Jaguars falter down the stretch (VIDEOS)

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