Girls' hoops stays on track, boys' teams suffer defeats (VIDEO*)

I have much to blog about tonight! Some good, some not so good.

The No. 11-ranked B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team stayed on the winning track with a 74-63 win over a hard-nosed, fleet-footed Kimball Area Cubs team to earn their first Central Minnesota Conference win of the season. The Jaguars led 42-34 after a high-scoring first half was complete. In the second half, the Jaguars maintained their lead the entire way. They are now 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the CMC. A more complete game recap will be written here later tonight. I have video to comb over in the meantime. Kimball Area fell to 6-3 overall and 1-2 in the CMC.

Noteworthy statistic: the Cubs have a defense that was holding teams to an average of just 38.4 points per game coming into tonight. They faced a barrage of sharp-shooters from the Jaguars and a strong inside game. To put up 35 more points than a team's defensive average is outstanding. Let's turn this into a habit!!

Other notes: the JV Jaguars won 45-28 tonight. Also, the Kimball varsity team features 8 seniors, led by Ellie Kuechle, a daughter of their head coach who is a distance runner committed to track and field in college. In my conversation with her and her mom tonight, however, I forgot which college she said she'll be attending. She's a dynamic player who we won't miss seeing on the basketball court after she graduates. She is good! The Kimball Cubs will learn more about themselves tomorrow night, when defending co-champion Holdingford comes to their house. The Huskers and Cubs shared the CMC title last year.

**Here's the final 62 seconds of tonight's girls' basketball game:


As I stated in the video, Coach Kuechle of Kimball Area was very classy in the closing seconds and instructed his team "no fouls" as they let up the pressure with 20 seconds to go. The win was firmly in hand for the Jaguars. I tip my hat to the Kimball coaching staff! Bravo! This has turned into a terrific conference rivalry that I thoroughly enjoy. Last year, the Cubs swept our Jaguars in conference play. That was tough. The last win over our girls cost us a share of the conference title in the final game of the regular season. As I told some Kimball players and parents after the game: I fully expect it to be "war" when we visit their gym on January 20. It's already circled on my calendar!

The B-B-E girls' basketball team was led by a trio of seniors in double figures: Abby Berge with 23 points and 12 rebounds (yet another double double), Harley Roering with 22 points (all from the arc or the free throw line) and Tiyana Schwinghammer with 12 (plus 2 assists, 2 blocked shots, 7 rebounds a team-leading 5 steals). This was Schwinghammer's sixth straight game in double figures. A key to tonight's win was getting four players overall in double figures, as junior Brooklyn Fischer had 11 points.

B-B-E shot very well from the floor with 45 percent overall shooting with 39 percent shooting on the arc. At the line they were a cold 11-of-20 for a 55 percent mark. The Jaguars had a slight edge on the boards by a 32-28 margin. Next: the girls' basketball team stays in CMC play with a road game at Maple Lake tomorrow night.

Also! With the girls' hoops win tonight, my Jaguar tie improves to 5-2 in games this winter! More on that another time.

At the Albany triangular, the No. 4-ranked B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team throttled the host Huskies in their first dual by a 56-15 score. I later learned that the Jaguars suffered a 41-27 defeat against No. 6-ranked Holdingford in a Central Minnesota Conference dual to close out the tri. They have a very short turnaround as they return home to host the annual Jaguar Invite, which begins in Belgrade at the high school at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.

In another home game tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team suffered a gut-wrenching 63-60 loss to Eden Valley-Watkins in Brooten. The game was tied 60-60 with 10 seconds to go. That's all I've got right now on that game. B-B-E is now 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Central Minnesota Conference. Update: the box score came in at 10 o'clock tonight. It was tough to look at. Just four Jaguars scored in the game: Kaden Pieper with 36 points, Luke Dingmann with 16, Jamison Reed with 5 and Brady Schwinghammer with 3. For what it's worth, the Eagles had just five players score, but four of those five made it into double figures with 10 or more points each. Next: the boys' basketball team travels to non-conference Upsala tomorrow night trying to get back on the winning track after suffering back-to-back three-point losses. This is adversity, and they have to figure out how to work themselves out of it.

Shooting woes hurt the Jaguars, as they shot just 30 percent from the field with respectable 4-of-12 three-point shooting. They were 12-of-16 from the line. EV-W shot 9-of-16 at the line and 36 percent overall on field goals.

More to come.

Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on January 5:
Paynesville Area 57, Royalton 53
Kimball Area 82, Maple Lake 43

Area girls' basketball scores on January 5: Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 66, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 23
Eden Valley-Watkins 46, Osakis 41
Minnewaska Area 60, West Central Area 54 (Lakers earn first win of the season after an 0-7 start)
Braham 67, Ogilvie 48
Minneota 49, Central MN Christian 27
Montevideo 57, Melrose Area 19
Cromwell-Wright 62, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 55
Verndale 56, Pine River-Backus 49
MACCRAY 34, Canby 31

Area boys' basketball scores on January 5: Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 72, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 54
Browerville 63, St. John's Prep 43
Foley 82, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 57
Border West 70, Ashby 50
Hancock 66, Parkers Prairie 53
Sauk Centre 66, West Central Area 58
Osakis 61, Staples-Motley 45
Henning 55, Wadena-Deer Creek 44 (Hornets are 8-0)
Battle Lake 54, Underwood 39