B-B-E Jaguar Sports extended coverage: Granite City Classic

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!