This week we have just one home varsity event, and the same follows next week as well. For Jaguar Country, there are only two home events on the docket for our winter sports season. While spring is just around the corner, we hope to have a few more weeks of winter ahead of us!
Coming this week...
Wednesday: we can look forward to pep fest activities in support of our B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team, as they prepare for the team state tournament that takes place on Thursday in St. Paul. On Monday, pep fest details should be available to share.
Thursday: state wrestling, a home girls' basketball playoff game plus the boys' basketball travels to Royalton to conclude the Central Minnesota Conference schedule.
Friday: the individual state wrestling tournament begins, and the boys' basketball team travels to Hancock to wrap up the regular season.
Saturday: the individual state wrestling tournament concludes at Xcel Energy Center, and the Sub-Section 5A-East girls' basketball semifinal games will be held in Hinckley.
*Here's a video that's over one month old...featuring the final stretch (last 30 seconds) of the girls' basketball border battle on the home court against Paynesville Area...
The girls' basketball team prevailed 48-45 that night to earn a series split with the Bulldogs in the Central Minnesota Conference. Paynesville Area (15-12 overall) finished 7-7 in the CMC to take fourth place alone. They defeated visiting Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 52-44 yesterday in the Sub-Section 3AA-North quarterfinals. This earns them a match up with state-ranked New London-Spicer in the semifinals next week.
Tonight I'm busy trying to catch up on the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website's SmugMug photo gallery. I'm still uploading photo galleries from January events. The winter sports folder can be found by clicking here: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/B-B-E-Winter-Sports-23-24. Based on some rough estimates after reviewing my camera chips, I'm roughly 2,000 photos behind on the galleries from January and February. Yikes!! I'm currently caught up through January 16...which means I'm over 5 weeks behind.
I have the B-B-E high school Sno-Daze coronation photos uploaded finally; that SmugMug album can be found by clicking here: https://rb.gy/798y7e.
In college basketball news...
Congratulations to Tiyana Schwinghammer and her Northland Technical and Community College Pioneers women's basketball team, as they earned the Minnesota Community Athletic College (MCAC) North division regular season title on Saturday with a 66-59 win against visiting Central Lakes College. The CLC Raiders were just one game out of first place in the MCAC-North, but the win by the Pioneers gave them sole possession of the title. Northland (21-4) opens Region XIIIB action as the No. 1 seed on Saturday, March 2 in Coon Rapids with a 2 p.m. tip-off against No. 4-seeded Minnesota State Community and Technical College of Fergus Falls.
Also! Congratulations to Ashton Dingmann and his Gustavus Adolphus Gusties men's basketball team as they are the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) playoff champions after they defeated Hamline University in a barn burner 72-71 on Saturday. The win gives them the MIAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III national tournament. The NCAA's first round for Division III men's basketball is on Friday, March 1. Other details won't be announced until tomorrow. The Gusties are 18-10 overall, and this is their first MIAC playoff title since 2005. Hamline, which trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, whittled the gap to just one point with 1:07 on the clock. The Gusties missed four field goal attempts in the final minute, and the Pipers had possession with 7 seconds to go. A potential buzzer-beating game winner did not fall, and the Gusties survived the Pipers' comeback bid to advance to nationals for the first time since 2012. Fun fact: attendance at Gustavus topped 3,000 at Gus Young Arena, making for a packed house and an incredible atmosphere.
Also! Congratulations to Abby Berge and her MSU-Moorhead Dragons women's basketball team after they won their regular season finale in Marshall against Southwest State University by a 70-66 score. The Dragons outscored the Mustangs 21-15 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win. MSU-Moorhead (12-15 overall) finished 12-10 in the regular season in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and earned a home playoff game in the process as the No. 8 seed in a 12-team bracket. They host No. 9-seeded Winona State University on Wednesday, February 28 at 6 p.m. at Nemzek Fieldhouse. The SSU Mustangs enter the NSIC playoffs as the No. 5 seed, and they host No. 12-seeded Augustana on February 28 at the R/A Facility with a 7:30 p.m. tip off.
The Brooten city council agenda has finally been posted to my editor's blog: https://shorturl.at/blHIW. They meet on Monday night.
