Step III: Jaguar boys fall in battle of state-ranked giants (VIDEOS)

A heavyweight slugfest went to Border West tonight.

In a highly-anticipated Sub-Section 6A-South championship game, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team left everything on the floor tonight as they battled to the bitter end against Border West. The Top-15 state-ranked teams duked it out at Minnewaska Area with near-deafening crowd noise where the packed house saw the Buccaneers win 51-47 to advance to the section finals.

The atmosphere was electric at Minnewaska tonight!


Defense was really the hallmark of tonight's contest. Both team's offenses averaged almost 145 points per game cumulatively, but through the first 9 minutes of the game, just 16 points total had been scored between them.

Things looked good for B-B-E in the middle of the first half. After trailing 6-4 with 13:05 left on Border West's layup by Drew Bainbridge, Luke Illies scored a minute later when he was left all alone on the left block. A minute after that shot, Illies scored again, this time in cleanup fashion in the low post for an 8-6 lead. With 9:45 left, Illies became a wrecking ball with a blocked shot on a fastbreak attempt by Border West. Then with 9:16 left, Kaden Pieper scored a close range baseline shot to give the Jaguars a 10-6 lead.

*Here's video from the middle of the first half tonight:


The Buccaneers proceeded to outscore the Jaguars 21-7 across the final 9 minutes of the first half. This set up their second half when they maintained a double-digit lead for a majority of the final 18 minutes. The Jaguars drew the Buccaneers within reach in the final 7 minutes before coming up just short in the closing minute. That hurt.

*Here's video from the second half starting with about 13 minutes to go:


Down 47-36 with under 8 minutes to go, Luke Dingmann's 10-footer started a late rally by the Jaguars. Illies scored with 6:39 left all alone in the paint to make it a 7-point game. Then with 4:45 left, Pieper knocked down two bonus free throws. With 3:48 left, Border West's Cole Gilsdorf made a layup for a 49-42 lead. With 3:16 left, Hayden Sobiech (sophomore) drilled the biggest shot of his career when he drove the right side of the lane and banked a runner to cut it to 5 points. With 2 minutes left, Pieper drilled a long outside shot to cut it to 49-45. With 57 seconds left, Illies scored in the paint to make it a 49-47 game. The Buccaneers sank two free throws to salt the win.

Border West, winners of 22 straight games, now faces No. 4-ranked (Minnesota Basketball News) Henning in the Section 6A championship game this Friday at Fergus Falls. The Hornets defeated Battle Lake 59-45 in the Sub-Section 6A-North finals.

At the Class 2A state tournament today in Minneapolis, quarterfinal winners were Providence Academy, Goodhue, Albany and Minnehaha Academy.

Good night, Jaguar Country! It's 11 p.m. and time for bed. Tomorrow is one of the biggest days of my 20-year long sports reporting career.