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!
Tuesday, January 30, 2024
Cold shooting dooms girls' basketball at Kimball
Fans traveled in some heavy fog tonight to watch our B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team play at Kimball Area. More to follow later on (Thursday).
A cold shooting night hampered the effort for the Jaguars as they suffered their second straight loss. After trailing 32-29 at halftime, the Jaguars could not catch up to the host Cubs in a 66-59 Central Minnesota Conference loss. For the game, the Jaguars shot 31 percent from the floor and were a respectable 13-of-17 at the line.
Next: the Jaguars take on CMC front-runner and No. 14-ranked (Minnesota Basketball News) Holdingford (16-3) on the road on Friday.
Thursday morning update: I'm still recovering from the ongoing series of calamities our community has faced, going to three funerals/visitations in a span of just four days, plus spending a chunk of the weekend plus Monday with my wife dealing with a serious health issue. Half of my Monday was spent at a doctor's clinic instead of being in my office. All I can say: we survived it. Sometimes survival is all you cling to and all you can hope for. You live to fight another day. This gives you a very unique view on life, when it's broken down to simply surviving or not surviving. It makes the other troubles in life seem small.
In normal times, the mistake I made in this week's newspaper would loom over me in a very large way. I "double jumped" a large portion of my Roger Sagedahl Senior's View article on pages 6 and 7. Not only was the story massive, perhaps the longest story I've ever published...but it ended up using considerable more space than needed. It was all part of the bumbled mess that was my Monday and Tuesday. It will lead to confusion for many readers as they try to get through the story. The upside: nothing was cut, and the story is there...you just have to look harder for how it fits together.
Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on January 30:
#14 Holdingford 62, Paynesville Area 50
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 56, Maple Lake 28
Royalton 57, Eden Valley-Watkins 40
Area girls' basketball scores on January 30
Minnewaska Area 55, Montevideo 40
#3 Albany 64, #4 New London-Spicer 57
Watertown-Mayer 69, Litchfield 32
MACCRAY 63, Canby 45
Lac qui Parle Valley 39, Renville County West 37
The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team was cooled off by Canby as they earned a 1-1 dual record in the Canby triangular last night. The No. 2-ranked Jaguars beat No. 10-ranked Minneota 34-26 while powering past the Vikings by taking the last four weights, including 189 and 215 by fall. Minneota fell to 13-7 overall with the loss to the Jaguars and also a 30-21 loss to the Lancers.
Against the host Lancers, the Jaguars could not overcome losing the first five weights. Going into the 139-pound match, the Jaguars trailed 27-0. Canby, who is unranked, led 38-23 going into heavyweight, which Harley Weber won by forfeit. On a closer look at the Guillotine website, I see that Canby (10-3) has just two state-ranked wrestlers: Eli Greenman (No. 4) at 121 pounds and Nick Wagner (No. 5) at 189 pounds.
B-B-E is now 11-2 in dual meets; they had won 10 straight going into the loss to Canby.
Here's a video that's over a week old...but it has taken this long to upload it...from NLS high school on January 19:
The tribute to Will Dahl and Harrison Dahl received a small bit of newspaper ink in the January 25 issue, with a picture of Jaguar wrestlers and fans gathered with the large crowd at NLS high school that day. The tribute provided by Lara Dahl, and read aloud by NLS head coach Joey Brown, was truly memorable. It is difficult to imagine the grief and pain and raw emotion felt by Lara and the rest of her family as she wrote it. Lara Dahl is the B-B-E business manager who deals with numbers, contracts and Human Resource-related matters behind the scenes. She is one of numerous school workers who make things run smoothly.
Now we try to look for good news and positive stories involving people, families and businesses of our community. The Lenten season is coming up, and that's a rough period of time for Christians to go into while feeling sad and depressed. I'm finally getting time to compile the area Dean's List for current college students. That is always a nice section to see in the newspaper.
Area girls' basketball scores on January 27:
Eden Valley-Watkins 47, Osakis 46 (at the Target Center)
Hancock 74, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 35
Mountain Iron-Buhl 103, Red Lake 22
Verndale 74, Sebeka 45
Area boys' basketball scores on January 27:
BOLD 72, Minnewaska Area 58
Nova Classical Academy 57, Maple Lake 31
Willmar 62, Brooklyn Centre 61
Sebeka 80, Verndale 48
Osakis 65, Eden Valley-Watkins 58 (the Eagles have a 15-game winning streak halted; Silverstreaks are 13-3)
MA/CA 71, Hancock 50
Doubleheader split at Sauk Centre (VIDEOS, UPDATED)
An exciting night of border battle action played out at Sauk Centre high school tonight with Hoops for Hope as the feature event.
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team had a tough stretch in the closing minutes against the No. 10-ranked Mainstreeters. The length and size of Sauk Centre wore the Jaguars down as the home team won 76-56.
A three-pointer by Brooklyn Fischer with 6:08 left before halftime got them within three points, down 26-23. Sauk Centre extended the lead to 30-23 with two shots in the paint, and Brooklyn then drained another three with 3:07 to go to make it a four-point game. Cierra Kortan answered right away with a three-pointer, but Anna Jaeger's three-pointer with 2:15 left made it a two-possession game again at 33-29.
After the Jaguars fell back 38-30, Jaeger knocked down a three on the right wing with just 8 seconds to spare to make it a 38-33 deficit at halftime.
The Mainstreeters held leads of 7 to 9 points at times across the first 9 minutes of the second half, and the Jaguars battled but could not cut it to less than 5 points. Down 53-43 with under 12 minutes left, Bree Thieschafer's three-pointer and then a layup by Adley Hagen made it 53-48 with 10:44 to go. Across the next 3 1/2 minutes, though, Sauk Centre used a 10-0 run to quell B-B-E's momentum. The Jaguars suffered a five-minute long field goal scoring drought. Brooklyn Fischer's layup with 5:42 left cut it to 63-51. The Mainstreeters had one last scoring burst with a 7-0 run to extend it to 70-51 with 3:12 left on a downtown three-pointer by Kortan.
The Mainstreeters have been playing extremely well as of late, as they recently beat No. 4-ranked (Class 2A) New London-Spicer last Saturday the 20th; they've won 8 straight and are 14-3 overall.
**Here's a video from late in the first half of the girls' basketball game:
The Jaguars shot 42 percent from the floor but cooled off in the second half with just 28 percent shooting. They were 6-of-12 on the arc in the firsf half but made just one out of 7 three-point shots in the second half. They went a cold 13-of-24 at the line.
Next: the girls' basketball team (10-8) travels to Kimball Area next Tuesday, January 30.
After a large group photo with all grades 9-12 basketball players on both teams' boys' and girls' squads, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team played an incredible game against the No. 10-ranked Mainstreeters. After building an initial 10-0 lead, the Jaguars had no let up in their defensive intensity as the first half played out. A three-pointer by Hayden Sobiech with 8:57 to go gave them a 23-7 lead, with B-B-E also getting two early threes by Josh Walstrom. Sobiech's three-point play made it 26-9 with 7:06 to go, and Luke Illies later knocked down a three at the top of the key for a 31-15 lead with 5:02 to go.
Illies got a steal and followed it with a slam dunk for a 37-15 lead, and Kaden DeRoo made two free throws and later a layup to make it 39-22.
The Mainstreeters got a huge lift by back-to-back threes by sophomore guard Jacob Drevlow in the closing minute. At halftime, the Jaguars led 39-28.
Here's a video featuring part of the middle of the first half of the boys' basketball game tonight:
Final score:B-B-E 71, #10 Sauk Centre 56. The Jaguars played lights out defense from wire to wire against a quick, physical and high-scoring Mainstreeters squad that is currently challenging for the West Central Conference title. They are coached by Kevin Kuefler, B-B-E Class of 2011 graduate who helped lead his Jaguars to the Class 1A state championship game his senior year.
Luke Dingmann had a career night against tough, pressure defense applied by the Mainstreeters, tallying 23 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Junior guard Josh Walstrom gave a huge boost with 9 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
A key difference in the game was B-B-E's 50 percent field goal shooting compared to 34 percent by the Mainstreeters.
Next: the boys' basketball team (10-6) has a huge, huge rematch with Paynesville Area in Brooten next Thursday in Central Minnesota Conference action.
*Saturday morning update: the Jaguars (boys) have moved up to No. 2 in the Sub-Section 6A-South QRF rankings. They have been hovering in the No. 3 position for the past few weeks. Brandon-Evansville slipped to No. 3, and they just suffered an 81-59 loss to Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, one of the top teams in the north half of Section 6A.
Area girls' basketball scores on January 26:
New London-Spicer 81, Montevideo 36
Minnewaska Area 44, BOLD 36
Melrose Area 55, Benson 42
Eden Valley-Watkins 55, Paynesville Area 46 (a Central MN Conference game, with the Eagles snapping a 4-game losing skid)
Braham 60, Maple Lake 20
Brainerd 51, Willmar 43
Browerville 58, Swanville 54
Osakis 39, Upsala 38
Central MN Christian 63, MACCRAY 25
Lakeview 59, Renville County West 52
Minneota 71, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 44
Area boys' basketball scores on January 26:
Watertown-Mayer 59, New London-Spicer 58
Dassel-Cokato 63, Litchfield 50
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 66, Kimball Area 53 (a Central MN Conference game at Grove City)
Albany 63, Melrose Area 57 (this was a key Section 6AA match up between neighboring rivals)
Border West 63, Underwood 50
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 81, Brandon-Evansville 59
Rothsay 69, Ashby 55
Battle Lake 67, Parkers Prairie 64
West Central Area 60, Montevideo 46
Osakis 72, Little Falls 69
Dance team at conference championships, plus basketball and wrestling on the road (VIDEO)
We want to give all the best wishes and messages of good luck to the B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes dance team as they compete in the Camden Conference championships at 6 p.m. at Lakeview high school in Cottonwood. Other teams competing include host Lakeview, Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd, Canby, MACCRAY/Renville County West, Worthington and Yellow Medicine East.
The dance comp starts at 6 p.m.
At Canby, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team is facing potential Section 5A playoff opponents with a triangular that also includes Minneota.
Meanwhile...to the north! It is Hoops For Hope night
A big and exciting basketball doubleheader is taking place at Sauk Centre high school. The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is battling the No. 10-ranked hosts as the gymnasium is filling up. They trailed 26-19 with about 8 minutes left in the first half. Halftime: #10 Sauk Centre 38, B-B-E 33. The Jaguars have stuck with the taller Mainstreeters, and a three-pointer by Anna Jaeger with 8 seconds left drew them within 5 points before the break.
Here's a video from just before the boys' basketball game tonight:
In the girls' basketball varsity game, Sauk Centre won 76-56.
The varsity boys' basketball game should tip off at about 19:40. Updates to come after the game.
Boys' basketball game updates...
The boys' basketball game has been a treat for the packed house at SCHS gymnasium. B-B-E rocketed out to an 8-0 lead with 15:40 left when Hayden Sobiech drained his team's second three-pointer. Luke Dingmann hit a short-range shot with 14:18 left to make it 10-0. The Mainstreeters got on the board with Jay Neubert's three-pointer with 13:15 left. From that point, the Jaguars expanded their lead to 20-5 with 10:49 left on a Josh Walstrom three.
B-B-E led 39-22 at one point with about one minute remaining, but the Mainstreeters got two huge three-pointers and trail 39-28 at halftime. For B-B-E, Luke Illies leads the way with 11 points, and Hayden Sobiech and Josh Walstrom each have 9 points. Luke Dingmann has 6 points, and Kaden DeRoo has 4 points to round out the first half scoring.
Time to head home. This blog post is a wrap...a new one will be posted after 10 p.m.
Taking advantage of the home crowd and a night when the girls' basketball and wrestling teams were idle, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team battled through regulation play and an overtime session to boot in a 65-61 win against Royalton. Their backs were to the wall with 1.9 seconds left in regulation, but a banked three-pointer by Hayden Sobiech from the top of the key at the buzzer sent the outcome to be decided in overtime.
To put the final minute into perspective: the last 33 seconds of regulation play lasted over 6 minutes. It was wild.
Ahead 54-53, Royalton got a huge boost with 4.4 seconds left, when junior Braedon Hansen sank two bonus free throws. The Jaguars had just 4 seconds left and trailed 56-53 while needing to move the length of the court just to have a shot at tying the game.
**Here's a six-minute long video that features the final 33 seconds of regulation play:
The good stuff is in the final 40 seconds of that video...SWISH!!!! The three-point shot by Sobiech was nothing but net and ripped the cords as the final horn sounded.
Here's another video from the 2nd half tonight:
That video starts with 11:45 on the clock and Royalton shooting two free throws. They cashed both to break a 39-39 tie. The video ends with 9:29 left and the Royals ahead 44-42.
The Jaguars had a slim 53-52 lead going into the final minute of the second half, but Royalton senior Ryan Vannurden sank a point blank shot in the lane with 45 seconds left to put his team in front 54-53. You can see that play out in the video below...
VIDEO...starting with 2:05 left in regulation:
In overtime, the Jaguars took a 59-57 lead on Kaden DeRoo's three-point play with 2:46 left. The Royals got a three-pointer by Hansen with 2:22 to go to regain the lead. Sobiech then hit a big three with 1:24 left that put the Jaguars in front for good. The junior guard was not done, though, and he launched a final dagger with a made three-pointer with 17 seconds left that gave the Jaguars a four-point advantage.
First half plays out to a draw...
The opening minutes were rough, as the Royals led 9-0 and then 14-6 before the Jaguars righted the ship. B-B-E went empty on the game's opening possession, and Royalton then drained a three-pointer just as their first shot clock period expired. They proceeded to expand that initial 3-0 lead with three unanswered shots in the paint to lead 9-0 with 13:30 left.
Sobiech got the Jaguars on the board with a three-pointer with 12:56 to go. Just a minute later, the Royals extended the lead to 14-6 with a three-pointer by Vannurden.
Across the next four minutes of play, the Jaguars went on a 7-0 run. With 8:11 left, Luke Illies sank two free throws to cut the deficit to 14-13. The last 8 minutes of the first half played out to nearly a draw as the Jaguars pulled into a 28-28 halftime tie.
The Royals played extremely well in crunch situations, and they went 8-of-8 at the free throw line in the second half of regulation to help overcome 2-of-10 three-point shooting. They drained 6 of 10 three-point attempts in the first half. They fall to 5-10 overall and 1-5 in the CMC.
For the game, the Jaguars out-rebounded the Royals by a 33-27 margin. Dingmann led the charge with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots.
NEXT: the Jaguars (9-6) travel to Sauk Centre for a big border battle against the Minnesota Basketball News No. 17-ranked Class 2A Mainstreeters. They are coached by B-B-E Class of 2011 graduate Kevin Kuefler. It will be an exciting night of doubleheader basketball as the girls teams tip off at 6 p.m. and the boys to follow.
Sauk Centre's team had four straight wins coming into tonight's home conference game against Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta; overall they were 12-2 and 6-2 in the West Central Conference, a half game behind No. 4-ranked (Minnesota Basketball News) West Central Area.
UPDATE: it's a little hard to believe, but I am seeing a score of this out of Sauk Centre: MA/CA 80, Sauk Centre 61. The Mainstreeters still have solid overall figures: 65.7 points of offense each game and a defensive average of 52.8 points per game.
Sauk Centre's girls' basketball team is 13-3 overall and currently on a seven-game winning streak. They were ranked No. 10 in the latest Class 2A Minnesota Basketball News state rankings.
Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on January 25:
Eden Valley-Watkins 85, Holdingford 54
...Kimball, A-C-GC, Maple Lake and Paynesville were all idle tonight.
Area boys' basketball scores on January 25:
Dawson-Boyd 64, Minneota 55 (the No. 2-ranked Blackjacks improve to 16-1 overall as they are running on jet fuel this season with a 79.2 points per game offensive average; the Vikings fall to 13-5 overall)
MACCRAY 81, Lakeview 43
Underwood 68, Sebeka 63
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 85, Renville County West 53
BOLD 72, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 38
Area girls' basketball scores on January 25:
New London-Spicer 68, Watertown-Mayer 31
Hinckley-Finlayson 65, East Central 46
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 68, Nevis 53
Royalton 60, Kimball Area 47 (a Central Minnesota Conference game)
Holdingford 72, Maple Lake 43 (a Central Minnesota Conference game)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 49, Osakis 43
Minnewaska Area 71, Litchfield 36
Two obituary listings for Jason Michels and Cassie Mithaugen
The Mass of Christian Burial for Jason Michels will be held later this morning at Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Elrosa. The full obituary for Jason is posted along with Cassie Mithaugen's obituary at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com.
Here are links to click directly to their obituaries:
Jason Michels: https://rb.gy/ctmqf0.
As was stated on a Facebook post this week, this is a dark time for our community. We are continuing to learn more about the crash that killed Cassie. It is blowing up a whole lot of naivety and innocence.
Two basketball wins and obituary listing (UPDATED)
I still have "miles to go" to get the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper ready for press. This blog post will be awfully brief. I am not touching any of my game video until tomorrow. So in a nutshell...
In a home Central Minnesota Conference game, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team was carried by a strong first half of action and survived a late comeback bid by Paynesville Area in a 48-45 win. This evened the season series at 1-1 with the Bulldogs, who defeated the Jaguars before Christmas.
At Maple Lake in a CMC game tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team got back in the win column with a 96-66 win via shoot out against the Irish. The Jaguars led 54-39 at halftime. Hayden Sobiech led all scorers with 23 points. B-B-E made 18 out of 30 free throw attempts and shot 49 percent on field goals.
And as I did in the most recent blog post tonight...
We interrupt this sports reporting to provide this important community announcement: Dear Community,
The Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa area has been experiencing a lot of tragedies lately. On Monday this week, we laid to rest the two brothers who passed from a side-by-side accident. Their mother works at B-B-E school. Two traffic accidents have occurred taking the lives of a mother and father leaving behind an orphaned son. The other accident took the life of a mother. The three-year-old was airlifted to Children’s Hospital and will survive. Another mother also lost a son.
To help the B-B-E community, Fr. Greg and I will lead a prayer service at St. Francis de Sales in Belgrade this Sunday, January 28 starting at 3 p.m. Prayers for the community and protection.
Please keep the B-B-E community in your prayers.
God Bless, Fr. Botzet, B-B-E Area Catholic churches
Updates on Wednesday night... For the funeral information and obituary on Jason Michels, you can click here: https://rb.gy/q94htv. His obituary didn't make it into the newspaper. We just had too much going on, and three obituaries were enough to nearly break the paper.
For Cassie Mithaugen, B-B-E Class of 2001, the public visitation will be on Sunday, January 28 at Johnson Funeral Home in Belgrade from 2 to 5 p.m. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that will be. Additional court documents were released by officials on Wednesday that provide more information on the man whose SUV struck and killed her on Monday. A first court hearing was held today. Everything about this case is disturbing.
Halftime in Belgrade *And an important announcement
At the halftime break, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball teamis holding a 29-16 lead after playing some pretty tough defense against Paynesville Area. With 9:36 to go, Bree Thieschafer scored in the paint to give the Jaguars a 13-6 lead.
Tonight's game is being aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood and also 106.5 FM The Train of Norway Lake-Sunburg.
With 12 minutes to go in the second half, the game is tied 31-31.
We interrupt this sports reporting to provide this important community announcement: Dear Community,
The Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa area has been experiencing a lot of tragedies lately. On Monday this week, we laid to rest the two brothers who passed from a side-by-side accident. Their mother works at B-B-E school. Two traffic accidents have occurred taking the lives of a mother and father leaving behind an orphaned son. The other accident took the life of a mother. The three-year-old was airlifted to Children’s Hospital and will survive. Another mother also lost a son.
To help the B-B-E community, Fr. Greg and I will lead a prayer service at St. Francis de Sales in Belgrade this Sunday, January 28 starting at 3 p.m. Prayers for the community and protection.
Please keep the B-B-E community in your prayers.
God Bless, Fr. Botzet, B-B-E Area Catholic churches
More to come in a new blog post. This blog post is a wrap.
I just got the funeral notice for Shawna Jacobson. I am just about as devastated as I was three years ago when I learned about Josey and Remington. Shawna's funeral listing information can be found here: https://rb.gy/u6jom6.
This coming Monday will mark the three-year anniversary of when Josey and Remington were killed out on a Nebraska highway by a drunk driver.
Early this morning, a very serious accident took place on Highway 55 just west of the Michael Stamer grain bin corner between the towns of Brooten and Belgrade. I don't know specifics, but it involved four vehicles. I actually drove towards the accident shortly after 7 a.m., but I quickly noticed the overwhelming emergency responder response and turned back home. It was too much for me to even process when I saw the flashing lights. It seemed like there were 20 separate emergency responder/law enforcement vehicles there.
I generally wait 24 hours after an accident until I post names when an accident takes place. So by tomorrow morning it's possible that other media outlets will have details posted. I like to wait. It's just better that way for the families involved.
Update:
I have read an initial Minnesota State Patrol report on the Highway 55 accident. The 9-1-1 call was placed at 6:46 a.m. Road conditions were listed as "wet" in the report.
Another update...the accident had one fatality. That's all I can share right now. I have heard that more information is going out around social media, and there is an arrest record on one party in the Highway 55 accident with at least 3 felonies being charged. I have much to digest. You can bet on this: I will go the ends of the earth to find out everything I can on the person arrested following this accident.
This was an already awful day when the double funeral of Will Dahl and Harrison Dahl takes place this afternoon at Peace Lutheran church in New London. I don't know what is happening out there. The road ways are just so completely dangerous here in January of 2024. I'm just numb from all this. It's too much. It has to stop.
I just received an obituary for Jason Michels, who attended school in Belgrade and B-B-E high schools. He was raised as part of the B-B-E Class of 1995. It is a difficult time for the Michels family. His mom, Jan, is a truly wonderful person. Some of you may remember her from her bus driving days in Belgrade and B-B-E. We love her dearly. Jan's grandson Braeden was a key part of the 2023 Jaguar football team. Please include the Michels family in your prayers.
More to come later after the Brooten city council meeting.
**Update on the Highway 55 fatality...
You can click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website to read more about the Highway 55 fatality that occurred this morning. This is a truly horrendous tragedy that took place exactly when productive adults were getting ready to go to work. It is scary. I don't know what is happening, but I do not like it. LINK: https://rb.gy/7vntkr. I PROMISE YOU: YOU WILL BE ABSOLUTELY SICKENED when you read about him.
In case you were not keeping track...here's the current list of former B-B-E students, most of whom I went to school with, who died in the past week...they will all have obituaries in either this or next week's newspaper:
1. Mike Ward
2. Shawna Jacobson
3. Jason Michels
4. Cassie Mithaugen (B-B-E Class of 2001)
When you go to bed tonight, and when you wake up in the morning, please, PLEASE pray for our local first responders. This includes our local fire department members from Sedan, Belgrade, Brooten and Elrosa...along with a long list of other first responders plus our Glacial Ridge Ambulance personnel. The work they do saves lives again and again. In the case of the Highway 55 accident, first responders transported a three-year old child to receive medical care. I'll have more on that in the upcoming newspaper issue. The first responders to this accident are HEROES.
And finally...please pray that the grim reaper lays off of us. Enough is enough!
Coach Moscho talks to his team following their state quarterfinal win over Mayer Lutheran on November 10, 2023 at St. Cloud Apollo high school's Michie Field.
This is incredible and exciting news to share! B-B-E has their third State-level Coach of the Year award.
The Minnesota State High School League coaches committee recently named their 2023 Coach of the Year awards by class. Head coach Chris Moscho of B-B-E, who just completed his 14th season leading the B-B-E Jaguar football program, was named Class 1A Coach of the Year. The Jaguars had a banner season on the gridiron with an 11-1 final record plus district and section championships. His first season as head coach at B-B-E was in 2010. Prior to that, he was defensive coordinator for the 2008 and 2009 Jaguar teams under former head coach Mike Richards. Moscho, a 2002 Melrose high school graduate, is a 4th/5th grade classroom teacher at B-B-E elementary, where he was hired in 2008.
In Class 2A, Adam Tri of Eden Valley-Watkins was Coach of the Year. In 9-man football, Shawn Klimek of Nevis was Coach of the Year.
Also at B-B-E, Hall of Fame Coach Dave Montbriand was named Class 1A Coach of the Year during his tenure. He was head coach from 1990 through 2005 and then 2008 through 2014. Montbriand's successor, Chris Anderson, was named Class 1A Coach of the Year after the 2022 season.
In the past week, the grim reaper has claimed two adults who were once part of the B-B-E high school community.
On Tuesday this week (January 16), Mike Ward passed away after a lengthy illness going back to this past summer. He had a blood-related disease that ultimately took his odds of survival, and he moved to a nursing home last fall for end-of-life care.
Ward was part of B-B-E high school as a member of the Class of 1995. He was a student at Brooten elementary school in the 1980s just a year above my grade. More recently, he was a real estate agent in central Minnesota who overcame a serious motorcycle accident in 2006 that landed him in a wheelchair. Through his struggles, he never lost his zest for life. Quite simply: to know Mike was to love Mike! He was one of a kind.
On Friday, January 19, Class of 2011 graduate Shawna Jacobson was killed near St. Bonifacious in a car-semi accident. You can read more about her and the accident by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://rb.gy/04iyp6. This article has gone completely viral. Within a span of three hours, it received over 1,600 views on Saturday night.
All of this has weighed heavily on me. May God bless their memories, and I ask that we all pray for their families. They have a difficult road ahead.
Publisher's note: in the upcoming Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper issue, we wish to publish a short number of special memories from Shawna's childhood in Brooten and B-B-E schools, especially from her high school peers and teammates. Only 3 or 4 would likely be printed, and nothing would be published without permission. Her family is hurting, and this would be a small but kind gesture to help ease their pain. Please email the publisher if you are interested: lifeinbonanzavalley@gmail.com.
Deja vu: girls' basketball falters in final stretch (VIDEO)...and another tragic death
In a rivalry Central Minnesota Conference game on the home floor, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team battled through a see-saw game full of shifting momentum from start to finish against Royalton. After trailing 34-33 at halftime, the Jaguars later built a 53-47 lead. The Royals went on an 11-2 run to gain control in the closing minutes.
Final score: Royalton 64, B-B-E 62. This marks the third straight game between B-B-E and Royalton that resulted in a final score with a difference of one possession. It has developed into quite the rivalry.
*Here's a video from the first half tonight:
At New London-Spicer, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team took second place with 199.5 points compared to the host Wildcats, who won the tournament with 209.5 points. In a distant third place was Pipestone Area with 148.5 points. The full stretch of details from the invitational will be published in the January 25 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper.
On Tuesday this week at Eden Valley, the Jaguars went 3-0 while also earning another Central Minnesota Conference dual win. Against Osakis, the Jaguars won 46-15. In the next dual, the Jaguars won 42-12 over the host EV-W Eagles. Their third win of the evening was by a 48-24 score against Class 2A LeSueur-Henderson.
Tragedy strikes hard...
Just tonight, following the basketball game, I learned the most awful, tragic news that a former Jaguar student-athlete was killed in a car-semi accident in the Twin Cities. Shawna Jacobson, a 2011 B-B-E graduate, was killed with her boyfriend when their car was hit in a head-on crash with a semi truck. I don't have any other details, but the couple leaves behind a young son who is now orphaned.
Shawna Jacobson was a member of the volleyball, dance, basketball and fastpitch programs at B-B-E. When Jacobson was a 9th grader, her C-squad volleyball team finished 20-0 in the fall of 2007. They were coached by B-B-E Class of 2006 graduate Holli (Thompson) Breitbach. As a sophomore, she was a member of the JV volleyball team during the 2008 season when the Jaguars placed fourth at the state tournament. She played basketball through her sophomore season and was on the JV team in 2008-2009 under JV coach Katy Westrom (who remembers Ms. Westrom!). Jacobson had a vibrant, outgoing personality and a smile for everyone. She was super kind and friendly. It was an exciting time for her when she moved back to her hometown of Brooten last year; she was a proud homeowner who purchased a home on the golf course. This is a devastating loss for our community and the Class of 2011. I think this is the first death in that class.
Jacobson was a cousin to elementary principal Josie Dingmann and high school English teacher Tessa Gregory. She was a distant cousin of mine, as well: we both shared a great-great-great grandma, a woman who I featured in my newspaper column this week (Ane Boraas of Madison, MN). Jacobson had one pair of grandparents who still live in Brooten: Harold and Harriet Jacobson. Her father was Mike, a graduate of Brooten high school in the early 1980s. Mike is one of our neighbors in Brooten. We are in mourning over this tragic loss of life of a young woman in the prime of her life.
That's all I've got right now. These are sad times.
At the New London-Spicer invitational, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team had a small hold on first place going into the finals tonight. They had 145.5 points compared to 139.5 points for the host Wildcats, who were in second place.
However, as the finals got underway, the Wildcats pulled in front with 179.5 points compared to B-B-E's 163.5 points.
In Belgrade, the girls' basketball team is hosting Royalton in a Central Minnesota Conference game. The JV team hosted Melrose in the preliminary game, and the Jaguars won 52-15.
In the opening minutes of the first half, the Royals built a brief 17-2 lead before the Jaguars clawed their way back to make a game of it. At halftime, the Royals held a 34-33 lead. **Updates/final scores in a new blog post!
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team rained down three-pointers against a hot-shooting Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City team tonight. A whopping 13 three-pointers were not enough, however, as the Jaguars suffered an 82-70 loss in Central Minnesota Conference play.
Both teams shot the ball well in the paint, but the Falcons were one step quicker at times and ultimately shot 57 percent on their two-point attempts.
Here's a video from the first half that starts with about 4:35 to go:
With 4 1/2 minutes to go, the Jaguars trailed 32-31. They had trailed 32-28, but a three-point play by Jordan Herickhoff with 4:46 drew them within one point. The Jaguars later earned their first lead of the game, 33-32, when Luke Dingmann sank two free throws with 4 minutes left. Dingmann's three-pointer with 3:20 to go lifted them in front 36-35. Josh Walstrom followed with a three-pointer with 2:48 left and a 39-35 lead.
After holding a 45-39 halftime lead, the Jaguars maintained control of the game across the first 8 minutes of the second half. With 9:55 left, Hayden Sobiech drained two free throws for a 64-60 lead. Across the next 5 1/2 minutes, though, the Falcons went on a 10-1 run with five field goals all coming in the paint. They scored with 4:26 left to pull ahead 70-65.
**Here's a video from the second half tonight starting with 6:37 left and the score tied at 64-64!
The Jaguars were within range, down 72-68, going into the final 3 minutes of play. A-C-GC struck with a huge three-pointer with 2:45 left to make it a three-possession game with a 75-68 lead. With 100 seconds left, they extended that to 77-68 with a shot in the paint.
Leading the Jaguars were Hayden Sobiech and Kaden DeRoo, who each had 20 points. Luke Illies had 8 points and 11 rebounds, while Luke Dingmann had 8 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists.
The Jaguars were trying to move above .500 in the CMC, but they are now 2-3 in the league and 7-6 overall. In the CMC, they are currently tied for fourth place with Holdingford, who played at neighboring rival Albany and took an 85-50 non-conference loss.
The Falcons improve to 7-6 overall and 4-2 in the CMC, good for third place alone behind conference unbeatens Paynesville Area and Eden Valley-Watkins. They are both 5-0 each in the CMC. A-C-GC is currently ranked No. 8 in the 11-team Sub-Section 2A-North.
Tomorrow is a big day for our B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team, as they travel the short road south to New London-Spicer high school. At 3:30 p.m., the 10-team Wildcats invitational gets underway with Albany, Eden Valley-Watkins, Glencoe-Silver Lake, Kimball Area, Ortonville, Pierz, Pipestone Area and Sartell-St. Stephen.. **It's important to note that NL-S does not accept cash for their gate tickets. I don't have any other details, but I know their ticket sales are online only. I have no further comment on that, but the ticket sales link is: https://www.nls.k12.mn.us/domain/348.
Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on January 18:
Eden Valley-Watkins 84, Maple Lake 33
Paynesville Area 73, Kimball Area 64
Area boys' basketball scores on January 18:
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 72, New London-Spicer 66
Parkers Prairie 60, Ashby 58
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 66, Breckenridge 57
Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 77, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 71
Central MN Christian 65, Minneota 52
Ortonville 64, Yellow Medicine East 52
Henning 74, Bertha-Hewitt 38
A loose cat was found in western Brooten earlier today. It apparently hitched a ride to main street. The city clerk notified me today about it. So if anyone is missing a cat with this description: grey and white, medium-length hair...contact city hall at 320-346-2524.
Tonight the boys' basketball team hosts Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in a conference game. And I have the honor of playing with the B-B-E Pep Band once again! I haven't played my trumpet in any serious fashion since the state quarterfinal football game in St. Cloud back on November 10.
**At halftime, the Jaguars are ahead 45 to 39 over the Falcons.
**With six and a half minutes to go, the Falcons have a 66 to 64 lead.
**With 2:45 to go, the Falcons are ahead 75 to 68.
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team won a barn burner tonight in a home border battle. In front of a packed crowd of Jaguar and Fighting Saints fans, they utilized some hot outside shooting while defeating Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 70-67. Overall, B-B-E shot 49 percent from the floor while making 7 of 18 three-point shots. The Jaguars (7-5) have a short turnaround as they host Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City this week Thursday in a Central Minnesota Conference game.
K-M-S, who has 13 seniors on its roster, fell to 8-5 overall. Two of those 13 seniors are still out with football-related injuries from last fall: Hunter Kallstrom and Malaki Lee.
Also in a home game tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team defeated Maple Lake 70-23 in a CMC game to improve to 9-6 overall. This is their fourth straight win and the first of a three-game homestand. Next is a home game this Friday against a very good Royalton team.
For B-B-E, sophomore Tiffany Dingmann had a career high 12 points off the bench. Leading the team was junior Bree Thieschafer with 14 points. Also in double figures was Brooklyn Fischer with 13 points. Overall, the Jaguars collected 24 steals against an undermanned Irish team.
Here's a video from the first half of the boys' basketball game tonight:
It was a run-and-gun style game and highly entertaining for the fans The game's first 13 minutes featured multiple lead changes. That video starts with about 10:30 left in the first half and K-M-S holding an 18-17 lead.
Later in the evening, I haven't received any wrestling results out of Eden Valley.
Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on January 16:
Holdingford 50, Kimball Area 34
Paynesville Area 55, Eden Valley-Watkins 39
Royalton 58, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 41
Area boys' basketball scores on January 16:
Eden Valley-Watkins 84, Kimball Area 60 (this was a CMC game)
Browerville 90, St. John's Prep 53
Melrose Area 70, Holdingford 46
Parkers Prairie 71, Rothsay 41
Sauk Centre 54, West Central Area 50 (a huge West Central Conference win for Coach Kevin Kuefler's Mainstreeters in Barrett)
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 57, Underwood 47
Double duty for home action (one game on the radio)
Tonight the boys' basketball teams hosts Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in a non-conference border battle. Also tonight, the girls' basketball team hosts Maple Lake in a Central Minnesota Conference game. The wrestlers are at Eden Valley for a quadrangular.
Updates...
At the boys' basketball game, the Jaguars and Fighting Saints traded the lead countless times in a fast-paced game. DeAndre Holloway's paint shot with 5:05 left gave K-M-S their last lead of the half at 30-29. At halftime, the Jaguars are leading K-M-S 43-37. Luke Dingmann with 12 points and Taylor Pieper with 11 points are leading the Jaguars. Pieper came alive with three late three-pointers to help bolster B-B-E's attack.
At halftime in Belgrade, the girls' basketball team has a 44-10 lead over the Irish.
With under 11 minutes to go against K-M-S, the boys' basketball team has a 55-44 lead. Further updates and final scores in a new blog post!!!
I haven't gotten around to glancing at the thermometers we have around our properties, but I know it's cold out! I also haven't caught up to what churches have cancelled their worship services. West Lake Johanna Lutheran is one of them, however, so here I am late in the morning sitting in my home office instead of being out in Gilchrist Township at my usual spot in the church balcony.
Here's a video featuring last week's service on January 7 at West Lake Johanna:
The lessons, Holy Gospel and sermon start at about the 9:30 mark in the video. Barry Bouwman provided the reading of the lessons.
Recently, the forecast called for a high of 9 below zero today for the Bonanza Valley area. Currently at our house, the two humidifiers we have running on the main level are not keeping up. I just saw that the humidity rate is down to 23 percent. Generally we keep it between 30 and 40 percent to stay comfortable and to maximize our personal health. Dry air is the enemy of humans in the winter time! This is common knowledge...although in today's world, we are seeing less and less common knowledge existing in society.
We keep our home's furnace thermostat set to keep the house between 65 and 66 degrees most of the time. With bitter cold temperatures, we turn that down to 64-65 degrees to save wear-and-tear on our natural gas furnace, which was installed in 2016. You can't be in our house for extended periods of time without wearing slippers on your feet. You have to have long sleeves. Walking around in a T-shirt in the winter is not part of our lifestyle. If you sit and watch TV, you're likely doing so under a blanket. We do this mostly to save money. It also builds character, in my opinion! I do not recommend these furnace settings if you have very young children, babies or are elderly.
How warm do you keep your house in the winter?
Weather update: as of 11:13 this morning, the temperature outside is 11 below zero. We're supposed to get "up" to 7 below zero as a high today. If you look at the extended forecast, we aren't going to get what I call "appreciable warmth" until January 21! On that day, they have a high of 21 degrees in the forecast.
*Here's a video from the end of last Tuesday's triangular, during which the Jaguars won two matches:
In the latest Guillotine poll, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team climbed one spot to No. 2 in Class 1A. They are in the midst of a very special season. If you're up for some light traveling this coming week, I encourage you to cheer them on next Tuesday or Friday...on Tuesday, January 16, the Jaguars compete in a quadrangular in Eden Valley starting at 5 p.m. Three days later, on Friday, January 19, they travel south to New London-Spicer for a tournament that starts at 3:30 p.m.
*Here's the last 3 minutes or so of the Eden Valley-Watkins game on January 5:
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is slowly moving above .500 and has an 8-6 overall record with about 5 weeks left in the regular season. They host Maple Lake on Tuesday, January 16 in their next game. That marks the beginning of a three-game homestand that also has Royalton coming to town on January 19 and then Paynesville Area on January 23.
On Friday, an 80-year old man drove his truck onto Mille Lacs Lake near Isle and died. His body was found floating at the hole where his truck went through, as he was wearing a flotation device. I don't know what good that is if you go in the lake, because unless you're pulled out immediately, you're going to die. If nothing else, it allows your body to be quickly recovered. The ice in that location was only 6 inches thick. The ice needs to be 13 to 17 inches thick to support most cars and trucks! Good grief. I hope no one in our area is driving a car or truck out on a lake right now.
Let's shift gears a little bit to some college basketball news updates...
Here's a video from December 29 in Brainerd featuring Tiyana Schwinghammer and her college basketball team...
I haven't caught up yet with how our local college basketball players have been doing lately. The last I was able to was a couple weeks ago. I will be able to do that today and update this blog post.
Tiyana Schwinghammer's Northland Pioneers women's basketball team of Thief River Falls has gone 2-1 so far in January after they beat then No. 4-ranked Riverland College 73-49 in that game on December 29. On January 3, the Pioneers lost 94-50 to North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton. They've won two straight since then with a 96-32 win over Vermilion Community College on January 6 and then 75-64 over Rainy River College last night at Thief River Falls. During the win over Vermilion, Schwinghammer recorded her sixth double-double of her freshman season with 15 points and 15 rebounds. In last night's win over Rainy River, Schwinghammer earned her seventh double-double of her career with 17 points and 13 rebounds as her team improved to 12-4 overall and 2-0 in the Minnesota Community Athletic College's North Division.
In the latest NJCAA Division III national rankings, the Northland Technical and Community College Pioneers women's basketball team is ranked No. 3. It is their first top-15 ranking during the 2023-24 season.
Schwinghammer's former Jaguar teammate Abby Berge is having an outstanding season as a true freshman at Minnesota State University-Moorhead, where her NCAA Division II Dragons women's basketball team has climbed to 6-4 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. In last night's 75-42 win over the University of Sioux Falls, Berge had 10 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes of reserve action. She made 6 of 7 shots at the free throw line. On Friday against visiting Southwest Minnesota State University of Marshall, the Dragons lost 74-61 after a rough first half. Berge had a monster game off the bench, though, with 26 minutes of action during which she earned a double-double of 15 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. This was her second double-double of her college career.
MSU-Moorhead's women's basketball team currently has a 6-9 overall record, but they are 3-1 so far in January.
Monday, January 15 update: it is damn cold outside! I walked to my office once today, and the walk back home was pure hell. The northwest wind was raw. I had almost my entire face covered, but the wind ripped straight through my scarf and head coverings. I hope we all make wise decisions as we venture outside and do our traveling today and the rest of this week!
Eagles stay atop CMC, wrestlers win another invite title (VIDEOS added)
The Eden Valley-Watkins Eagles showed why they are favorites in winning the Central Minnesota Conference title after they clipped our B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team 82-46 tonight in Eden Valley. The Eagles, who were ranked No. 7 in the latest Minnesota Basketball News state rankings, led 55-27 at halftime. Their defense limited the Jaguars to just 25 percent (17-of-66) field goal shooting. Hayden Sobiech was the lone Jaguar to score in double figures; the junior sharpshooter had 18 points plus 4 rebounds.
At Minnewaska Area, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team dominated a 10-team invitational and won by a 204.5 points to 159 points margin over second-place and No. 10-ranked (Class 2A) Little Falls/Swanville/Pillager. The Jaguars moved up one spot to No. 2 in the most recent Guillotine state rankings. Scott West, who is ranked No. 6 in Class 2A, finished in third place with 152 points.
Coming up: the B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes dance team travels to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City tomorrow (Saturday) for an invitational that starts at 11 a.m. in Grove City. Beyond that, there is no varsity action on Monday. On Tuesday, January 16, there's a long list of sports events taking place...too long to get into now.
That's likely all I've got to post tonight. We are "wheels up" at 6:45 a.m. sharp tomorrow morning for youth basketball action at Eden Valley.
On to Saturday, January 13...
We have high winds plus a high temperature that appears to be 7 below zero for Saturday afternoon. I spent a little time at the new Jenniges Meats retail store in Brooten today, and it was such a joy to see what they have to offer! They had a "soft open" yesterday and today, and they open again on Monday at 8 a.m. to the public. We got a pack of their seasoned beef sticks, and I highly recommend you get yourself a pack too!
Stay safe out there this weekend. This afternoon we had visibility troubles right in town in Brooten.
Added on Saturday...here's a video from the end of the wrestling triangular held on Tuesday:
*Here's the post-dual huddle that night:
The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website has been updated...here's that link: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. You can read up on the details of the Belgrade library winter reading program! Right now I just need to get caught up with Robotics and Speech and get their coverage rolling.
I read today that a 16-year old boy from Rice was snowmobiling on a lake in Benton County yesterday (Friday) when it went through the ice. Thankfully, he survived and was treated for hypothermia at CentraCare in St. Cloud. He is lucky to be alive. I see no good reason that one would put a snowmobile on a lake right now. I have heard that ice depths range from 2 to 4 inches on area lakes.
Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on January 12:
Paynesville Area 67, Royalton 54
Kimball Area 78, Maple Lake 54 (This game was played on Thursday)
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 79, Holdingford 75
Area boys' basketball scores on January 12:
Nevis 72, Browerville 53
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 78, Canby 67
Glencoe-Silver Lake 65, New London-Spicer 64
Rockford Area 48, Litchfield 32
Melrose Area 88, Benson 38
Lac qui Parle Valley 77, Yellow Medicine East 53
Albany 78, St. Cloud Cathedral 46
Area girls' basketball scores on January 12:
Nevis 57, Greenway 46
Osakis 50, Browerville 34
Brandon-Evansville 62, Ashby 24
Swanville 60, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 39
West Central Area 62, Melrose Area 38
9 Jaguars score in road win at ACGC...and another Sports Show! (VIDEO)
What a night! What a game! What a huge win!
Here's my Winter Sports show hot off the recording reel:
In Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team had nine players score in a 46-40 win against the Falcons. The game had a wild final stretch. The Falcons, badly wanting to defeat the visiting Jaguars, banked a three-pointer with under 2 minutes to go to regain the lead. The Jaguars played a huge game in the final 90 seconds to claim the six-point win.
A brutal first half played out to draw with a 19-19 score. For the game, the Jaguars shot just 27 percent from the floor. They were sent to the free throw line 32 times and made 18, enough to get them on the winning side. B-B-E launched 22 three-point attempts but made just two. Brooklyn Fischer score 17 points to lead the team. Bree Thieschafer had 9 points with 8 rebounds.
Next: the Jaguars (8-6, 4-2) host Maple Lake next Tuesday, January 16. The Falcons fall to 7-4 overall and 2-3 in the CMC.
Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on January 11:
Eden Valley-Watkins 52, Maple Lake 25
Kimball Area 66, Paynesville Area 40
Holdingford 75, Royalton 47
**A warning for city residents...you should check the temperature of your tap water. I'm afraid we're in the process of many homes seeing their water lines freeze up. It seemed like we came close to a freeze up in our house in Brooten. You likely need to run the water when you leave your home for any amount of time.
More to come on Friday morning with another update to this blog post.
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team resumed Central Minnesota Conference action tonight with a tough road game at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City tonight.
The Falcons entered the game with a 7-3 record, while the Jaguars are 7-6 overall.
Here's a video from the second half of Monday's home game against Litchfield:
A final score out of A-C-GC will be posted in a new blog post***
Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on January 9 (Tuesday this week):
Paynesville Area 68, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 47
Royalton 84, Maple Lake 33
Area boys' basketball scores on January 9 (Tuesday this week):
Eden Valley-Watkins 61, Litchfield 50
Melrose Area 66, Minnewaska Area 43
West Central Area 86, Benson 53
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 77, Parkers Prairie 37
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 84, Ortonville 50
Ashby 70, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 57
Border West 66, Battle Lake 39
Montevideo 64, Sauk Centre 60
Brandon-Evansville 79, Underwood 74
Double duty tonight! And results feature THREE wins! (VIDEO)
This is a super busy night! It has been a day to forget with tragic news...more on that later. The wrestling and boys' basketball teams both host tonight.
The home wrestling triangular started at 5 p.m. I don't have any information yet from Belgrade. We'll see how the night plays out.
Update out of the Norway Lake Township accident...the oldest boy who was involved in the truck-UTV accident on Sunday has passed away. Will Dahl, a sophomore at New London-Spicer high school, was taken off of life support earlier today. We must all pray for the Dahl family as they endure this monumental loss. At tonight's boys' basketball game, a moment of silence was held prior to the playing of the National Anthem in honor of the Dahls. Lara Dahl is B-B-E's business manager.
*Here's a video featuring that moment of silence tonight:
Varsity event outcomes tonight...three wins!
While I was not part of the first win of the night, we had three wins in Jaguar Country in key match ups. For the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team, they hosted two Section 5A opponents and came away with big wins: 42-26 against Benson and 40-21 against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. Next for the No. 3-ranked Jaguars (7-1) is the 10-team Minnewaska Area Invitational this Friday starting at 4 p.m.
Also in a home event, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team picked up a hard-fought 74-65 win against Holdingford in a Central Minnesota Conference game. The Jaguars led 30-24 at halftime and were led by 26 points from Luke Dingmann, 17 points from Hayden Sobiech and 15 points from Luke Illies. B-B-E has now won four straight and takes a 6-4 record into what will be a very tall task: a road game at Eden Valley-Watkins on Friday. The Eagles (8-1) were ranked No. 7 in Class 2A in the latest Minnesota Basketball News state rankings.
Holdingford, who has now lost three straight, falls to 3-7 overall (1-2 CMC). They were paced by freshman sensation Dawson Hofer, who poured in 25 points on red-hot 11-of-19 field goal shooting plus 7 rebounds, 3 assist and 2 steals.
Today we have learned of very tough news out of Norway Lake Township, where a serious pickup-UTV accident has put three middle school/high school aged boys into intensive care. The boys, who are ages 10, 11 and 15, were riding in the UTV when it was struck by a Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 on Highway 9 east of Sunburg on Sunday. The initial 911 call from the accident was placed at 3:49 p.m. I can report that the road conditions were snowy and icy, although there is no clarity on the initial circumstances of the crash, which remains under investigation by the Minnesota State Patrol. The UTV that the boys were in was southbound on 95th Street Northwest, while the pickup was eastbound on Highway 9.
This news is supremely tragic for B-B-E as the boys are all siblings and are residents of Norway Lake Township. They are the children of Lara Dahl, who is B-B-E's business manager based at the high school. The oldest is a super involved, warm-hearted student at NL-S senior high school. This has hit far too close to home in more ways than one. The news is absolutely tragic, regardless of the fate of the three boys. I grew up just a couple miles east of the accident site. The Dahl family needs our prayers in the most urgent way. While all employees of B-B-E are important, of course, I will go out on a limb and say that Lara is a sharp, caring and kind member of the B-B-E administrative staff who works mostly behind the scenes to keep the school running at a high level. Right now none of that matters, as all that we need to pray for is for her three sons to pull through this tragic accident. Every mom on earth needs her children. I pray with every fiber in my being that they pull through this. They are at Children's Hospital in the Twin Cities.
For the accident that took place on December 20 north of Elrosa that has Kyle Lieser in the hospital, I don't have good news to report other than that Lieser remains on life support in the ICU. He is a 2008 B-B-E graduate and a father of two, and a new baby is on the way in his family. It is one of the most tragic accidents I have heard of in my life.
It is a horrific experience to rush to an emergency room at a hospital where a loved one is being delivered by ambulance. I lived through that on December 22 when my wife was rushed from Glenwood to St. Cloud while trying to survive the threat of a deadly blood clot. You feel like you are living in a movie. Everything around you seems surreal, and life outside of what is in front of you - your loved one fighting for their life - all but ceases altogether.
Some good sports news to report...
Tonight on the home court, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team played an absolutely terrific game and defeated Litchfield 80-51 while scoring a season high and moving above .500 to 7-6 overall. This second straight win helps set them up for a very tough road game, as the Jaguars now prepare for a trip south to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City high school (in Grove City) on Thursday.
The Jaguars had four players in double figures, and they shot 47 percent from the field with 10 three pointers.
Litchfield, which had just won two of their past three games, falls to 3-8 overall with the loss. They compete in the rugged Wright County West Conference and also in Section 3AA.
That's all for now. Please pray for the Kyle Lieser family and the Lara Dahl family. It is heartbreaking in immeasurable ways. Also, please hug your children and your spouse and anyone else you love dearly. Life is far too short, and it is always precious.
Other basketball news and area scores...
On Saturday at the Target Center, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City's girls' basketball team continued their outstanding season as they defeated Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 45-44. Last season, a very young Falcons team went 5-20, but they showed signs of improvement all season long. Every area team knew they would be much improved this season, and they certainly have been. K-M-S is another team that looks to have a banner season, so that was a marquee win for the Falcons. The Falcons are 7-3 going into their home game this Thursday against our Jaguars. The Fighting Saints drop to 8-4 overall.
Area girls' basketball scores on January 8:
Annandale 76, Foley 68
Ogilvie 90, Barnum 69 (Quite a shootout between Section 5A teams...Barnum lost to our Jaguars in the section finals last year)
And it all begins today, and it basically will not let up until the winter sports seasons have all concluded! The winter sports and winter events marathon begins tonight, when the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team hosts Litchfield in a non-conference game. We also have the Brooten city council and B-B-E school board both meeting tonight starting at 7 p.m. The school board meeting is in Brooten at the elementary library. You can see the city council agenda at my editor's blog: Life In the Bonanza Valley.
Here's a couple videos I haven't shared yet.
This video features action from the 2nd half at St. Cloud Apollo on New Year's Eve weekend...the Jaguars were facing Mountain Iron-Buhl:
This video features second half action at Eden Valley this past Friday night:
The girls' basketball team led 52-32 when this video clip began recording...and they ultimately won by over 30 points! Tonight's a huge game, even though it's a non-conference game, as the Jaguars look to climb above the .500 mark.
And it's snowing! Finally it is definitely looking and feeling like winter...and January!
This blog post was updated on Saturday night with basketball scores from Thursday and Friday night...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball teamplayed an outstanding game tonight against visiting state-ranked Upsala in a non-conference game. After leading 34-23 at halftime, the Jaguars held the Cardinals 16 points below their scoring average in a 62-51 win. B-B-E's next boys' basketball game is next Tuesday, January 9 at home against Holdingford. That game will be aired on 106.5 FM The Train of Norway Lake-Sunburg.
In their win over Upsala tonight, the boys' basketball team shot 37 percent from the floor and were led by three players in double figures: Luke Dingmann with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Luke Illies with 15 points and 8 rebounds and Hayden Sobiech with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Getting two players into a double-double is huge! Jordan Herickhoff and Kaden DeRoo each had 7 points, and rounding out the scoring was Josh Walstrom with three points.
**This is exciting...the boys' basketball team has climbed to No. 3 in the Sub-Section 6A-South standings from No. 4. Slipping one spot to No. 4 is Hancock, who has won two straight but played lesser opponents than the last three opponents that B-B-E has defeated.
In a Central Minnesota Conference game where they badly needed a win, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team got back in the win column while snapping a five-game skid as they defeated host Eden Valley-Watkins 77-41. This squares their record at 6-6 overall going into next Monday's non-conference home game against Litchfield.
Against EV-W, scoring in double figures were Brooklyn Fischer (16), Kacey Fischer (15) and Anna Jaeger (13). Faith Radermacher had her best game this season with 9 points and 4 steals with a perfect 4-of-4 mark at the free throw line. For the game, the Jaguars shot 50 percent from the floor and were 18-of-23 (78 percent) at the line. A big key to the win were 7 successful three-point shots on 20 attempts.
I'll be circling back to wrestling later tonight and getting more complete information posted here. The wrestling team hosts a key triangular on Tuesday next week in Belgrade with Benson and Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg coming to town. They are both Section 5A opponents. I also have to share that Maximus Hanson earned the Most Valuable Wrestler award at tonight's invitational. He won the 172-pound title with three first-period falls to his credit. As a defending state champion from last season, he is once again on a mission!!! Coming out of tonight, his record this season is 22-0. He has verbally committed to wrestle at No. 1-ranked Division III Augsburg College of Minneapolis.
Here's Tanner Viessman winning at 145 pounds today...and the start of Brett DeRoo's match:
A few of the upper weights had terrific matches. It was a fun night of wrestling as the Jaguars got back into action after a long layoff. Their previous competition was on December 21. I managed to pull of watching the entire finals round of the invitational and make it to Eden Valley for the majority of the girls' basketball game. I arrived with about 8 minutes left in the first half and the Jaguars ahead 29-15. Looking at their schedule, it doesn't appear that I'll see them play again until January 16.
Here's a video from the 1st half of the MI-B game on Saturday, December 30:
I didn't get much updated here on Friday night, I ended up enjoying time at Lucky Shots Bowling Alley with a big crew of Jaguar fans! That was fun. Our community is extremely fortunate to have this bowling alley here in town!
Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on January 5:
Royalton 60, Paynesville Area 53
Holdingford 56, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 45
Kimball Area 68, Maple Lake 23
Area girls' basketball scores on January 5:
Minnewaska Area 53, West Central Area 47
Sauk Centre 41, BOLD 39
Browerville 55, Upsala 51
Montevideo 39, Lac qui Parle Valley 38
Osakis 44, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 27
Cass Lake-Bena 79, Pine River-Backus 53
Area boys' basketball scores on January 5:
New London-Spicer 66, Rockford Area 54
Paynesville Area 81, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 39
Melrose Area 60, Montevideo 59
Sauk Centre 73, BOLD 57
Bertha-Hewitt 63, Ashby 58
Hutchinson 68, Willmar 39
MACCRAY 82, Yellow Medicine East 34
Area boys' basketball scores on January 4:
Brandon-Evansville 62, Rothsay 57
Osakis 70, Melrose Area 53
Underwood 71, Battle Lake 47
Ashby 67, Border West 56
Annandale 64, Albany 43
Hancock 65, Parkers Prairie 55
Benson 58, Renville County West
