Girls' basketball nabs ugly win at Melrose (VIDEO)

It was not pretty, but the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team survived a late comeback attempt by Melrose Area after building a 17-point lead in the second half. A buzzer-beating three-pointer by the Dutchmen made the final score 59-56.

With about 8 minutes to go in the first half, the Jaguars had a 17-6 lead. With 3:44 to go, the lead stood at 26-14, but the Dutchmen went on a run to close the deficit to 28-20 at halftime.

Here's a video from the middle of the first half:


Credit to Melrose, the chips were down after they fell behind 46-29 with 6:30 left in the game. Mya Worms had just scored in the paint, and it appeared that B-B-E was on its way to blowing the Dutchmen off the court. Across the next minute of play, however, the Dutchmen went 4-for-4 on two trips to the line and also got a three-point play from junior Aubrey Funk. Funk's three-point play with 5:27 left made the score 46-36, as the home team found new life.

After the Jaguars had an empty trip to the free throw line for a bonus opportunity, Avery Braegelmann went 3-for-3 at the line to cut B-B-E's lead to 46-39.

With 5 minutes to go, Teagan Dingmann scored on a fastbreak layup for a badly needed bucket. From that point on, however, the Jaguars got just one field goal on Macey Roering's shot in the paint with 2:50 left. That shot put the lead at 53-43, and the last 6 points they scored were all on double bonus free throw tries.

Some light game statistics...
The Jaguars shot a cold 30 percent from the floor, made just 2 of 14 three-point attempts and were 17-of-34 at the free throw line. Teagan Dingmann was the leading scorer with 15 points.

Next: the Jaguars (5-1 overall) now travel the opposite direction on Monday for a second straight border battle. This time, the Jaguars head to Swift County to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. The Fighting Saints were 4-1 overall heading into tonight's game at Minnewaska Area. It is a huge game for K-M-S, as both teams are in Sub-Section 3AA-North.

With their third straight loss, the Dutchmen fell to 1-4 overall. Their lone win was by a 61-46 score at Paynesville Area on December 2.

That's all I can post for now...I just spent the last hour delivering B-B-E Blaze JO volleyball pizzas, and I'm also in the midst of 2025 tax preparation.