer Creek high school last week:
The video begins with the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team holding a 30-28 lead over Nevis.
That's it for my Wednesday. It's been a long, long day. **Friday update: unfortunately, today has been too crazy to get more videos posted.
Henning, the 2019 Class 1A state champions, pushed top-seeded New York Mills near the end of the Sub-Section 6A-North boys' basketball finals on Tuesday at Perham high school after trailing 50-30 with 10 minutes remaining. The Hornets went on a 20-2 run to close it to 52-50 before the Eagles pulled away late to win 65-60.
Henning senior Tanner Arndt finished with a game-high 35 points, and the Hornets finished 23-6.
Just as the B-B-E vs. Hancock game started out, the opening minutes of the game at Perham on Tuesday were a battle. Henning took an initial 5-0 lead, and it took over four minutes before the Eagles scored their first points. After Henning had an 8-7 lead, the Eagles went on a 15-0 run and led 31-21 at halftime.
NYM, the No. 2-ranked team in Class 1A in the final Minnesota Basketball News state poll, is 28-1 going into the section finals. They are a very experienced team with 7 seniors. Against Henning, they were led by a 22-point, 13-rebound effort from senior Tate Olson. Next was Jack Peters with 13 points, and Breck Hensch was also in double figures with 10 points. Hensch also sparked the Eagles with three three-pointers in the first half.
In the Sub-Section 6A-North semifinals against Battle Lake last Saturday, the Eagles went 19-of-24 at the free throw line in a 69-44 win at Perham. Tate Olson was a perfect 10-for-10 at the line while pouring in 31 points plus 13 rebounds. New York Mills deployed a 1-3-1 zone press that rattled Battle Lake and helped propel them to an initial 32-4 lead late in the first half. The press helped force a whopping 31 turnovers by the Battlers. New York Mills scoring against Battle Lake: Tate Olson 31 (10 reb 4 ast 7 stl); Jonah Johnson 21 (5 reb 9 stl); Noah Noffsinger 8 (4 reb 4 ast); Jack Peeters (7 reb); Breck Hensch 5 (4 reb).
In their playoff opener last week, the Eagles thrashed Park Christian 79-34 with Olson leading the way with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Other box score notes: Jack Peters (7 points, 9 ast); Noah Noffsinger (6 points, 4 reb, 3 ast); Jonah Johnson (13 points); Bryan Bohn (7 points, 4 reb); Breck Hensch (6 points, 4 reb).
The closest regular season win for NYM was by a 58-56 score in overtime at Henning in the teams' first meeting on January 11 in Henning. Cherry, who is in the Section 7A championship game, lost to NYM 65-62 at Walker on December 30. Beyond those wins, NYM dominated in most of their wins this season. Their only loss was at Hancock by a 67-60 score on January 22.
Last season, NYM went 17-3 while losing in the Sub-Section 6A-North finals to undefeated Mahnomen/Waubun by a 75-72 score. Hancock then defeated M/W in the section finals on their way to a Class 1A state runner-up finish. The Eagles won the Park Region Conference title last year with a 12-1 record. They were a fourth-place team in the Park Region two years ago and went 1-1 in the postseason.
Step III: putting on a display of team basketball (VIDEOS)
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team left no doubt tonight as their level of play rose to the occasion against a tough, physical, disciplined Hancock Owls team. Throughout the first half, Hancock challenged every pass and shot by the Jaguars, whose first points of the game came on two free throws by Kaden Pieper in the opening minute. Early momentum was up for grabs, and Matt Thompson's three-pointer with 14:54 left made the score B-B-E 5, Hancock 3.
A layup by Pieper with 14:20 left put the Jaguars ahead 9-5, but Thompson's eight-footer on Hancock's next possession made it a 9-7 game. Ashton Dingmann knocked down a three-pointer for a 12-7 lead, but once again the Owls got a bucket by Thompson to cut it to a 12-9 lead.
Between the 12-minute mark and the 8:50 mark of the first half, the Jaguars had an 8-0 run to give them a 20-9 lead after Ashton Dingmann canned a 12-footer.
**Here's video featuring that 12-footer by Ashton Dingmann:
**Here's another video recorded later in the first half:
After Hancock cut into the lead to make it 23-16 with 6:20 left, the Jaguars got three straight shots by Pieper, two coming on the fast break, to put the Jaguars up 29-16 and force the Owls into a timeout with 4:33 to go. That leads into the video above.
Halftime:B-B-E 37, Hancock 24.
The Owls got what they wanted by getting the first bucket of the second half, but with three minutes played, the Jaguars held a 40-27 lead after Luke Dingmann scored on the right block. It was the start of a 9-0 run that gave the Jaguars a commanding 47-27 lead with 11:35 left.
Final score:B-B-E 71, Hancock 44. The No. 4-ranked Owls finish their season 23-6 overall, while the No. 5-ranked Jaguars take a 25-4 record into the section finals.
Next:the Section 6A championship on Friday this week at Fergus Falls high school. Tip-off against New York Mills (28-1) is at 7 p.m. This is B-B-E's first section finals appearance since 2019, when they lost to Cromwell-Wright 65-52 in the Section 5A championship at Crosby-Ironton high school.
The No. 2-ranked New York Mills Eagles defeated No. 14-ranked Henning 65-60 in tonight's Sub-Section 6A-North championship played at Perham. Their lone loss of the season was by a 67-60 score at Hancock on January 22.
Sub-Section final boys' basketball scores across rural Minnesota:
Osakis 54, Annandale 52
Sleepy Eye St. Mary's 64, BOLD 57
Nevis 79, Browerville 53
Barnum 57, Cromwell-Wright 39
Albany 58, Mora 48
Maranatha Christian 79, Rockford Area 71 (2 OT!)
I've got a newspaper to get ready for press tonight. Also, more video is uploading.
