It's game day! And what a GAME DAY it is!
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!
