The weather is busting up the week (VIDEO, UPDATES)

The impending wind and snowstorm that's in the forecast for Saturday has dramatically altered the schedule for the F.I.R.S.T. Robotics Great Northern Regional at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. A potential exists for blizzard-like conditions across the Red River Valley region throughout the day on Saturday. Officials with F.I.R.S.T. made the decision to move the schedule "up" by about one day. Instead of the first competition matches starting around 9 a.m. on Friday, the competition matches will begin during the day on Thursday (tomorrow).

The B-B-E Resistance Robotics team departed B-B-E high school just after 2 p.m. this afternoon. They are set to arrive in Grand Forks just shy of 7 o'clock tonight to unload the robot and equipment. I won't decide on a Grand Forks trip until tomorrow morning.

Here's the moment when the robotics team left the high school this afternoon:


The B-B-E robotics team has 14 players this season.

In college basketball news...
At the NJCAA Division III national women's basketball tournament today, the Northland Technical and Community College Pioneers earned a 70-46 win against No. 12-seeded Montgomery County out of Pennsylvania. The Pioneers, seeded No. 5 in the tournament, improved to 22-5 overall and now advance to the national quarterfinals. Next: the Pioneers advance to face No. 4-seeded Anoka-Ramsey on Thursday, March 13 at 2 p.m.

Against Montgomery, B-B-E Class of 2023 graduate Tiyana Schwinghammer scored 8 points with 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and 1 blocked shot.

The national tournament is taking place in Rochester, MN.

In state girls' basketball tournament news...
Sauk Centre jumped all over Minnewaska to start their state quarterfinal game tonight and had an initial 8-0 lead. The Lakers stormed back to bring an 11-9 deficit with 12 minutes to go. These two West Central Conference rivals are playing in a rare state border battle at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. The game tipped off just after 8 p.m.

With 11:13 to go, Sauk Centre held a 13-10 lead.

A deep three-pointer by Cierra Kortan with 9 minutes to go extended Sauk Centre's lead to 19-10 with their second straight three-pointer. The Lakers came right back just 8 seconds later with Addie Kath hitting a three to make it 19-13. Later, with 8:15 to go, Minnewaska's Jayda Kolstoe made a tough corner three-pointer to narrow it to a 20-16 deficit.

With 6:45 to go, Kortan scored on a stop-and-pop three-pointer that bounced high off the front of the rim before dropping to push Sauk Centre's lead to 24-18. On Minnewaska's next possession, Kolstoe hit a three-pointer for a 24-21 score. With 4:42 left, Minnewaska's Megan Thorfinnson canned a three-pointer to make it a 26-24 score. With 4:33 left, Jenna Reilly made her first shot of the game by scoring on a quick three-pointer on the left wing, which pushed Sauk Centre ahead 29-24. With 3:50 left, Olivia Danielson scored on a tough, driving layup to get the Lakers within three points at 29-26. With 3:22 left, Sauk Centre's Maddie Schuster hit a right-wing three-pointer for a 32-26 lead.

With 1:40 left, Sauk Centre extended their lead to 36-28. During the final seconds, Minnewaska senior 6'0" post Sydney Dahl drove down towards the right block before banging in a shot off the glass in double coverage just before time expired. Halftime: Sauk Centre 36, Minnewaska Area 30.

Kortan, who had 15 points in the first half, scored on a driving layup with 16:40 left in the second half for the first points of the second half, which made Sauk Centre's lead 38-30. Inside 15 minutes to go, Megan Thorfinnson hit a banked three-pointer. Later, with 13:53 left, Addie Kath scored on a layup to tie the game at 40-40.

With just over 11 minutes left in the game, Kortan scored on a left-side layup for a 46-42 Sauk Centre lead. With 10:18 left, Minnewaska's Lauryn Ankeny hit a wide-open layup to tie it at 46-46.

With 8:09 left, Kolstoe hit a layup to give Minnewaska a 48-46 lead. Later, with 4:11 left, the score is tied 50-50. The game was tied up 50-50 when Sauk Centre's Victoria Jennissen scored in the paint with 5:51 to go.

Final: Minnewaska Area 60, Sauk Centre 53. The Lakers (28-3) bashed the Mainstreeters in the game's last 4 minutes. They played a near-perfect game when it mattered. Next is a date with the defending Class 2A state champions, Providence Academy in the state semifinals on Friday, March 14 back at Williams Arena (6 p.m. tip-off).

Sauk Centre (27-3) entered the game with an incredible 68.3 points-per-game scoring average. The deciding factor in the game ultimately was Minnewaska's 38 points-per-game defensive average.

In boys' basketball playoff news...
Sauk Centre's Kevin Kuefler-coached Mainstreeters led 28-24 in the first half tonight at St. John's University's Sexton Arena, but No. 7-seeded Spectrum overcame Sauk Centre in the second half and advanced to the Section 6AA championship with a 63-54 win. With 7:33 to go in the game, Sauk Centre's Borderding drained a right corner three-pointer for a 50-45 lead. As the game approached the 4-minute mark, Spectrum had an 8-0 run going as they took a 56-50 lead. With 1:41 left, Herickhoff scored an open shot on the right block to break what was almost a 6-minute long scoring drought. At that point, the Mainstreeters trailed 56-52. After Sauk Centre had the game within reach and trailed 58-54, Spectrum scored the final 5 points of the game in the last 35 seconds to win by 9 points.

Spectrum (22-7) closed out the game on a 15-4 run, and they now have a date with top-ranked Albany in the state-qualifying section final. The Albany Huskies destroyed one of the better Holdingford boys' basketball teams in recent years in a 96-64 win during the other 6AA semifinal tonight.

Coach Kevin Kuefler's Mainstreeters finish 19-10 overall. By the Class 2A QRF rankings, Spectrum was at No. 39, while Sauk Centre was No. 22. If Sauk Centre came through with a win tonight, I feel they had a shot at beating Albany and advance to state. In the two team's meeting back on January 7 in Sauk Centre, the Huskies won 63-52.

In the Sub-Section 6A-South championship, top-seeded West Central Area ended Benson's Cinderella-like playoff run with a 61-50 win. The Braves finish a fine season 18-11 overall. The Knights improve to 21-8 overall and head to the Section 6A finals.

In the Section 5A semifinals in a game played at Wadena-Deer Creek tonight, Browerville lost 80-54 to Nevis.

In the other Section 5A semifinal game, Upsala faced Braham at Foley high school tonight. The Cardinals and Bombers fought to a 34-34 halftime tie. In the second half, Upsala, Prairie Conference runners-up, hammered Braham by scoring 50 points to win their 6th straight game with a final score of 84-64. Now 23-6 overall, Upsala is having their best season since 2014-2015. It was a mild upset on paper, as Upsala was ranked No. 23 in the Class 1A QRF rankings, while Braham (22-7) was No. 17. The Cardinals avenged an 87-85 double-overtime loss to Braham that was played back on January 3 in Upsala. The last state tournament trip for Upsala was in 2012-2013 when they went 31-2 overall and finished fourth at state (the only losses of the season were in the last 2 state tournament games).