extended sports coverage for the B-B-E community brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in Brooten, MN. (Address: P.O. Box 250, Brooten) http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. ALL VIEWS posted are strictly and without exception the opinions of the newspaper owner and no one else; they're written in first hand format. Please submit feedback in writing to the address posted above. **This is Minnesota's oldest varsity high school sports blog. We hope to keep it going into the future!
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Grateful for our business community!
At this time on New Year's Eve in the final hours of 2023, I want to take a moment to give a shout out to our local business community! The news and sports coverage provided by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper would not be possible without the support of over 100 local businesses across our area.
Of course, I'm grateful for B-B-E schools and our local churches as well, but our Jaguar Country community would not last long without all the local businesses we have.
Tonight I'll join a New Year's Eve party taking place at Lucky Shots Bowling Alley in Brooten. I also am aware of partying at Heidi's Bar in Sedan, although I can't say how late any of that will go. Marcia's Bar and Grill is also open tonight next door to the newspaper office.
Here's a video I forgot to post from the Belgrade Commercial Club Santa Day over 3 weeks ago:
Our business community helps make events like the Belgrade Santa Day possible! Thank you to everyone out there who supports what we have going here in the Bonanza Valley area!
Upcoming events across the Bonanza Valley area are always listed in chronological order at the newspaper's website calendar page. You can find that by clicking here: https://shorturl.at/otuB1. A few things on deck in the near term include a special school board meeting (Tuesday this week), a Buck Euchre card tournament at The Spot on Saturday and then a regular school board plus the Brooten city council meeting next Monday the 8th. One of our local conservation groups holds their annual meeting on Saturday the 13th in Padua. Stay up to date and be an informed citizen!
Granite City Classic - Day II in St. Cloud (VIDEOS)
Due to office work back at the Bonanza Valley Voice headquarters, I will be unable to take in any of the girls' basketball game against Hawley. The B-B-E boys' basketball team faces Mountain Iron-Buhl at 3:45 p.m. today at St. Cloud Apollo. The Rangers are tough! They average over 70 points per game thus far. Yesterday in their first Granite City Classic game, the Rangers defeated BOLD 74-60.
Here's a video featuring action in Brainerd yesterday, where Tiyana Schwinghammer is shown winning the game's opening tip-off against Riverland:
We had the privilege and honor of attending a women's college basketball game at Central Lakes College in Brainerd. My daughters had a blast at the game, and they got to meet Schwinghammer's head coach afterwards.
Updates to follow. **The varsity games are being aired on the Glenwood radio station: https://kmgk1071.com.
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team fell to Hawley 60-44 in the 2:15 p.m. game today at Apollo. They struggled in multiple ways after tip off and trailed 41-13 at halftime. For the game, the Jaguars (5-5 overall) shot just 31 percent from the floor while going 10-of-18 at the line. Brooklyn Fischer led the team with 20 points. Up next is a tall task when they host two-time defending conference champion Holdingford next Tuesday, January 2. The Huskers were ranked No. 14 in the latest Minnesota Basketball News rankings. They went 1-1 in the Granite City Classic with a 56-48 loss to No. 3-ranked Hancock on Friday. They defeated No. 8-ranked Pequot Lakes 55-46 today at St. Cloud Tech high school to finish December with a 7-2 record. Pequot Lakes is a contender in Section 7AA.
Update in the boys' basketball game...the Jaguars hold a 42-23 halftime lead! The MI-B Rangers were cold from the three-point line, while the Jaguars played a strong inside and outside half offensively.
With 11 minutes left in the game, the Jaguars had a 50 to 37 lead. Down the stretch, a 55 to 45 deficit was as close as the Rangers would get.
FINAL: B-B-E 72, MI-B 59. For the game, they shot 45 percent from the floor, and they had four players in double figures. Luke Illies led the way with a season-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. Luke Dingmann had a terrific game with 13 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. His 18 defensive rebounds were a major factor in the win. Kaden DeRoo had multiple outstanding moves to the basket and tallied 14 points. Taylor Pieper knocked down four three-pointers to add 12 points.
The Jaguars finish the December schedule with a 3-4 overall record. Their next game is a conference battle at Kimball (1-6) next Thursday, January 4.
Here's video from early in the first half today at Apollo high school:
On the drive home tonight from St. Cloud, I took time to stop and visit the Riverside Inn and Convention Center in Cold Spring. This business is owned by former B-B-E band directory Jim DeRose. I'm sure many of you out there across Jaguar Country and beyond remember him. I have been promoting an upcoming entertainment dinner show that they are hosting later in January. You can read more about that by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website: https://shorturl.at/ipsU9.
I have added one more concert video from the evening of Monday, December 18 at Olson Auditorium...you can click over and listen to that here: https://rb.gy/xq9uqx. While you're making 2024 resolutions, now would be a great time to make a better effort to support your local Fine Arts programming in the Bonanza Valley area!
*Here's the third winter sports show of the season:
We are courtside for the Granite City Classic at St. Cloud Apollo high school. The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is facing a fleet-footed and talented Cass Lake-Bena team while trying to snap a two-game losing skid. The Panthers are 5-1 overall and come into the game averaging close to 70 points per game, while their defensive average is 37 points per game. They are tough as nails and ranked No. 12 in the latest Minnesota Basketball News rankings.
With 10 minutes to go in the first half, CL-B has an 18-9 lead. With 6:27 left, the Jaguars had cut the deficit down to 18-13.
Here's a video featuring the start of today's game, which kicked off the games at Apollo:
Halftime: #12 CL-B 34, B-B-E 17. The last 65 seconds of the game were rough, as the Panthers put up 7 unanswered points. B-B-E struggled mightily offensively in the last 6 minutes.
Final: CL-B 71, B-B-E 45. The Jaguars shot a cold 35 percent from the floor.
The boys' basketball team plays Nevis at 1:30 p.m. today at St. John's University.
Right now we are heading to Brainerd to watch Tiyana Schwinghammer and her Northland Pioneers women's basketball team! They faced No. 4-ranked Riverland from Austin. The Pioneers are 9-3 overall so far this winter.
For the girls' basketball team, they play at 2:15 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday) at St. Cloud Apollo against Hawley to conclude the Granite City Classic. Tomorrow's varsity boys' basketball team is at 3:45 p.m. and also at Apollo....they play back-to-back games there. The boys' basketball team's opponent will be Mountain Iron-Buhl.
Update in Brainerd... at halftime, the Northland women's basketball team has a 35-28 lead over Riverland. Final: Northland 73, Riverland 49. Schwinghammer had an unofficial 21 points and 14 rebounds for another double-double.
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team lost 82-62 today to Nevis. At halftime, the Tigers led 42-34. They were led by 25 points from Luke Dingmann and 10 by Hayden Sobiech. The Jaguars shot a solid 43 percent from the floor but made good on just 3 of 14 three-point attempts.
In the words of Suzy Tensen, "This is the best night of the whole year!"
Yes, adults can enjoy Christmas Eve too!
I thoroughly enjoyed visiting with Suzy and Tim, and the rest of the Tensen family, following worship tonight at Brooten Community Church. Their family has had my family's backs for a long, long time. Our hearts continue to ache with sadness from the loss of Josey and Remington, which was almost three years ago.
Here's the last 30 seconds of singing at Christmas Eve worship tonight at the Brooten Community Church:
I had pork chops on the grill right about when worship started at the Brooten Community Church tonight. I had high hopes they would've been good to go by about 6:15. I mistakenly thought 20 minutes would have been long enough to get them grilled. The grill was full side to side with 7 pork chops, and a light breeze from the northwest hampered efforts. It ended up taking nearly a half hour to properly grill them. This threw off getting to worship for the last few songs at the Brooten Community Church. So it goes. The good news: I got there in time for Pastor Krasky's final prayer. This concluded my Christmas season coverage of events in the Bonanza Valley area for 2023. This list was the shortest it has ever been since I bought the newspaper and took over operations on January 1, 2015. Coverage narrowed this month due to this country's awful recession that seems to have no end.
Because my Friday and Saturday were quite upside-down days, it's taken extra time to get caught up on the accident that took place Wednesday morning on Highway 71 east of Padua where a woman struck a car driven by Kyle Lieser, a 2008 B-B-E graduate. All that I have learned is not good. He is the son of Allen and Bev Lieser of Belgrade and a former B-B-E Jaguar baseball player. Please pray for him and his recovery.
In case you missed it...and it appears that almost everyone has missed it so far because it only has 3 views as I type this...the Brooten lighted Christmas parade video has been posted to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website. You can find it by clicking here: https://rb.gy/56v19e.
And! Here's another video from Lucky Shots Bowling Alley in Brooten during the Santa Day evening on December 9:
The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper has finally been updated for the week. Generally, this takes place on Thursday afternoons, but this has been an especially difficult week. Moreso than usual. The events of my Friday and Saturday will be outlined and published in the December 28 issue of the newspaper. My family lived through an unbelievable experience on Friday. You won't want to miss the fully story.
Click to see what's been posted: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. One of the articles features the B-B-E senior high choir at the Christmas concert on Monday. I also added the full video of the Brooten lighted Christmas parade that took place on December 9 during the Brooten Santa Day.
*Here's a full video of the senior high band performing their three songs of the B-B-E Christmas concert last Monday at Olson Auditorium:
**Here's the Sunday School Christmas program at Sunburg Free Lutheran church last Sunday the 17th:
It's now Sunday morning, and it's time to get ready for church.
On the home court against Minnewaska Area, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team suffered a roughly 7-minute scoring drought from the latter part of the first half and then the first 3 minutes of the second half. It was rough. In that span, the Lakers surged ahead from a 20-15 deficit to take a 29-20 lead. That 14-point swing was too much to overcome, and the Jaguars suffered their second straight loss. They've both been border battles. Final: Minnewaska Area 49, B-B-E 41.
The Lakers, who had just lost 47-45 two nights earlier at Paynesville Area, improved to 5-3 overall. They are a member of Sub-Section 3AA-North along with the Bulldogs.
The Jaguars had a 7-2 lead through the first 5 minutes of the game. The lead grew to 18-11 later in the first half. With about 2:56 left, Bree Thieschafer's layup gave the Jaguars a 20-15 lead, but the Jaguars would not score again until 3 minutes had passed in the second half.
Overall, the Jaguars shot an ice-cold 26 percent from the floor tonight. They went 10-of-17 (58 percent) at the free throw line. Junior Bree Thieschafer led the way with an incredible effort of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
*Here's a video featuring the starter introductions, game tip-off and the first 4 minutes of action:
Normally I am unable to do any reporting on what were formerly known as "preliminary games" which today we speak of as the JV and C-squad games. In the girls' C-squad game, the Jaguars prevailed 29-25, and in the JV game, the Jaguars won 46-21.
NEXT: the girls' basketball team travels to St. Cloud Apollo high school for an 11 a.m. tip-off on Friday, December 29 against Cass Lake-Bena. The Panthers (4-1) are one of the top competitors in Section 8A. One week ago tonight (Dec. 14), CL-B lost at Nevis 61-58. Nevis is a top competitor in Section 5A with our Jaguars.
At Minnewaska Area, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team got back in the win column while snapping a three-game losing skid. It was a hard-fought battle, but in the end the Jaguars won by one possession: 68-66. They had a 65-63 lead with 25 seconds to go. The halftime score had the Jaguars up 38-33. Senior Kaden DeRoo led the Jaguars with 20 points. Overall, the Jaguars shot 44 percent from the floor, but they were a mild 56 percent at the line (13-for-23).
NEXT: the Jaguars (2-3) travel to St. John's University on Friday, December 29 to face former section rival Nevis. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. I'll update this blog post again after 10:30 p.m.
Area girls' basketball scores on December 21:
New London-Spicer 72, Eden Valley-Watkins 32
Fridley 58, Willmar 41
BOLD 60, Springfield 27
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 43, Litchfield 36
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 53, Paynesville Area 37
Minneota 63, MACCRAY 58
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 61, Canby 45
Tonight's game in Belgrade will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. As I type this, Brady is already on the air! It's almost game time! His coverage can be heard at https://kmgk1071.com. The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is hosting Minnewaska Area in a non-conference border battle! I expect a very tough game.
UPDATE: with 9:42 left, the Jaguars have an 11-7 lead on a shot in the paint by Kacey Fischer.
At halftime in Belgrade: the score is tied 20-20! Oh, boy! This is a battle.
Time to get ready for tip-off, which should come at about 7:18 p.m. Also tonight, the boys' basketball team is playing at Minnewaska Area high school.
The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team solidified its lofty state ranking by demolishing both Paynesville Area and Kimball Area on Tuesday in a Central Minnesota Conference triangular.
After facing the host Cubs and racking up a 72-6 win, the Jaguars breezed past the Bulldogs by a 42-19 score. Paynesville Area, who has their strongest team in at least 8 years, was ranked No. 5 in the latest Guillotine Class 1A rankings.
The No. 3-ranked Jaguars take a 5-1 dual meet record into the Christmas break. Their next action is on the home mats for a six-team invitational in Belgrade on Friday, January 5 starting at 2:30 p.m.
**Here's a re-post of a video from the dual against Border West on December 7 at Minnewaska:
Aiden Mueller, a freshmen, won that match by a 9-8 decision.
**Here's a video from the K-3 elementary program back about two weeks ago...
More to come on Thursday afternoon when I'll be updating the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website. It's still a busy time getting ready for Thursday night's girls' basketball game and preparing for the weekend when Christmas finally arrives!
Winter music concert! Preparing for Christmas - The Voice winter sports show No. 2 (VIDEOS)
Our family camper is officially closed up for the winter. It had an extended use as an outdoor office well past fall and into December. Temperatures got into the mid-40s last Thursday, and I saw rain coming the next day - and it rained all day! A great rain for the land and waterways. I hoped to get a sports show or two recorded out in the camper in the past two weeks, but last Thursday as the sun was setting - it got cleaned out and buttoned up until next spring. My winter sports shows should mostly be recorded exclusively in the regular Bonanza Valley Voice winter recording studio!
And my theme song this winter is Run All Night by the Goo Goo Dolls. I love that song. It fits! It has a great melody, and I love the piano playing across the entire song. It's beautiful!
This fall and now this winter, I've been recording all my sports shows totally "on the fly" with no pre-written script. I carefully wrote out a basic outline and/or script to most of my sports shows in the fall of 2022 and last winter. So far this has been working out well. Sometimes it gets clunky, and often I repeat myself. But I am just going with it!
Hot off the video camera! Here's my Winter Sports Show No. 2:
I missed a few things I wanted to touch on in the sports show, including a shout out for the B-B-E 8th grade boys' basketball team who won the Central Minnesota Conference tournament on Saturday in Royalton. They have just 6 players, but they are very, very good. That is a group of players who will be fun to watch across the next four years! For their part, the B-B-E 7th grade boys' basketball team fared well and took 4th place. They have just 7 players, and I heard that four of them are very new to basketball. It is incredibly brave and admirable for a student to jump into a sport when he or she is in middle school. It takes tremendous courage to do that, especially a complicated sport like basketball. Kudos to all of our student athletes at B-B-E - the seasoned ones and our newer ones!!
Before the concert, my family enjoyed supper at The Spot for Drinks and Dining in downtown Belgrade. Their food is really quite tremendous!! Look for a brief mention of that bar/restaurant in this week's newspaper.
More to come. Concert video is uploading.
AND! Here's some concert video...this features the 7th grade choir tonight at Olson Auditorium:
Jaguars second at Jackhammer Invitational (VIDEOS)
Videos added (from December 7) to this post on Sunday after church...
They gave an incredible effort, but ultimately No. 4-ranked (Class 2A) Totino Grace had too much firepower for the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team at the Pequot Lakes Jackhammer Invitational this weekend. In the final 29-team standings, the Jaguars had 187.5 points to 209.5 points for the No. 4-ranked Eagles of Fridley.
The Jaguars came up big by edging out No. 10-ranked (Class 2A) Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus, who took third with 160 points.
At 152, Brett DeRoo won a 4-2 decision in sudden victory overtime fashion in the semifinals. In the championship, he lost a 5-2 decision to Perham senior Carson Byer.
At 172, Maximus Hanson was absolutely dominant while earning pins in four of his five matches in the tournament. He won by fall in the semis (3:05) and championship (3:36) to remain undefeated on the season.
At 189, Hunter Laage lost in the semifinals but rebounded to take third place with a win by a 3-2 decision in his last match.
At 215, Carson Gilbert lost in the semis but rebounded to take third place with a win by a 9-2 decision in his final match.
Here's a video from back on December 7 with the Jaguars taking on Border West at Minnewaska:
Noah Welte won by pin in that match against the Buccaneers. Welte had a great tournament at the Jackhammer Invitational and took fifth place at 114; in the fifth-place match, he won by fall (0:44) against New York Mills freshman Aiden Meech. He is 11-4 so far to start his junior campaign.
Here's Aiden Mueller at 121 pounds that night in Minnewaska Area...
Aiden Mueller won that match by a 9-8 decision.
Next for the No. 3-ranked Jaguars is a huge, huge Central Minnesota Conference triangular on Tuesday in Kimball. Also there will be the Paynesville Area Bulldogs, who have designs on earning a conference title. Last year, the Bulldogs went 3-3 to take fourth place in the seven-team CMC.
And on to Sunday, December 17...
Children at Sunburg Free Lutheran church held their annual Christmas program in front of a full house this morning. You can listen to part of their program, with children signing Go Tell It on the Mountain, by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper: https://shorturl.at/aCHO6.
At Sunburg Free church on Sunday, I enjoyed visiting with members of the Jess and Tammy Berge family. Tammy (Thonvold) is a 1991 graduate of B-B-E high school and played on some of the very first Jaguar girls' basketball teams under former head coach Bob Cassidy (1974-1992). Jess and Tammy's daughter Abby Berge, B-B-E Class of 2023, had one of her best games of her young college career with 11 points in 18 minutes of play in Minot, North Dakota on Saturday. Her Minnesota State University-Moorhead Dragons defeated the Minot State Beavers 68-40 to square their Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference record at 3-3. In addition, the youngest member of the Berge family was part of the B-B-E 8th grade boys' basketball team that won the Central Minnesota Conference tournament title on Saturday in Royalton. Austin Berge is one of six eighth graders on that team, which also earned the CMC title when they were seventh graders.
And speaking of Christmas! Here's a video featuring part of the final songs performed by grades K-3 students at B-B-E elementary's Christmas program on December 6:
This last newspaper issue featured a few photos from that program. With luck on my side, I hope to get more published in the December 21 issue. We'll see!
There's a lot to unpack from tonight's varsity action. We had one team far north at Pequot Lakes high school, and two other teams were in competitions at Paynesville.
In a 29-team Jackhammer Invitational field in Pequot Lakes, the No. 3-ranked (Class 1A) B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team is sitting in third place after the first day of action. The No. 4-ranked team in Class 2A, Totino Grace, is sitting in first place with 105 points. In second is the host team, No. 10-ranked (Class 2A) Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus, with 103.5 points. B-B-E is in third with 91.5 points, and in fourth place is Big Lake with 90.5 points. B-B-E is competing with just one open weight (133). Landing spots in their respective semifinal matches are Brett DeRoo (152), Maximus Hanson (172), Hunter Laage (189) and Carson Gilbert (215).
In a perplexing, wild Central Minnesota Conference border battle at Paynesville, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team took their second loss of the year.
The game's opening minutes were evenly played. Brooklyn Fischer made two free throws to spark a 9-2 run that included a steal and layup by Bree Thieschafer and a layup by Adley Hagen. With 14 minutes left, Brooklyn Fischer's three-pointer gave the Jaguars a 16-9 lead. Emma Flanders later scored 4 straight points that cut into an 8-point deficit, with her two free throws making it a 21-17 score with 8:32 to gol. Across the game's next 4 minutes, the Jaguars went on an 11-3 run, with Hagen's transition bucket making it a 32-20 lead with 4:40 left.
Here's a video from the first half:
The Bulldogs found a spark as halftime approached, and their 8-0 run made it 32-28 at the break.
In the first half of the second half, the Jaguars went into one of the strangest field goal droughts I've seen in my career and scored just 12 points in the last 17 minutes of the game. The Bulldogs, a team consisting mainly of one senior and a group of super talented juniors, won 59-48.
The Jaguars (5-2, 2-1) were scoreless from the 17:07 mark to the 10:23 mark in the second half. They later suffered a near-four-minute drought in the closing minutes of the game.
Brooklyn Fischer had 22 points to lead the Jaguars, and Bree Thieschafer scored 14 points. Adley Hagen had 8 points, and Grace Jackson and Anna Jaeger had 2 points each. Overall, the Jaguars shot an ice-cold 27 percent from the floor and were 12-of-20 at the charity stripe. It was a tough, tough loss where the Jaguars made just 9 two-point baskets on 36 attempts inside the arc. NEXT: the girls' basketball team hosts No. 16-ranked (Minnesota Basketball News) Class 2A Minnewaska Area in another border battle next Thursday, December 21.
In the second game of tonight's varsity doubleheader tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team took one on the chin as they fell 79-30 to the host No. 17-ranked Bulldogs. Like the girls' varsity game, just 5 Jaguars scored in the boys' contest. Half of B-B-E's points were made by sophomore Taylor Pieper, who drained five three-pointers. The Jaguars (1-3, 0-1) were playing without Luke Dingmann and Luke Illies, who are currently out with injury.
**Here's a video recorded by Willow Olson featuring action from the second half tonight:
The Jaguars travel to Minnewaska Area next Thursday night.
Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on December 15:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 57, Maple Lake 16
Area girls' basketball scores on Dec. 15:
BOLD 53, Montevideo 36
Minnewaska Area 70, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 29
MACCRAY 59, Lac qui Parle Valley 23
New London-Spicer 86, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 39
Annandale 65, Eden Valley-Watkins 47
Royalton 75, Pine River-Backus 45
Area boys' basketball scores on Dec. 15:
Sauk Centre 71, Holdingford 45
Mora 85, Kimball Area 73
Lac qui Parle Valley 87, Maple Lake 36
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 56, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 48
West Central Area 93, Staples-Motley 73
Hancock 72, Ashby 28
In the first game of the doubleheader in Paynesville, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team had a solid first half and built a 32-20 lead with 4:40 to go. At halftime, the lead had shrunk to 32-28 after the Bulldogs scored 8 points in the last 3 minutes and 7 seconds going into the break.
B-B-E punched the lead to 36-28 with two quick baskets in the opening minute of the second half. A virtual lid was put on the visitor's basket, however, and the Jaguars ultimately suffered a 59-48 loss.
The boys' basketball varsity game had a tip-off a little after 7 p.m. More will be posted in a new blog post, which will also feature some wrestling updates. This post is a wrap.
JV Pirouettes are champions! Girls' basketball defeats Kimball (VIDEOS)
Area scores and other updates are coming on Friday to this blog post. Also! Don't forget the bank treats...see more below!
I had a bona fide 2-and-Oh night! This is awesome. It's especially fun to see two wins from two different teams on the same night.
In their lone home dance comp of the season, the B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes had one first-place finish tonight. The JV kick squad, which is in just the third day overall of their present lineup, took first place. The coaches and team members were ecstatic!
Here's the Pirouettes gathering for a team photo tonight:
Programming note for Friday...tomorrow (December 15) is the day of treats! Treats, goodies and cookies! And gifts! All of this can be had at the Bonanza Valley State Bank in Brooten plus the Kensington Bank branches in Elrosa and Belgrade. All three will have treats, goodies and more for their customers from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Brooten and Belgrade plus 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Elrosa. Spread the word!
Down the road at the high school, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team improved to 2-0 in the Central Minnesota Conference with a 61-46 drubbing of Kimball Area. They head to Paynesville Area with a doubleheader with the boys' basketball team tomorrow! Tip-off for the girls' varsity game should be at about 5:30 p.m. The JV and C-squad girls' basketball games start at 4:15 p.m.
In tonight's girls' basketball game, the Jaguars led 35-25 at halftime after Brooklyn Fischer canned two three-point shots in the final 30 seconds. The senior forward had a monster night while finishing with a career-high 36 points, including six three-pointers, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. The Jaguars withstood some early adversity in the second half after their shooting went ice cold and the Cubs made a run. With 14:49 left, the Cubs went 1-of-2 at the free throw line to make the score 35-34. After the Jaguars extended the slim lead to 40-34, the Cubs cut it to 40-37 with 9:39 left. From there the Jaguars regained their footing and pushed it to a double-digit lead when Adley Hagen hit a layup with 6:10 left for a 50-39 lead.
*Here's a lengthy video featuring the last 3 1/2 minutes of the game:
Also! Best of luck to the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team, as they take off on Friday morning for Pequot Lakes, where they will compete in a large two-day invitational. Coach Fester reported that over 30 teams will be there. I have to circle back and report that on Tuesday night, the Jaguars defeated both Little Falls/Swanville/Pillager and also Holdingford to improve to 3-1 in dual meets and 1-0 in the CMC.
Central MN Conference girls' basketball score on December 14:
Holdingford 68, Paynesville Area 39
Central MN Conference boys' basketball score on December 14:
Eden Valley-Watkins 62, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 43
Area girls' basketball scores on December 14:
Nevis 61, Cass Lake-Bena 58
Mountain Iron-Buhl 76, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 39 (MI-B hands W-H-A their first loss of the season in a battle of Top 10 teams)
BOLD 45, Minneota 44
Central MN Christian-Prinsburg 59, Lac qui Parle Valley 20
Willmar 74, St. Cloud Area 38
West Central Area 70, Melrose Area 38
Area boys' basketball scores on December 14:
Melrose Area 49, Paynesville Area 47
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 70, Minnewaska Area 34
Henning 60, Sebeka 44
BOLD 69, Montevideo 67
New London-Spicer 69, Redwood Valley 59 (A big section win for NL-S, as they hand the Cardinals their first loss of the year)
Royalton 65, Aitkin 60
Upsala 66, Swanville 45
Ashby 60, Benson 56
Parkers Prairie 52, Battle Lake 41
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 76, MACCRAY 69
We have a home dance competition on the schedule tonight. The B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes dance team is hosting at the elementary school. Other teams at the competition are Minnewaska Area, Wabasso, Lakeview and Sauk Centre.
Here's the JV Jazz squad performing at Minnewaska in the season opener two weeks ago:
**Update out of the dance comp! the Pirouettes JV kick squad took first place!!! That was exciting to take in!! SO proud.
Also tonight! The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is hosting Kimball Area in a Central Minnesota Conference game. The Cubs are 2-4 overall.
UPDATE: with about 3 1/2 minutes to go in the first half, the Jaguars hold a 26-20 lead over visiting Kimball Area. HALFTIME: B-B-E 35, Kimball Area 25.
The New London-Spicer Wildcats provide the home opponent for the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team in tonight's border battle. The visitors are 1-2 overall and are scoring at a high clip this early in the season at 66.7 points per game, but they have given up 63.3 points a game. Meanwhile, the Jaguars (1-1) have averaged 56.5 points in two games with a defensive average of 53.5 points per game.
The Wildcats are in a similar rebuilding spot as the Jaguars, after they return just 2 of their top 9 players. NL-S graduated 7 seniors from their Sub-Section 3AA-North runner-up team that finished 16-13 overall and 8-6 in the Wright County West Conference. One of their losses was on January 14 at Fort Knox by a 72-61 score. No doubt they will have that in mind in tonight's game, which will be aired on 106.5 FM The Train of Norway Lake-Sunburg.
NL-S returns seniors Grant Paffrath and Mason Delzer, who are two returning starters.
More to come. No word yet out of Holdingford, where the wrestlers are competing in a triangular.
UPDATE: at halftime, the Jaguars trail 26-24 against the Wildcats.
*Here's action from late in the first half against NL-S tonight:
Then in the second half, NL-S has a 30-26 lead with 2 minutes gone. Later, the Jaguars led 51-50 on a slam dunk by Luke Dingmann with 6:02 to go and then 53-50 on a paint shot by Jordan Herickhoff. NL-S surged in the game's final 3 minutes, though, while holding the Jaguars scoreless in the final 3 1/2 minutes.
Final: NL-S 64, B-B-E 57. The Jaguars (1-2) travel to Paynesville Area this Friday in their Central Minnesota Conference opener. The Bulldogs defeated visiting Osakis tonight 55-48 in a non-conference game to hand the Silverstreaks their first loss of the year after a 3-0 start.
UPDATE at Upsala...at halftime, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is ahead 27-19.
Final: B-B-E 60, Upsala 51. Next for the girls' basketball team (4-1 overall) is a home game on Thursday this week against Kimball Area.
Area girls' basketball scores on December 12:
#7 New London-Spicer 56, #15 Minnewaska Area 51
West Central Area 58, Montevideo 52
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 54, Litchfield 21
MACCRAY 78, Ortonville 34
Dawson-Boyd 55, Lac qui Parle Valley 47
Yellow Medicine East 73, Renville County West 67
Melrose Area 48, Benson 42
Area boys' basketball scores on December 12:
Browerville 61, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 43
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 80, Royalton 58
Paynesville Area 55, Osakis 48
Eden Valley-Watkins 59, Albany 53
Ashby 65, Underwood 61
Rothsay 68, Battle Lake 37
Brandon-Evansville 82, Parkers Prairie 78
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 85, Litchfield 50
West Central Area 62, Sauk Centre 60
Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on December 12:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 73, Kimball Area 67
Holdingford 78, Maple Lake 42
Tiyana Schwinghammer drives to the hoop while scoring 2 of her 17 points in the third game of her collegiate career, as her Pioneers team faced Dakota-Bottineau in Thief River Falls on November 14.
Two members of last year's third-place B-B-E girls' basketball team are having outstanding freshmen seasons at their respective colleges this winter.
Abby Berge, a 5'11" guard/forward from Sunburg, is averaging 6.1 points per game and 4.8 rebounds per game with 39 percent field goal shooting for Division II Minnesota State University-Moorhead. Berge provided a 13-point outburst off the bench for the Dragons last Thursday in Moorhead in a 69-46 win against Bemidji State during which she earned a double double with 11 rebounds while logging 23 minutes. It also marked Dragons women's basketball head coach Karla Nelson's 400th career win. After a 57-48 win over St. Cloud State University on Friday, during which Berge scored 10 points (8-of-8 free throws) with 11 rebounds, Nelson's MSUM career record stands at 401-248 (2000-present).
Tiyana Schwinghammer, a 6'0" guard/forward from Brooten, is having a standout season as a freshman at Northland Community and Technical Community College in Thief River Falls. Through 10 games, she is averaging 14 points per game and 9.9 rebounds per game while having five double doubles so far. At the free throw line, she is shooting 76 percent, and she also has 36 assists and 28 steals. The Pioneers are 7-3 overall after going 2-0 this past weekend. Schwinghammer was one rebound away from earning five straight double doubles to start her collegiate career. As a result of this, she has earned extra emphasis by opposing defenses. In spite of that, she has averaged 12 points and 9 rebounds per contest in her last four games.
We also have Ashton Dingmann (B-B-E Class of 2022) playing for Division III Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.
Ashton Dingmann is averaging 10 minutes a contest in 9 games for Gustavus Adolphus College while earning a 45 percent field goal shooting mark and connecting on 9 of 20 three-point attempts. The Gusties are 6-3 overall and 5-0 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). Gustavus, who is on a six-game winning streak, trails St. John's University by half a game in the standings. Four teams are currently tied for third place in the MIAC with 3-2 records: Concordia, Carleton, Hamline and Bethel colleges.
In his freshman season at Concordia College in Moorhead, B-B-E Class of 2023 graduate Kaden Pieper has averaged 7.4 minutes and 1.8 points per game.
*After church on Sunday, a video was added at the end of this blog post.
At the Grant County Invitational today in Barrett, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team took second place out of 10 teams. With the strength of the first-place team, the race was more so for second place, which the Jaguars won handily against the host team.
Next: the Jaguars travel to Holdingford next Tuesday, December 12 for a triangular that also includes Little Falls/Swanville/Pillager. The match with Holdingford will begin the Central Minnesota Conference schedule. Last season, the Jaguars suffered their only CMC loss to the Huskers, who won the team title outright. The Jaguars finished in second place with a 5-1 record.
Final team standings in Barrett:
1. Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd/Montevideo (United) 246 points;
2. B-B-E 176.5
3. West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 147
4. Canby 145
5. United North Central 87.5
6. Pelican Rapids 69
7. Border West 64
8. Barnesville 62.5
9. Fergus Falls 58.5
10. Ottertail Central 12
Individual B-B-E results by weight:
107: Noah Jensen - 0-2, did not qualify for quarterfinals;
114: Noah Welte - third place
121: Aiden Mueller - fourth place
127: Dylan Koob - sixth place
133: Louie Tensen 0-2
139: Ryan Jensen - first place
145: Andrew Spanier - sixth place
152: Brett DeRoo - second place
160: Ethan Mueller - second place
172: Maximus Hanson - first place
189: Hunter Laage - second place
215: Carson Gilbert - first place
285: Harley Weber - fourth place
More to come. Results are being reviewed.
In other news from today...
The Santa Day events in Belgrade and Brooten both had tremendous turnout!!! Much to write about there! The evening in Brooten was one of the best I've experienced for Santa Day in the past 12 years. BRAVO!! I'm not sure what else I'll get posted here tonight, but on Sunday there's a high probability that I'll get video added to this blog post.
Here's video from Lucky Shots Bowling Alley in Brooten late on Saturday afternoon:
For the second straight Saturday, the bowling alley in Brooten hosted a really, really terrific event!! It's marvelous to have our terrific small businesses in our local towns.
Sunday will bring an exciting event for the region...a special Elvis Christmas show will be performed at Central Square Civic Center in Glenwood. Look for more on that in the next newspaper issue.
The Central Minnesota Christian Bluejays snuck one out from our B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team tonight by a 58-56 score in the home opener. After dropping their season opener 47-46 at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, the Bluejays have won four straight.
The Jaguars suffered their first loss of the season and are now 3-1 overall. Rough 8-of-16 free throw shooting was not helpful, although ultimately late turnovers haunted the Jaguars after they lost what was a 50-43 lead. With 3 minutes and 40 seconds left in the game, the Bluejays tied it up at 50-50.
Here's action from the last minute or so of the first half tonight:
B-B-E led 33-29 at halftime.
Next: the Jaguars travel to Upsala next Tuesday, December 12 for a key Section 5A match up with the Cardinals (2-3, 1-0 Prairie Conference).
I want to get a jump on promoting the upcoming home dance meet on Thursday, December 14, when the B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes dance team hosts Lakeview, Minnewaska Area, Sauk Centre and Wabasso. The National Anthem will be performed at 5:55 p.m. at the elementary school in Brooten, and the dance comp will follow at 6 p.m. On Saturday (tomorrow), the Pirouettes compete at Albany.
ALSO on Saturday (tomorrow)...theB-B-E Jaguars wrestling team competes in the 10-team Grant County Invitational at West Central Area high school in Barrett. Their top competition will be the same team that defeated them last night, the No. 5-ranked Class 2A Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd/Montevideo United squad. Also contending for the title will be the host WCA/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville squad along with Section 5A rival Canby.
ALSO SATURDAY! The big event is Brooten Santa Day with the fun beginning at 3:30 p.m. at Lucky Shots Bowling Alley. That's when Santa Claus is scheduled to arrive to meet area children and families. He will be there until at least 5 p.m. There's many other things taking place, including the B-B-E Cub Scouts chili feed (in support of the B-B-E Area Food Shelf) that starts at 5 p.m. and runs at least through the 6 p.m. parade. Get all the details here at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website (short link): https://shorturl.at/cnv14.
Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on December 8:
Royalton 55, Kimball Area 29 (Royals pick up first win of the season)
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 47, Eden Valley-Watkins 46 (Last season, A-C-GC didn't get their second win until January 9...currently they are 2-2 overall)
Holdingford 62, Maple Lake 16
Area girls' basketball scores on December 8:
West Central Area 70, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 50
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 71, Nevis 70 (a battle of top Section 5A contenders won by the host Wolves in Walker)
Hancock 87, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 36
Battle Lake 52, Parkers Prairie 49
Browerville 63, Benson 38
Alexandria 72, Willmar 39
We're at halftime tonight in Belgrade for the home opener of the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team, who is hosting a fleet-footed Central Minnesota Christian-Prinsburg squad. The Jaguars trailed 6-2 early before earning leads at 7-4 and 9-8. They built the lead up to 10 points later in the first half.
There's a great crowd on hand, and we are also enjoying the sounds of the B-B-E Pep Band!!! I hope to rejoin them by the next time they play at a home game.
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team fell to 1-1 overall with a 69-50 loss to Osakis tonight on the home court. The Silverstreaks (2-0) led 40-24 at halftime but were held scoreless for the first 5 minutes of the second half. Unfortunately, the Jaguars were only able to score one basket in that time to cut it to 40-26. The Jaguars whittled the deficit down to 9 points with 5 minutes to go on Kaden DeRoo's three-point play that made it a 55-46 deficit. Osakis responded with three straight shots on the low block to maintain a firm grip on the lead.
DeRoo led the Jaguars with 18 points, including four three-pointers. Hayden Sobiech also had a terrific game with 16 points. Luke Illies scored 11 points. Rounding out the scoring was Taylor Pieper with 3 points and Jordan Herickhoff with 2 points.
Here's a video clip from the second half of tonight's game:
That clip was recorded with around 9 minutes to go in the game.
I forgot to mention that tonight's boys' basketball game was broadcast on both local stations, Smooth Magic 107 and also 106.5 FM the Train. I talked to Brady after the game, and he said they are likely going to carry the girls' basketball game in Upsala next Tuesday.
Next: the Jaguars host New London-Spicer (1-1) in a border battle next Tuesday. We'll learn much about NL-S and also Paynesville when those two teams collide tomorrow night for a border battle at Fort Knox in New London.
No word yet out of Minnewaska on how that all played out. I've had a truly exhausting week, so I may just call it a night. My radio show in Glenwood starts in just 12 hours.
Wrestling update: I learned on Friday morning that the Jaguars went 1-1 at Minnewaska, with the one win coming against Border West. This report came from Harley Weber! Thanks Harley, it was fun catching up! Best of luck to the Jaguars on Saturday in Barrett!
On Friday night, Santa Claus will be making a visit to Sunburg and joining forces with the Sunburg Fire Department. You read all the details by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/erARX.
Click on this link to read about the upcoming Santa Day in Brooten (Saturday): https://shorturl.at/rsJQ3.
Click on this link to read about the upcoming Santa Day in Belgrade (also Saturday): https://shorturl.at/uGW03.
Area girls' basketball scores on December 7:
MACCRAY 50, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 48
Sauk Centre 54, Minnewaska Area 53
Hutchinson 45, Litchfield 35
Foley 59, Kimball Area 50
New London-Spicer 56, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 38
Upsala 68, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 28
The B-B-E wrestling team begins their dual meet portion of the schedule with a tough night ahead...they face Border West at 5 p.m. at Minnewaska Area's quadrangular. The Buccaneers are a perenially strong team competing in Section 6A. Border West opened the season last Thursday, November 30 with a 42-24 win at Wadena-Deer Creek. On Saturday, December 2, the Buccaneers placed 9th out of 12 teams at a tournament (location not posted from what I looked at). Last season, Border West went 20-6 in duals and then 1-1 in the Section 6A tournament, losing 36-30 to eventual state entrant West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville.
The No. 5-ranked team in Class 2A is on deck for the Jaguars after they wrestle Border West, with the second dual of the evening featuring B-B-E against Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd/Montevideo United.
For B-B-E, the grades 9-12 enrollment in 2022 was 178, giving United over three times the students that they can build a wrestling team from. This year, LQPV/D-B/Montevideo United has a 3-0 record so far in duals earned in a quadrangular on November 30 in Dawson. Last season, United went 30-2 overall with one of their losses in the state tournament quarterfinals; they finished as consolation champions in Class 2A.
Later tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball teamhosts Osakis in their second straight home game to start the season. Osakis is an outstanding Class 2A team that went 21-7 last year and placed second in the Prairie Conference behind Browerville. The Jaguars snuck one away from the Silverstreaks in the 2022-2023 season opener by a 69-68 score at their house. **This game will be broadcast on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood: (link) https://kmgk1071.com.
Wrestling updates at Minnewaska...
Against Border West, the Jaguars jumped out to an early 12-0 lead with pins at 107 and 114!!! That's a great start.
Against Osakis, the Jaguars trail 29-16 with about 4 minutes to go in the first half.
Here's video from the end of tonight's boys' basketball opener:
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team won their season opener tonight by a 63-40 score against visiting Ashby. It was also an important sub-section win.
Next: the Jaguars host Class 2A Osakis on Thursday in another non-conference game. Ashby falls to 0-2 overall; they lost 55-53 at Lake Park-Audubon last Friday in their season opener.
At Royalton, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team has a slim 42-40 lead with about 12 minutes to go in the second half.
Final score: B-B-E 61, Royalton 58! What a sweet win! The Jaguars are 3-0 going into Friday's home opener against a tough Central Minnesota Christian Bluejays squad. They are 2-2 overall after winning against neighboring and conference rival MACCRAY in Clara City 58-47 last night. B-B-E has a big Section 5A game at Upsala next Tuesday.
Royalton, a team with aspirations this year with a strong nucleus of players returning from last year's 17-11 squad, falls to 0-4 overall. Kylie Waytashek returns as a 1,000-point scorer who achieved that mark on January 16 last winter at Paynesville Area.
More to come on Wednesday evening.
I want to give a shout out to Mike and Jasmine Ulland for the outstanding bar and restaurant they are operating in downtown Belgrade! The Spot for Drinks and Dining is worth a visit! Their food is outstanding!! The kitchen hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday through Saturday. Stop down and give them your support!
Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on December 5:
Paynesville Area 70, Maple Lake 24
Kimball Area 53, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 48
Area boys' basketball scores on December 5:
Montevideo 77, Minnewaska Area 54
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 68, Melrose Area 65
New London-Spicer 72, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 57
Benson 67, Yellow Medicine East 60
Paynesville Area 86, Litchfield 47
Osakis 76, Staples-Motley 51
Border West 69, Ortonville 46
Breckenridge 59, Battle Lake 44
Area girls' basketball scores on December 5:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 43, Melrose Area 29
Minnewaska Area 58, Montevideo 13
Brainerd 62, Willmar 49
Litchfield 46, Eden Valley-Watkins 42
Little Falls 53, Upsala 42
Albany 71, Holdingford 30
Hancock 93, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 34
Brandon-Evansville 72, Parkers Prairie 35
Swanville 60, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 25
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 88, Laporte 29
Sauk Centre 70, West Central Area 40
Minneota 77, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 28
The B-B-E Jaguars football team held their season awards banquet tonight at the high school cafeteria. More on this will be published in the newspaper this week, but I had one video clip I wanted to share right away. This video features Coach Moscho speaking about the support of parents and community members for the team. He had a long, long list of people and businesses to thank. I found it worth noting that one of his assistant coaches is a volunteer to the program: Coach Ben Klaphake. That is tremendous. If I was master and rule of the universe, we'd have one more coach per program across the three sports seasons at B-B-E. I know that would add quite a bit to the budget, but to me, the money spent on our extra curricular activities is worth every penny!!
Also, we all need to take a moment to salute Nancy Weimerskirch, a beloved football program "mom" and "wife" who was a football "team mom" for two seasons (son, Jeff, graduated in 1990) but was also the wife of B-B-E's first head football coach, the late Dennis Weimerskirch. Coach Weimerskirch passed away in 2019, and he continues to be missed dearly by our entire community. This year, Nancy Weimerskirch donated funds that paid for plaques with the team photo and a record of all the games and the team accomplishments this fall. The plaques are amazing!!! Every player and coach with the team received a plaque.
VIDEO:
The Jaguars finished the season 11-1 while setting multiple school records. This is a season that will be quite difficult to repeat, but they have a high number of returning players next year that certainly have a shot at repeating the success they had this fall.
Another super busy week is underway in Jaguar Country! This is a sprint to Christmas that continues this week with multiple sports and community events across the Bonanza Valley area. It sort of "peaks" this Saturday with Santa Day events in Belgrade in the morning and Brooten in the late afternoon/evening.
Tonight features a big event that I am glad I am able to go to with no other conflicting items on the schedule...the football team awards banquet! It will be a big deal!
Here's a little Christmas music and more as was seen in the church basement in Elrosa on Saturday:
Kudos to the Elrosa Commercial Club for hosting the event in conjunction with other local groups such as the Elrosa Baseball Club as well as Kensington Bank and Kensington Insurance. They hired Donny Brang to perform Christmas music, and that added a neat touch to the one-hour event. Turnout exceeded 70 kids!!! That's just flat out awesome for a community with a population of about 230.
The Voice Winter Sports Show No. 1!! A throwback to the 1970s (VIDEO)
I didn't know when I'd get to my first sports show of the 2023-2024 winter season. Ultimately, this was recorded one year to the day after I recorded the first one of the 2022-2023 winter sports season. That winter sports show one year ago was dedicated mainly to the dance team in a video I recorded on the fly with very little thought or time put into it. The video posted below was also recorded with very little time or thought put into it. This video is dedicated to the 1973 Brooten Buccaneers football team.
If there's anything you can count on, you can count on me being unpredictable!
I have to apologize in advance to the DeRoo family for an embarrassing mistake I had in the video. Brett DeRoo is not a great nephew of Kevin DeRoo. He is a nephew. That's a generational thing that I got mixed up in my head. Kevin DeRoo was one of five seniors on the 1973 Brooten football team. His youngest brother, Aaron, was a 1996 graduate of B-B-E high school. Aaron's middle son is Brett DeRoo. Just a straight up goof up on my part!
Without further ado...here's the Winter Sports Show No. 1! Dedicated to a fall sport and a team that played 50 years ago...
The Brooten Buccaneers football program was more or less downtrodden for a period of almost 35 years since its inception in the fall of 1938. One of the first Brooten teams went 4-3 (the fall of 1941), and the 1953 Brooten team won the Crow County Conference. Those two seasons may have been the only two winning seasons Brooten had in football from 1938 until 1973.
It took two new coaches in Brooten to lead the program to better times. In the summer of 1970, Jerry Hilton (high school math teacher) and Donovan Larson (elementary phy ed teacher) were hired as teachers in addition to a rigorous and substantial list of coaching assignments. I don't have the full list of exactly what Hilton coached during his time in Brooten (1970-1981), but I do know he was head boys' basketball coach across those years and also the head baseball coach. Larson was in Brooten just four years before Sauk Centre head-hunted him and hired him away from us in the summer of 1974. Coach Larson was the head coach of football, wrestling and boys' track and field. He was Brooten's first head wrestling coach, as that program was founded in the 1970-1971 season.
Girls' basketball starts 2-0, wrestlers second at Melrose...by razor-thin margin
The B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes dance team had three squads in action at Minnewaska Area, which is the first time in three seasons that they've had two varsity squads in action plus a JV squad. The invitational featured six teams.
*Here's the Pirouettes varsity jazz squad...they were outstanding!
On Saturday (tomorrow) the dance team travels to Rocori.
It's a 2-and-Oh start for the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team! The Jaguars defeated Pine River-Backus 60-41 tonight on the road. It was a marquee win for the team after they suffered huge graduation losses and withstood whatever the Tigers threw at them. PR-B had extra motivation as they wanted to get the bad taste of a 70-44 sub-section semifinal loss last March out of their systems. That did not happen.
Next: the Jaguars travel to Royalton next Tuesday for the conference opener. The Royals will be far and away much, much tougher than either of B-B-E's first two opponents.
*Here's a video from late in the first half at Melrose...
The Jaguars struggled late in that first half in the season opener, but they recovered nicely to win by double digits at Melrose. The free throw shooting was harsh!!! At one point I counted that we made 6 of 17 free throw tries.
At Melrose tonight, B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team members competing in their respective championship matches will be Ryan Jensen (145), Brett DeRoo (152), Ethan Mueller (160), Maximus Hanson (189), Carson Gilbert (215) and Harley Weber (285)...the Jaguars have a steep hill to climb as a team, as they trail Paynesville Area 197 points to 178.5 points as of 9:25 p.m. The upside to this: Paynesville does not have anyone wrestling against any of those Jaguars in those title matches.
Paynesville Area claimed titles at 114 and 127, and they have a wrestler in the finals at 139. The Jaguars need to light things up the rest of the way to catch the Bulldogs.
A few championship match updates at Melrose:
At 139, Paynesville's wrestler finished in second place. (B-B-E is open at 139 and 172.) Earlier tonight at 114, Noah Welte lost a 5-0 decision to Paynesville's Roman Roberg to take second place. At 145, Ryan Jensen won a thriller by 9-7 decision in the championship match against Mora senior Nathan Nelson. At 152, DeRoo took the title! He won a 5-0 decision in the finals against Mora senior Brock Folkema. At 160, Ethan Mueller took the title! He won a 3-1 decision in the championship against Thief River Falls senior Ethan Lane.
The gap between B-B-E and Paynesville is shrinking!
Down the stretch at Melrose...
At 189, Maximus Hanson won the championship match by fall (2:38) against Mora junior Jared Yates. At 215, Carson Gilbert won a 4-0 decision against Eden Valley-Watkins senior Sonnie DeHeer. Now all that's left is heavyweight. At 285, Harley Weber won a 3-1 decision against Ottertail Central senior Kale Rich in the championship. He was the sixth Jaguar to earn an individual title tonight. However, once the dust settled and all the points were tallied, the Paynesville Bulldogs emerged as champions with 206 team points. The Jaguars took second place with 204.5 points. Crazy! It was about as exciting as it gets throughout the last two hours of the 13-team invitational.
Area girls' basketball scores on December 1:
MACCRAY 66, Dawson-Boyd 40
Lakeview 48, Yellow Medicine East 40
#8 New London-Spicer 76, Paynesville 46
Central MN Christian 76, Ortonville 20
Swanville 76, Benson 39
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 63, Renville County West 33
The B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes dance team has started the 2023-2024 season with the Minnewaska Invitational. Following the playing of the National Anthem, The JV Jazz Pirouettes performed first in their division to start the dance comp. Each varsity division has six teams, including Sauk Centre, Montevideo, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, Minnewaska Area and Moorhead along with our Pirouettes.
More to come. I also have to catch up with how the wrestling team is faring at the Melrose Defender Invitational. Update: as of 6:30 p.m., the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team has 98 team points to hold first place! Alexandria Area is in second with 85.5 points, and Paynesville Area sits in third with 85 points. In the 145-pound bracket, Ryan Jensen won a 13-2 major decision in the quarterfinals. At 160, Ethan Mueller won by fall (3:43) in the quarterfinals. At 189, Maximus Hanson has two wins by fall, first with a time of 3:23 in the first round and then by a time of 3:24 in the quarterfinals. He faces Alexandria senior Landon Raths in the semis. Carson Gilbert won by fall (1:08) in the quarterfinals at 215. At 285, Harley Weber won by fall (1:32) in his quarterfinal match to get a spot in the semis.
Update: as of 7 p.m., Paynesville Area has pulled into first place with 128 points. The Jaguars are in second with 111 points, and Mora is in third with 108.5 points. At 114, Noah Welte has blazed his way into the championship with two wins. He won a 12-1 major decision in the quarterfinals and then by fall (1:59) in the semis.
Update just 12 minutes later! The Jaguars are now in first place with 135 points and a two-point advantage over Thief River Falls. In third is Paynesville with 128 points, and Mora is in fourth with 108.5 points. Ryan Jensen won by fall (0:49) in his semifinal match to get a spot in the finals.
The varsity kick division should get underway at 7 p.m. at Minnewaska.
At Pine River-Backus tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team has a 28-17 lead later in the first half. At halftime: B-B-E 30, PR-B 21.
Update later on Friday night: there is a giant battle taking place for the top spot at Melrose. At 9 p.m., the Paynesville Area Bulldogs are in first place with 185 points. The Jaguars are in second with 178.5 points. In third is Thief River Falls with 158 points. NEW UPDATES in a new blog post...including a final score on the girls' basketball game.
