Jaguars suffer through difficult second half (VIDEOS**)

A rough second half of play doomed the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team as they surrendered 39 points after halftime to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. They were held scoreless for an 8-minute stretch across the last 6 minutes of the first half and the first portion of the second half. Final: A-C-GC 65, B-B-E 38.

A-C-GC improved to 6-2 overall; they are currently averaging 72 points per game and are ranked the 6th-best (QRF) team in Section 2A.

Here's a video featuring the last 20 seconds of the first half tonight:


How the game developed...
A-C-GC led 4-0 out of the gate, but the Jaguars gained their first lead after Luke Illies made a three-pointer and Josh Walstrom scored on a mid-range shot for a 5-4 lead with 2 minutes played. The Falcons pulled ahead 11-7, but Owen Radermacher cut that to one point with a three-pointer with 8:51 to go. Walstrom's layup made it a 13-12 deficit, but Taylor Pieper canned a three with 6:08 to go for a 15-14 lead.

A costly scoring drought lasted the rest of the first half. The Falcons then scored the first two field goals of the second half to stretch their lead to 30-15. Walstrom scored on a layup with 15:45 left to break the dry spell, but the deficit swelled to 36-19 just a minute later.

Across the next 3 minutes of the game, the Falcons pushed their lead to 47-25, and the Jaguars were unable to cut it to less than 20 points across the final 10 minutes of the game.

Late in the game, a moment to celebrate took place when Carson Savage subbed in to shoot three free throws. The senior made 2 of them, which marked a triumphant return to action roughly 3 months after he suffered a serious broken leg injury. Back on October 4, he broke his leg in the 4th quarter of the football game at Browerville. He received special cheers from the student section when Coach Rambow subbed him in. That was fun to see!

A-C-GC finished with 50 percent field goal shooting, while the Jaguars shot 33 percent in both halves.

Here's a video featuring the pep band performing the National Anthem followed by the starter introductions, tip-off and the opening minutes of the first half:


Next: the Jaguars travel to Ashby (6-3, 4-2 Little Eight Conference) tomorrow night for a sub-section game with the Arrows.

ALSO ON FRIDAY night...the girls' basketball team travels to A-C-GC high school in Grove City, and the wrestling team is at the Minnewaska Area Invitational (4 p.m.).

Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on January 9:
Royalton 71, Paynesville Area 49 (in a big road win, Royals stay perfect at 10-0 and are 5-0 in the CMC)
Eden Valley-Watkins 65, Maple Lake 32

Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on January 9:
Kimball Area 74, Paynesville Area 69
Holdingford 80, Royalton 50
Eden Valley-Watkins 66, Maple Lake 51

Area boys' basketball scores on January 9:
BOLD 54, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 47
Montevideo 70, Benson 36
Sauk Centre 45, Melrose Area 41
Swanville 64, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 46
Border West 71, Ashby 48
Underwood 67, Battle Lake 27
Osakis 61, Browerville 57
Alexandria 90, Fergus Falls 46
Brandon-Evansville 63, Rothsay 57
Hancock 87, Parkers Prairie 55
West Central Area 72, Minnewaska Area 55
Central MN Christian 65, MACCRAY 52
Lac qui Parle Valley 76, Milbank SD 66

Area girls' basketball scores on January 9:
Ogilvie 57, Mora 42
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 48, Litchfield 34
West Central Area 64, Osakis 40
St. Cloud Cathedral 69, Melrose Area 57
Parkers Prairie 61, Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 56
Cass Lake-Bena 90, Pine River-Backus 57
MACCRAY 57, Canby 54
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 83, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 30
Renville County West 66, Dawson-Boyd 57
Central MN Christian 67, Minneota 53
Lakeview 61, Lac qui Parle Valley 41