Season opening success! (VIDEO)

The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team won their season opener for the fourth straight season tonight. The win was not easy by any means!

After leading 9-2 out of the gates through the first 4 minutes of play, the Jaguars suffered two lengthy scoring droughts in the first half. Entering the locker room, the Dutchmen held a 25-21 lead after they sank three of four free throws in the last 2 minutes. B-B-E held a 21-20 lead with 1:45 left on a driving layup by Anna Jaeger.

The Dutchmen extended their lead to 27-21 with a rebound shot in the paint with 17:18 left. They cashed two free throws about 30 seconds later to lead 29-22.

Sparked by a three-pointer by sophomore Kacey Fischer with 15:26 left, the Jaguars surged with a 12-2 scoring burst. Two free throws by Faith Radermacher put them ahead 34-31 with 12:17 left. A layup by Anna Jaeger and later a three-pointer by Tiffany Dingmann plus a cleanup shot by Grace Jackson gave the visitors a 41-32 lead with 10:44 to go.

Final score at Melrose: B-B-E 53, Melrose Area 42.

NEXT: the Jaguars have a huge Section 5A rivalry game at Pine River-Backus this Friday night. The Tigers opened their season with a 58-44 loss tonight at Wadena-Deer Creek.

Here's action from later in the first half tonight in what was a low-scoring game through the first 18 minutes of play:


After losing their season openers the past two seasons by blowout margins to the Jaguars, the Dutchmen played a very competitive, solid brand of basketball tonight under first-year head coach Jordan Welle. He is an 11th-year member of the Spring Hill Chargers amateur baseball team who pitches and mainly plays third base. Welle is a 2012 Melrose high school graduate.

Area girls' basketball scores on November 28:
New London-Spicer 67, West Central Area 42
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 47, Central MN Christian 46
MACCRAY 71, Community Christian-Willmar 44
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 67, Wabasso 27
Minnewaska Area 64, Lac qui Parle Valley 31
Paynesville Area 79, Osakis 48