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
More to come in the morning.
