Border battle series sweep (VIDEO)

This blog post is being updated late on Saturday night after an evening at open gym...it has been a long, long day...non-stop movement for 14 hours straight! No kidding.

For at least three-quarters of the game tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team had their hands full in a border battle at Paynesville Area. After the Jaguars led 21-10 at halftime, the Bulldogs punched right back into the mix across the first 6 minutes of the second half. With 12:32 to go, senior Kylie Pauls went 2-for-2 at the free throw line to force a 25-25 tie.

Final score: B-B-E 53, Paynesville Area 42. It was a solid win in spite of ice cold 27.4 percent field goal shooting. They were solid at the free throw line by making 18 of 24 free throws.

With 9:31 to go in the second half, the Bulldogs led 32-29 on a fastbreak shot. Almost a minute later, Kacey Fischer's two free throws lifted the Jaguars ahead 33-32.

Here's action from the first half of tonight's game:


With 6:28 to go, Teagan Dingmann scored on a rebound shot of her own miss that brought a 37-37 tie. The Bulldogs later tied the game 39-39 with a bucket with 5:35 left. From that point, the Jaguars held the Bulldogs to just 3 more points.

The No. 10-ranked (Minnesota Basketball News) Jaguars (16-7 overall) have now won four straight games. The Bulldogs fall to 7-15 overall (5-6 CMC).

In the latest QRF state rankings, the Jaguars stand at No. 18 in Class 1A. This puts them at No. 2 in the Sub-Section 5A-East standings behind Braham, who is 16-5 overall and No. 4 in the Class 1A QRF rankings.

COMING on Sunday...wresting playoff notes will be added in a new blog post.

Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on February 7:
Royalton 65, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 30
Kimball Area 54, Eden Valley-Watkins 29
Holdingford 57, Maple Lake 47 (played on Thursday, February 6 in Maple Lake)

Area girls' basketball scores on February 7:
Upsala 56, Swanville 51
Melrose Area 49, Holdingford 36
Bertha-Hewitt 59, Battle Lake 48
New London-Spicer 57, Glencoe-Silver Lake 48
BOLD 60, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 42
Ogilvie 68, Barnum 65
West Central Area 74, Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 58
Dawson-Boyd 75, Benson 60

Area boys' basketball scores on February 7:
Border West 45, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 44
Benson 86, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 48
Montevideo 66, Sauk Centre 50
Brandon-Evansville 75, Battle Lake 40
Melrose Area 63, BOLD 59
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 70, Minnewaska Area 57
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 58, MACCRAY 55
Hancock 87, Ashby 55
West Central Area 71, Park Christian 64
Underwood 82, Parkers Prairie 51
Osakis 60, Little Falls 46
Kimball Area 49, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 43

Area boys' basketball scores on February 6:
Browerville 64, Border West 62