Two conference losses (VIDEO)

This was a rough night for our basketball teams.

In a Central Minnesota Conference game on the home court, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team suffered a 74-63 loss to a hot-shooting Holdingford team as they fell into a tie for first place with Kimball Area. Cold 33 percent field goal shooting hampered the cause as the Huskers rained three-pointers on the Jaguars to earn a split in the conference series.

The Jaguars got off to a great start in the game's opening minutes with an early 10-2 lead.

Early inside baskets by Mya Worms (17:43) and then Teagan Dingmann...plus a three by Kacey Fischer got the Jaguars out to a 7-0 lead with one minute played. Another field goal by Kacey Fischer made it a 10-2 lead. Across the next 1 1/2 minutes, however, the Huskers narrowed it to a 10-8 score. They later gained the lead on a three-pointer to go ahead 17-15.

Here's the tip-off and first 2 minutes of the game:


The Huskers led 36-29 at halftime.

Senior Riley Breth was nearly unstoppable as the senior 5'11" forward poured in 27 points with 8 rebounds and 4 steals for the Huskers. Kacey Fischer also had a monster game with 26 points to lead the Jaguars. She knocked down both of her three-point attempts and made 8 of 16 two-point shots for 55 percent field goal shooting.

Holdingford clinched fourth place alone with an 8-6 record. B-B-E falls to 11-2, and this loss sets up a rare winner-take-all game in Belgrade tomorrow. The Kimball Area Cubs will provide the competition, you can bet the house that they'll come in fired up. Spread the word! Let's get a rowdy, loud hometown crowd ready to cheer on the Jaguars to a win.

Overall, B-B-E is 17-8 and has a lock on the No. 2 seed in Sub-Section 5A-East. The rankings will be finalized on Saturday. The playoffs will open at home on Thursday, February 26 at 7 p.m. in Belgrade.

In boys' basketball action...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team lost a tough one by a 63-61 score at Royalton tonight. The Jaguars trailed 41-32 at halftime. They are now 7-6 in the CMC and still in third place. However, they have to defeat Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City next week in order to stay in third place. The Royals are 10-14 overall and 6-6 in the CMC.

Next: the boy's basketball team hosts Benson next Monday. The Jaguars have climbed to No. 10 in the latest QRF rankings in Section 6A.

In the Central Minnesota Conference, Paynesville Area remained in first place alone after surviving a scare from sixth-place Kimball Area. The Bulldogs won tonight in Kimball 82-80.

Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on Feb. 19:
Maple Lake 96, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 83
Paynesville Area 82, Kimball Area 80
Holdingford 65, Eden Valley-Watkins 49

Area girls' basketball scores on February 19:
Melrose Area 65, Kimball Area 61
Benson 68, Mille Lacs 47
Yellow Medicine East 68, Lac qui Parle Valley 56
Wabasso 48, Renville County West 42
Milaca 67, Albany 32
Sauk Centre 64, Royalton 59
Lester Prairie 62, Maple Lake 42
Brandon-Evansville 62, Upsala 53
Osakis 46, Swanville 42 (Swanville still wins the Prairie Conference title alone with a 9-1 record; the Silverstreaks took second at 8-2)
Braham 72, Barnum 43
Pine River-Backus 65, Cass Lake-Bena 45
Becker 58, Alexxandria 46
West Central Area 71, Hancock 64
Border West 67, Ortonville 14
Parkers Prairie 74, Henning 68

Area boys' basketball scores on February 19:
Albany 81, Pierz 71
Central-Norwood Young America 74, New London-Spicer 66
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 51, Sauk Centre 45
Melrose Area 52, Litchfield 51
Minnewaska 63, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 48
Benson 96, Browerville 61
Underwood 49, Border West 41
Montevideo 70, Dawson-Boyd 62