Two more wins were added to the season totals this winter in Jaguar Country!
At Holdingford, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team earned a 75-59 win in Central Minnesota Conference action. The Jaguars had four players in double figures: Hayden Sobiech (20 points), Luke Dingmann (17), Kaden DeRoo (14) and Luke Illies (10). They led 37-25 at halftime and ended up shooting a solid 40 percent from the floor. Now 13-7 overall, the Jaguars have a tall task coming with their next game, which is a home contest against state-ranked and CMC-leading Eden Valley-Watkins next Thursday, February 15.
B-B-E's 6-4 record in the CMC has them just a half game out of third place with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. The Falcons lost 64-51 tonight in a home border battle with Paynesville Area. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are now 17-5 overall and one game out of first place in the CMC.
Meanwhile, on the home court tonight...
In their second home game in two nights, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team battled Prairie Conference champion Osakis from wire to wire while earning a 63-47 win. At the break, they held a 30-21 lead after Anna Jaeger hit a late three-pointer with 49 second left. Osakis (9-11) had cut a 21-10 lead down to 22-18 with around 3 minutes to go. You can see Jaeger's three-pointer in the video below...
*Here's a video with the final minute of the first half tonight:
Jaeger, who also hit a three-pointer with 11:18 left to make it a 16-7 lead in the first half, finished with a career-high 21 points.
B-B-E had a strong second half where they withstood a few Silverstreaks rallies and closed out strong in the game's final three minutes. I visited with Coach Pat Kalpin after the game and learned that his squad is battling the injury bug. Currently, their second-leading scorer is out with injury but should return to action next week. Injuries are tough! That is just one more example of why depth is so truly important in athletics, especially in a small school. Turnout is key!!!
And here it is...finally! Roughly four weeks after the last sports show was recorded:
Next: the girls' basketball team hosts Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (11-9) next Tuesday in the last regular season home game; it will be Seniors Night as well.
Let's give our well wishes and more while sending good vibes for our B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes dance team as they travel to New London-Spicer high school tomorrow for the Section 2A dance competition. And so it begins! The playoffs are about to begin for the 2023-2024 winter sports season. Crazy. I still vividly remember the start of the winter season with the girls' basketball opener in Melrose last November.
More to come.
Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on February 9:
Paynesville Area 64, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 51
Royalton 95, Maple Lake 48
Eden Valley-Watkins 55, Kimball Area 41
Area girls' basketball scores on February 9:
Minnewaska Area 68, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 31
Blake 45, Maple Lake 44 (a tough loss for the Irish, who fall to 1-20 overall)
East Central 49, Silver Bay 20
Glencoe-Silver Lake 69, Litchfield 48
Ogilvie 89, Pine City 82
New London-Spicer 51, Annandale 34
Dawson-Boyd 74, Benson 40
Area boys' basketball scores on February 9:
Norman County East/Ulen Hitterdal 64, New York Mills 53
Annandale 72, New London-Spicer 57
Battle Lake 58, Border West 54
Cherry 73, Nevis 57
Sauk Centre 68, Foley 36
Hancock 63, Rothsay 48
Parkers Prairie 80, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 63
Osakis 76, Browerville 70
Swanville 63, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 51
Underwood 84, Brandon-Evansville 40
West Central Area 76, Ashby 49
Dawson-Boyd 80, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 56
Central MN Christian 59, MACCRAY 45
Bertha-Hewitt 64, Verndale 50
