This was another incredible, incredible night for our varsity teams!
At Kimball Area in a physical, knock 'em, sock 'em football game-like Central Minnesota Conference battle, the No. 8-ranked (Minnesota Basketball News) B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team put on a defensive clinic against the host Cubs in a 56-39 win. They had a 56-36 lead going into the final minute, and senior Ellie Kuechle drilled an unguarded three-point shot with 20 seconds left for the final score.
*Here's a video clip from the middle of the second half tonight:
As I stated right away in the video, the Cubs had scored 4 straight points after they trailed 40-21 early in the second half. The Jaguars came out on fire out of halftime and led 32-17 just a few seconds in on a shot by Tiyana Schwinghammer. They were hellbent on not allowing the Cubs to gain traction and cut the deficit to single digits...and the Cubs were unable to do that. I know I can get in trouble for this, but I have to give a special shout out to Allie Dingmann for the incredible job she did defending the paint tonight against a very physical Cubs front line. I told her after the game: if she does not do the things she did tonight defensively, this could have been a completely different game. It is also true that every Jaguar who stepped on the court played some of the best defense they have all year. The "help" defense was outstanding!! This is terrific! This is just what we need going into next week.
Kimball Area entered the night in a three-way tie for fourth place in the CMC with a 9-4 overall record and a 3-3 mark in the league. The loss snapped their three-game winning streak. For the Jaguars, this win was especially remarkable considering that they gave up 63 points to the same team just two weeks and one day ago (January 5) in a 74-63 win. I feel that in the first meeting, the Jaguars were able to prevail in large part due to Kimball having a poor shooting night. Tonight the Cubs shot poorly in large part to the lights-out, in-your-grill defense!!! That was a blast to witness.
Now winners of nine straight, the Jaguars (11-2) built a 30-17 lead at halftime after Schwinghammer buried a three-pointer at the buzzer. She was part of a trio of seniors in double figures. Abby Berge led the way with 20 points, and Schwinghammer added 13 (5 steals) with Harley Roering getting 11 points on 57 percent field goal shooting. Allie Dingmann and Brooklyn Fischer each had 6 valuable points. Every player on the court did so many of the little things so well, much of which never shows up in a box score. Their defense was absolutely lights out phenomenal!! BRAVO! As a team the Jaguars shot 47 percent from the floor and went 7-of-10 at the line. NEXT: on the horizon for the Jaguars is a crucial three-game homestand that features two big conference games. The Jaguars are set to host Eden Valley-Watkins next Tuesday in Belgrade. After that comes first-place Holdingford on Thursday for what could very well be the conference championship game. On Friday, January 27, state-ranked Sauk Centre comes to Belgrade for a boys/girls doubleheader. More on that to follow.
I also want to give a special shout out to the C-squad and JV girls' basketball teams after their terrific games in Kimball tonight. The C-squad Jaguars won 42-22, and the JV Jaguars won 67-26. Coach Rambow stated that his JV team played their best game of the season and one of the better JV performances he has had in his career. He was really impressed.
At Ashby for a sub-section match up, the No. 9-ranked B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team picked up a 74-45 win for their SEVENTH in a row! The Jaguars (10-2) were led by Kaden Pieper's 23 points and Brady Schwinghammer's career-high 22 points! Schwinghammer was absolutely on fire and knocked down six of his 10 three-point attempts. Luke Dingmann was also in double figures with 11 points plus 6 assists, 2 blocked shots and 5 rebounds. Tanner Shelton returned to action from a hand injury he suffered at Holdingford on December 16. Five weeks later he is back! Off the bench the senior and fifth-year varsity player provided 7 points and 6 rebounds. Nice! As a team the Jaguars shot 50 percent from the floor and went 6-of-9 at the free throw line. NEXT: one of the biggest games of the season! Next Tuesday, January 24, the Jaguars travel to Paynesville Area for a huge, huge conference battle. Both teams are tied for second place in the league (4-1 each) behind first-place Eden Valley-Watkins.
And last but definitely not least, I finally reviewed the scores at New London-Spicer, and good gravy! The No. 5-ranked B-B-E Jaguar wrestling team picked up a massive tournament win by cleaning up the field to the tune of 259 points for first place compared to runner-up Paynesville's 168.5 points. The team and coaches and managers all have to get to bed as early as they can tonight, as they head out for Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted high school early tomorrow morning for a 14-team invitational. NO REST FOR THE WICKED!!!
Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on January 20:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 48, Maple Lake 33
Holdingford 49, Paynesville Area 45 (at Holdingford, the Huskers survive a scare from the Bulldogs)
NL-S wrestling invitational individual results:
At 106, eighth-grader Aiden Mueller won his semifinal by fall (1:24) before he lost in the championship by fall (3:05).
At 113, Noah Welte took fifth place while raising his season record to 14-12.
At 120, Louie Tensen won by fall (3:51) in the fifth-place match.
At 132, Ryan Jensen took first place and won a thrilling 11-10 decision in the championship.
At 138, Wyatt Engen took second place and raised his season record to 15-4 overall.
At 145, Brett DeRoo took third place and won a 7-4 decision in the final match to raise his season record to 15-7 overall.
At 152, Tanner Viessman was the No. 2 seed and blazed his way to the finals, where the junior defeated top-seeded Mason Plumski of Albany by an 11-8 decision.
At 160, Hunter Laage had an outstanding night and took third place after he won a thrilling 3-2 decision in his final match.
At 170, Maximus Hanson cleaned up his bracket with two pins and a tech fall (2:15) in the finals; he is now 22-0 overall!
At 182, Carson Gilbert took second place with a tough loss by a 5-3 decision in the finals to No. 9-ranked Hank Meyer of Kimball Area.
At 195, Talen Kampsen took fourth place; he had earned a big win by fall (1:04) in his quarterfinal match.
At 220, Ethan Spanier took first place with three straight pins! Even more exciting: all three pins took place in the first period.
At 285, Harley Weber blazed his way into the finals where the sophomore lost an intense battle by a 4-2 decision in overtime to senior and No. 4-ranked Spencer Eisenbraun of Paynesville.
More to come. Video is uploading (DONE!)
**Here's my 13th winter sports show of the season! The first one was recorded back on December 2:
This blog post is about a wrap...I can't stay up too late as I am driving to Howard Lake tomorrow to see our wrestlers in action!!
Area girls' basketball scores on January 20:
Lac qui Parle Valley 73, Yellow Medicine East 36
K-M-S 60, Canby 33
Minneota 55, MACCRAY 37
Glencoe Silver Lake 63, Litchfield 41
Annandale 60, Eden Valley-Watkins 54
BOLD 59, West Central Area 56
Montevideo 66, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 40
Braham 60, LP-GE 22
Ogilvie 51, East Central 41
Swanville 62, Sebeka 52
St. Cloud Cathedral 47, Melrose Area 45
Pine River-Backus 63, Blackduck 28
Henning 57, Menahga 37
Wadena-Deer Creek 57, Verdndal 42
Area boys' basketball scores on January 20:
Eden Valley-Watkins 57, Annandale 48
New London-Spicer 73, Redwood Valley 66
Montevideo 68, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 63
Sauk Centre 49, Melrose Area 36
Osakis 74, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 44
BOLD 72, West Central Area 58
This blog post will be updated on Saturday with more area scores. (DONE)
