State wrestling and an overtime loss

Coming tomorrow morning in the Class 1A individual state wrestling tournament, No. 6-ranked Noah Jensen faces Pipestone Area freshman and No. 10-ranked Lane Fruechte (34-6) in his next consolation bracket match. He is one of three B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team members still in contention for state hardware at Xcel Energy Center.

Consolation bracket quarterfinal matches begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday.

No word yet on how the basketball team fared in Hancock tonight.

In college basketball news...
B-B-E Class of 2024 graduate Grace Jackson scored 2 points to go with 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in 27 minutes of reserve play for the Ridgewater Warriors women's basketball team tonight. The Warriors faced Minnesota North College-Vermillion in a Region 13A play-in round game and won 74-34. This improves Ridgewater's record to 4-19 overall heading into tomorrow's region semifinal game with No. 1-seeded Minnesota West of Worthington. These Region 13A playoff games along with Region 13B NJCAA Division III games are being played at Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls.

The NCTC Pioneers, the No. 1 seed in Region 13B, face No. 4-seeded St. Cloud Technical and Community College in a semifinal game that starts at 12 p.m. tomorrow. The host Pioneers include B-B-E Class of 2023 graduate Tiyana Schwinghammer, while SCTCC's team includes B-B-E Class of 2024 graduate Brooklyn Fischer. All Region 13 games this weekend are live streamed online with a one-time cost of $10: https://gonorth.land/pioneerstv.

And here's a basketball update...
In a hard-fought, neck-and-neck battle in Hancock tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team saw an exciting winning streak halted in a 56-53 overtime defeat to the sub-section rival Owls. The Jaguars led 30-22 at halftime, but the score was tied 46-46 at the end of regulation play. Luke Illies powered the offense with a double-double of 18 points and 16 rebounds. Also in double figures was Taylor Pieper with 10 points.

The Jaguars take a 10-16 record into the Sub-Section 6A-South tournament, where it appears they should earn either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed. Hancock (14-12) seems a lock for the No. 4 seed in the 10-team subsection.

Area boys' basketball scores on February 28:
Border West 71, Brandon-Evansville 61 (2 OT)
Sauk Centre 52, Melrose Area 45
Fergus Falls 82, Willmar 70
Paynesville Area 81, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 73 (playoffs)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 83, Eden Valley-Watkins 55 (playoffs)
Minnewaska Area 61, Litchfield 27 (playoffs)
Montevideo 70, New London-Spicer 29 (playoffs)
Benson 93, PACT Charter 66