Step III: Jaguars fight to the end, season upended by Braham (VIDEOS)

A terrific start during which the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team could do no wrong became a faded memory by halftime in tonight's Sub-Section 5A-East championship game. Braham overcame a 14-point deficit to lead 30-26 at halftime. The Jaguars could get no closer than 2 points in the second half as they saw their season end in a 64-51 loss.

How the first half played out against Braham:
Against relentless ball pressure, the Jaguars punched top-seeded Braham out of the gates and led 18-4 after 8 minutes had been played. The 14-0 run that gave the Jaguars that huge early advantage was followed by an incredible 16-1 run by the Bombers.

With 15:45 left, Braham scored to tie it at 4-4 on a layup. Over 2 scoreless minutes played out before the Jaguars rocked the Bombers with a flurry of scoring. Starting at the 13:36 mark when Macey Roering scored her 3rd basket of the game, the Jaguars scored 14 unanswered points in less than 4 minutes. When Tiffany Dingmann banked a three-pointer for an 18-4 lead, the clock showed 9:46 left before halftime.

Here's a video from early in the first half as the Jaguars were pulling away from a 4-4 tie:


With 9:10 left, Braham's Emily Davis knocked down the first three-point shot for the Bombers. This basket started a 9-0 run for Braham, and a fastbreak shot by the Bombers brought the score to 18-13.

Here's another first half video from tonight's game in Foley:


By halftime, Braham's 30-26 lead resulted after they outscored the Jaguars 26-8 across the last 9 1/2 minutes before the break.

How the second half played out:
Early in the second half, the best the Jaguars could do was play even with Braham across the first 6 minutes. The biggest basket of the game for B-B-E was delivered on a successful three-point shot by Tiffany Dingmann with 11:11 to go. This shot brought the Jaguars to a 40-38 deficit.

Braham proceeded to outscore the Jaguars 24-13 across the game's final 10 1/2 minutes.

The Jaguars shot a cool 34 percent from the floor, but more difficult was 9-of-17 free throw shooting. Tiffany Dingmann had an outstanding game with 14 points and 5 rebounds. Mya Worms scored 13 points and 5 rebounds, and Kacey Fischer had 11 points plus 5 rebounds.

For the Jaguars, a terrific conference championship season came to an end with a final record of 20-9. They shook off back-to-back subsection semifinal losses the past 2 years to earn a championship berth for the first time since 2022-2023.

For Braham, they are looking to erase a 13-year state tournament drought. Their last state berth was in 2012-2013, when they finished 32-1 and lost 60-59 in the Class 2A state championship game. They went 0-1 at state the prior season. In the 2010-2011 season, the Bombers went 31-2 and won the Class 2A title by defeating Minnehaha Academy 68-61 in the state championship. Braham was state runners-up in 2009-2010, during which they fell to Minnehaha Academy in the Class 2A state finals.

In Sub-Section 5A-West at Wadena tonight...the Pine River-Backus Tigers survived a mild upset bid by Cass Lake-Bena with a 54-51 overtime win. The Tigers will meet Braham this Friday at SCSU's Halenbeck Hall for a berth in the state tournament.

In Class 2A playoffs, Sauk Centre will face Milaca for a state tournament berth this Friday at SCSU. The Mainstreeters are 22-6 overall and are playing their best basketball of the season at just the right time. The Sauk-vs-Milaca game will be a rematch of the season opener, which Sauk Centre won 60-55 on their home floor.

Area girls' basketball playoff scores on March 3:
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 62, Rothsay 46 (Rothsay finishes 22-7 with one of their best seasons in recent history)
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 56, Menahga 44
Breckenridge 61, Underwood 58
Sauk Centre 72, Foley 67
Milaca 71, Pine City 39

Area boys' basketball playoff scores on March 3:
Montevideo 74, Luverne 61
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 69, New London-Spicer 37
Central MN Christian-Prinsburg 89, Renville County West 45
Mayer Lutheran 77, BOLD 57
Minnewaska Area 60, Litchfield 55