A win and a loss (VIDEO)

Success at "Fort Knox" for the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team!

After playing to an 18-18 halftime draw, the boys' basketball team rallied with a terrific second half. Final: B-B-E 61, NL-S 54. Keys to the win: the Jaguars cranked up the offense in the second half, when they shot 42 percent from the floor while also going 12-for-17 at the line. In the first half, they shot just 2 free throws while earning a frigid field goal mark of just 28 percent.

Senior Josh Walstrom led the Jaguars with 20 points after going 9-of-13 at the free throw line. Also in double figures: Taylor Pieper with 18 points and Luke Illies with 11 points. The Jaguars shot 36 percent on field goals for the game while draining 6 three-pointers. At the line, they shot 13-for-19.

Next: the Jaguars (8-15) host Royalton in a Central Minnesota Conference game on Thursday this week.

The Wildcats fell to 1-23 overall. Gavin Vick, a 6'4" sophomore post, led the Wildcats with 14 points. Brayden Skindelien, a 5'11" junior guard, added 11 points.

In girls' basketball news...
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team has completed one of their best-ever regular seasons in program history. After a 56-32 loss tonight at Royalton, the Jaguars take an 18-8 overall record into the upcoming Sub-Section 5A-East playoffs. In the CMC, the Jaguars went 11-3 to take second place alone. The 11-3 record is the third-best ever for the team. They finished 12-2 in two previous seasons in the CMC and 14-0 one time (2020-2021 in the COVID season).

The 18-8 regular season record is the fourth-best ever for a B-B-E girls' basketball team. Overall, this is the fourth time they were 18-8 heading into playoffs; other seasons were 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. The regular season record for most wins was set 2 years ago, 2022-2023, when the team was 21-4 heading into the postseason.

In tonight's game, Kacey Fischer led the Jaguars with a hard-earned double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Here's a video recorded early in the first half tonight at RHS:


Next: the Jaguars host a Sub-Section 5A-East quarterfinal game on Thursday, February 27. Tip-off at B-B-E high school in Belgrade is at 7 p.m. against an opponent to-be-determined. Seeding by QRF takes place on Saturday, February 22. B-B-E has a lock on the No. 2 seed.

Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on February 18:
Holdingford 45, Kimball Area 42 (Huskers clinch 3rd place alone in the CMC, while the Cubs finish in 4th place)
Eden Valley-Watkins 63, Maple Lake 35
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 60, Paynesville Area 39