Step I: Jaguars overwhelm Raiders in blowout win and wrestling updates

The visitors were never in the game.

In Thursday night's Sub-Section 5A-East quarterfinal game, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team took apart the Mille Lacs Raiders 86-28 to advance to the semifinal round. The halftime score was 48-21.

B-B-E shot 46 percent from the floor and was led by Brooklyn Fischer's 25 points. They take a 17-10 record into the Sub-Section 5A-East semifinals, which will take place on Saturday, March 2 in the town of Hinckley. (That's 120 miles from B-B-E high school if you were wondering.) The game starts at 2:45 p.m., and the Jaguars take on No. 2-seeded Braham. In Braham's quarterfinal game, they defeated No. 7-seeded East Central by a 64-6 score. (Not a mis-print.) The Bombers are 22-5 overall and finished in third place at 7-3 in the Great River Conference. Top-seeded Ogilvie (23-3) went 9-1 in the GRC to win the title alone. On January 25, Braham gave Ogilvie their lone GRC loss with a 58-49 win in Ogilvie. In their other meeting, Ogilvie won 72-70 in Braham. The Bombers return three key players from last year's 21-7 squad that went 1-1 in the playoffs: seniors Madison Davis, Nicole Duvernay and Arin Zimpel. They can rain down the three-ball! Braham knocked down 13 three-pointers on December 16 in a 76-39 win at Nevis.

Section 5A girls' basketball playoff scores on February 29:
Hinckley-Finlayson 61, Barnum 38
Upsala 64, Swanville 30
Verndale 78, Browerville 58
Nevis 62, Pine River-Backus 46
Ogilvie 67, Maple Lake 35
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 67, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 25 (WHA is the top seed in SS-West
Bertha-Hewitt 63, Sebeka 51


In the last Central Minnesota Conference game of the season, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team handed Royalton their fifth loss in a row with a 74-42 win last night in Royalton. The Jaguars shot 57 percent from the floor and made 7 of 18 three-point shots (38 percent) with incredible 73 percent second-half field goal shooting.

The Royals fall to 7-18 overall, and they finished 3-11 in the CMC.

The Jaguars, who led 29-18 at halftime before exploding with a 45-point outburst in the second half, improved to 17-8 overall. They travel to Hancock tonight in a subsection game to wrap up the regular season. Seeding in Sub-Section 6A-South takes place tomorrow by the QRF rankings.

Area girls' basketball playoff scores on February 29:
New London-Spicer 58, Paynesville Area 31
Hancock 84, Benson 26
Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 66, BOLD 39
Minnewaska Area 66, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 29
St. Cloud Cathedral 44, Kimball Area 33
Holdingford 56, Melrose Area 35
Osakis 50, Foley 43
West Central Area 70, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 43
Breckenridge 79, Parkers Prairie 46
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 66, Brandon-Evansville 64
Underwood 72, Battle Lake 31
Royalton 74, Milaca 65
Sauk Centre 68, Mora 40
Willmar 47, Rocori 37

Area boys' basketball scores on February 29:
Ashby 70, Brandon-Evansville 68 OT
Rockford Area 62, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 49

STATE individual wrestling notes from Friday morning...
139 pounds: senior Ryan Jensen (44-0) won his state opener by a 10-0 major decision against Kenyon-Wanamingo senior Trent Foss (25-4); he now faces Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial Area sophomore Zach Palmer (33-14) in the quarterfinals.

145: senior Tanner Viessman won by fall (5:43) in his opener to improve to 39-3 and advance to the quarterfinals; there he gets a rematch with Jackson County Central's Nolan Ambrose (51-1).

152: junior Brett DeRoo won his opener by fall (1:01) to improve to 38-6 and advance to the quarterfinals; there he faces Staples-Motley sophomore Colbe Tappe (39-1).

172: in his opener, senior Maximus Hanson improved to 46-0 with a 7-0 decision over Chatfield junior Ben Carrier (30-13) to advance to the quarterfinals. Tonight, Hanson faces Jackson County Central senior Seth Stai (36-17).

215: junior Carson Gilbert (40-3) won by a 4-0 decision against Eden Valley-Watkins senior Sonnie DeHeer (39-10). In the quarterfinals tonight, Gilbert faces New York Mills senior Bode Roberts (35-3).

The Class 1A state individual tournament quarterfinals start at 4 p.m. and are set to run through 9:30 p.m. across 8 mats at Xcel Energy Center later today.