Jaguars play tough in second half but fall to Wildcats (VIDEO)

In the first of back-to-back border battles at Willmar's Big Red Gym tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team lost 68-62 to New London-Spicer. The game to follow featured the host Cardinals taking on MACCRAY.

The Jaguars and Wildcats tussled through a low-scoring first half. With 6:37 left, two bonus free throws by Aiden Radermacher broke a 12-12 tie.

A late three-pointer by Taylor Pieper handed B-B-E a 24-23 halftime lead.

Here's a video starting with under 7 minutes left in the 1st half:


Whatever NL-S head coach Jeff Paffrath said at halftime, it must have been good, because the Wildcats gave the Jaguars a good ol' left hook, right hook in the opening minute of the second half. With scoring coming in the paint and beyond the arc, NL-S led 29-24 with 17 minutes to go. They hit another three-pointer with 16:40 left to make it a 32-24 lead.

After NL-S pushed the lead to 41-29 with 13:30 left, the Jaguars cut the deficit in half on a three-pointer by Owen Roering with 11:45 to go. They narrowed it to 45-43 with Austin Berge's layup at the 9:25 mark. That was as close as they could get, however, with NL-S scoring three times in the paint to put the Jaguars in a 66-54 deficit with 1:15 left.

Next: the Jaguars (2-3) play at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow back at Willmar's Big Red Gym. The opponent will be the loser of the Willmar vs. MACCRAY game. I'm working on a couple technical issues while writing at my home office - hopefully I'll get some video posted here soon.

B-B-E was led by Taylor Pieper's 18 points, while fellow senior Aiden Radermacher scored 10 points. Also in double figures was freshman Hudson Reed, who had a double double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Jaguars shot 27-for-36 from the free throw line, while NL-S was 12-for-18 at the stripe. NL-S overcame B-B-E's free throw shooting by launching 20 more field goals overall in the game. The Wildcats shot 38 percent (25-for-65) from the floor to B-B-E's 33 percent (15-for-45).

Update: Willmar defeated MACCRAY 69-42 to advance to the Old National Bank Boys Basketball Holiday Tournament's Red Division championship game. The Jaguars will take on MACCRAY (2-6) for third place.

Area boys' basketball scores on December 29:
Central MN Christan 86, Dassel-Cokato 45
St. Paul Humboldt 83, Redwood Valley 75
Benson 78, Adrian/Ellsworth 41
Windom 88, BOLD 56
Big Lake 90, Paynesville 74
Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 74, Yellow Medicine East 44
Willmar 69, MACCRAY 42