extended sports coverage for the B-B-E community brought to you by the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper in Brooten, MN. (Address: P.O. Box 250, Brooten) http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. Please submit feedback in writing to the address posted above. **This is Minnesota's oldest varsity high school sports blog. We hope to keep it going into the future!
Sunday, March 01, 2026
Boys' basketball seeded No. 9 out of 22 teams (Updated, VIDEOS)
It's gone official in the Section 6A rankings...the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team has earned the No. 9 seed out of 22 teams. The Jaguars take a 14-11 record into the Section 6A opening round game, which will be on Thursday, March 5. The Jaguars will travel to Underwood for that game, which features a 7 p.m. tip-off.
Henning, who sports a perfect 26-0 record, is the No. 1 seed in Section 6A.
A win against Underwood (18-5) sends the Jaguars to the Section 6A quarterfinals, which takes place at the high seeds on Saturday, March 7 with 7 p.m. tip offs. The Final Four is at Perham high school on March 11, and the section finals is on March 13 at Concordia-Moorhead.
Section 6A boys' basketball seedings:
1. Henning
2. Pelican Rapids
3. Park Christian
4. Breckenridge
5. Hillcrest Lutheran Academy
6. Benson
7. Hancock
8. Underwood
9. B-B-E
10. West Central Area
11. New York Mills
12. Ada-Borup West
13. Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal
14. Rothsay
15. Brandon-Evansville
16. Border West
17. Ortonville
18. Frazee
19. Lake Park-Audubon
20. Parkers Prairie
21. Battle Lake
22. Ashby
Public service announcement...
The Brooten Ambulance pancake breakfast is Sunday, March 15 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the former American Legion Hall, now Bucky’s Pickles, on Central Avenue. This is a FREE WILL donation event! Enjoy a short stack for a tall cause to support our local ambulance service. Takeout is available, and the menu includes plain or blueberry pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, milk, juice and coffee. To learn more about the Glacial Ridge Ambulance service, visit http://glacialridge.org/emergency-medical-services.
And now it's Monday night...
Today was a warm, sunny day!
Here's another video from the 1st half of the Swanville game:
Here's action early in the 2nd half at Foley:
The girls' basketball team plays back in Foley on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Sub-Section 5A-East championship. Their opponent, Braham, is led by junior guard Morgan Rysdam; she averages 22.2 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game and 4.8 steals per game.
GAME NIGHT! Border Battle and Pep Band in the house!
No time to rest...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team is hosting Paynesville Area tonight in a border battle and their second straight contest facing the Bulldogs. The two teams met on Monday night in Paynesville, and the Bulldogs overcame a 24-23 halftime deficit to win 60-50 and stay on top of the Central Minnesota Conference.
I have to get my electronics and my trumpet over to the school now...the B-B-E Pep Band begins performing at 6:30 p.m.! Also! The game is being aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. Brady's coverage is also streamed at their website: https://www.kmgk1071.com.
Here's a video with Aiden Mueller winning one week ago tonight against A-C-GC:
The wrestling team will be back in action tomorrow night in a triangular at Holdingford.
HALFTIME: Paynesville Area 43, B-B-E 25. The Bulldogs used 7 threes to pull away from the Jaguars late in the half.
Girls' basketball Jaguars overpower Bulldogs in strong 2nd half (VIDEO)
Saturday, January 10 notice: don't forget that today, Saturday, Marcia's Bar and Grill will host a Glacial Ridge A.B.A.T.E. meat raffle! It will heat up some time after 4 p.m., likely once the bar bingo crowd starts heading south from the Kade Shack
The visiting Paynesville Area Bulldogs proved a formidable opponent in the first half for the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team. In a home Central Minnesota Conference game tonight, the Jaguars led 22-20 at halftime. Led by a 20-point performance by Kacey Fischer, the Jaguars won 57-37 to improve to 5-0 in the league.
Cold shooting hurt the Jaguars across the game, but 10-of-14 free throw shooting in the second half helped them to rack up 35 points in the last 18 minutes. For the game, the Jaguars were 14-of-20 from the line with 26 percent overall field goal shooting.
The girls' basketball team now prepares for another home border battle, with Minnewaska Area coming to town next Tuesday, January 13.
Here's video from the first half of tonight's game with under 8 minutes left:
Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on January 9:
Eden Valley-Watkins 53, Holdingford 50
Royalton 67, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 43
Kimball Area 53, Maple Lake 22
I'm in a considerable delay with sports blogging tonight. It's all good - I've been enjoying the evening in downtown Brooten with time split between Lincoln's Steakhouse and Lucky Shots Bowling Alley. The town of Brooten was hopping tonight! We are blessed.
I'm still in the process of catching up on wrestling results from the Minnewaska Invitational.
In boys' basketball action tonight...
In their CMC game at home, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team faced defending champion Holdingford in Brooten. The Huskers built a 43-20 halftime lead on 55 percent field goal shooting. In the second half, the Jaguars played much better defense in a 64-44 loss. Hudson Reed led the Jaguars with 17 points.
The Huskers improve to 7-3 overall and 3-0 in the CMC.
The boys' basketball team hosts Kimball Area next Tuesday in another CMC game.
And finally...in wrestling news...
The B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team had what is likely the best night of the season so far after they turned in a 4th-place finish out of 11 teams at Minnewaska Area high school tonight. The Jaguars racked up 214.5 team points while out-placing fifth-place Badger-Greenbush-Middle River (201.5 points) and Wabasso (184 points). The host Lakers were champions with 558 points.
In girls' hockey news...
At Hutchinson last night, the River Lakes Stars girls' hockey teamdefeated the host Tigers by a 2-1 score. This squares their overall record at 8-8. Next for the Stars is a road game at Willmar in Central Lakes Conference action next Tuesday, January 13.
In college basketball news...
In an incredible collegiate performance for the ages, B-B-E Class of 2023 graduate Kaden Pieper scored 45 points to help lead the University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars to a 106-91 win at Martin Lutheran College in New Ulm on Wednesday this week. The 45 points is the second-most scored in UMM program history and the most points scored by any men's player in a single game at UMM since the 1964-65 season. Crazy.
Area boys' basketball scores on January 9:
Central MN Christian 101, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 39
Litchfield 67, Eden Valley-Watkins 56
Melrose Area 76, Royalton 62
New London-Spicer 78, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 66
West Central Area 78, Brandon-Evansville 39
Osakis 59, Upsala 58
Benson 71, Hancock 64
MACCRAY 70, Minneota 65
Ortonville 52, Renville County West 52
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
Updates coming to this blog post on Wednesday night...
In a game where they got better and better as the 36 minutes played out tonight, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team won a hard-fought, high-flying border battle with visiting Paynesville Area by an 86-78 score. Winners of five straight games to this point, they are now averaging 70.4 points per game in their last 8 contests! Four players were in double figures for B-B-E tonight, with seniors Josh Walstrom (23 points) and Luke Illies (22 points) leading the way.
Here's a video featuring the game's tip-off and opening minutes tonight:
I won't have much to post here tonight, since it's the eve of publishing day at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. It will be fully updated on Wednesday.
How the first half played out...
The Jaguars jumped out to early leads of 5-0 and then 13-5 just shy of 4 minutes into the game. The Bulldogs then went on a 10-0 run, and a back-and-forth battle played out across the last 11 minutes of the first half. Three-pointers by Owen Roering and Luke Illies helped the Jaguars keep pace with a Paynesville team that entered the night averaging over 71 points per game.
After Taylor Pieper's pullup shot tied it at 23-23 with 8:30 left, the Bulldogs carved out leads of 31-26 and later 34-28 with just under 5 minutes remaining. Buckets by Austin Berge and Josh Walstrom cut it to 34-32, but Reed Johnson's three-pointer with 2:55 left made it a 37-32 deficit. Illies later scored inside the right block for a 38-37 lead with 2:05 left. Carter Flanders went 2-for-2 at the free throw line with 25 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 42-40 advantage at the break.
The Jaguars started the second half with a lead-changing 7-0 run in 95 seconds of play. Paynesville tied the game at 47-47 on two free throws by Sam Brunner, but a 10-0 scoring run by B-B-E in just 75 seconds of play followed. Johnson knocked down a three-pointer to cut B-B-E's lead to 59-53, but Walstrom answered on the next possession with a three-pointer. Illies hit a three with 8:22 left for a 70-62 lead. The Bulldogs cut it to 70-67 with 7:38 left, and Flanders later went 2-for-2 at the line with 2:04 remaining to make it an 80-74 lead for the Jaguars. After Walstrom's layup with 1:38 left, Johnson buried a three-pointer with 1:17 left to make it an 82-78 score. The Jaguars got late free throws from Walstrom and Dominic Ramos for the 8-point win.
The Jaguars (10-15 overall) have now earned a 10-6 mark in their last 16 games after the season began with an 0-9 mark. During that 9-game losing skid, they averaged 55 points per game. B-B-E looks to continue their winning ways to finish the regular season when they travel to Hancock this Friday night for a non-conference sub-section game. The Owls (12-12 overall) had two straight wins to their credit coming into tonight's non-conference home game with former Pheasant Conference rival Ortonville.
In the Sub-Section 6A-South standings, the Jaguars are hovering in the No. 5 to No. 7 range as of tonight. The likely date for the playoff opener is Thursday, March 6 unless the Jaguars are the No. 7 seed. If that's the case, they will host a play-in round game on Monday, March 3 at 7 p.m. in Brooten. I honestly have no idea how the sub-section seeding would play out.
UPDATE: Hancock defeated Ortonville 67-57 on Tuesday night to improve to 13-12 overall heading into Friday's game with our Jaguars. The Owls finished in fourth place in the Little Eight Conference.
The Bulldogs take a 15-11 record into the Sub-Section 3AA-North tournament, where they are expected to be the No. 3 seed. In the CMC, they finished 10-4 in a tie for second place with Kimball Area. Paynesville Area is far and away an up-and-coming squad, as 76 of their 78 points tonight were scored by underclassmen. No kidding.
Here's a Wednesday night update...
I'll get an area scoreboard posted below on this blog post.
The Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website will undergo updates to its current list of articles. You can click over there now to see a video from the FFA milk relays held last Wednesday at the high school gym. Link: https://shorturl.at/uZl8X. Another video clip was posted last week featuring the FFA milk relays: https://shorturl.at/VNstp. I'll get college basketball notes added in a new blog post on Thursday morning.
Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on February 25:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 85, Kimball Area 83
Holdingford 85, Eden Valley-Watkins 45
Royalton 79, Maple Lake 28
Area boys' basketball scores on February 25:
Rockford Area 64, Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 53
Spectrum 73, Sauk Centre 61
Albany 82, Little Falls 34
Osakis 59, St. John's Prep 48
West Central Area 70, BOLD 69
Hancock 67, Ortonville 57
Browerville 79, Parkers Prairie 61
Rothsay 75, New York Mills 47
Henning 74, Brandon-Evansville 51
Swanville 70, Bertha-Hewitt 46
Area girls' basketball playoff scores on February 25:
Central MN Christian-Prinsburg 55, Lakeview 33
MACCRAY 63, Minneota 62 (this is Minneota's earliest playoff exit since 2010; ironically, in 2010, MACCRAY was the team that bounced the Vikings out of the subsection playoffs)
New London-Spicer 72, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 27
Mesabi East 50, Pierz 40
Jackson County Central 72, Redwood Valley 56
Minnewaska Area 59, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 32
This is game night for the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team, who is hosting Paynesville Area tonight for Parents and Seniors Night. The Bulldogs entered the game in a tie for second place with Kimball Area (10-3 each) in the Central Minnesota Conference. The Jaguars came in tied for fourth place with A-C-GC with a 6-7 mark. Paynesville Area entered the game with a 71.2 points per game scoring average. On January 23 on their floor, the Bulldogs won 70-55.
This game concludes the regular season for Paynesville, who sits in third place in the Sub-Section 3AA-North standings. Win or lose tonight, the Bulldogs should enter the postseason as the No. 3 seed ahead of Litchfield (10-15).
Game updates to follow here. In the C-squad game: the Jaguars (Class of 2028) prevailed 69-63 in overtime against the Bulldogs. The score at the end of regulation was 62-62!
Game updates... In the first half of the varsity game...the Bulldogs pulled ahead 34-28 with about 5 minutes to go. Halftime: Paynesville Area 42, B-B-E 40.
Boys' basketball subsection finals, robotics at Grand Forks (VIDEOS*)
A robotics video was posted below on this blog post on Monday.
Here I'll get more videos posted on Sunday. I've been busy getting caught up from the past week of activities. I am finally done uploading all the videos recorded at Grand Forks last weekend. Remember! There's the Brooten Ambulance pancake breakfast, and the Padua Pub will host their second day of St. Patrick's Day weekend activities throughout the day Sunday. The parade in Padua starts at 1 p.m. sharp.
Here's action from the first half of Wednesday night's basketball game:
As I wrote in the last blog post, West Central Area's boys' basketball team is heading to the state tournament for the first time in school history. The Knights beat Ada Borup-West 60-56 last night (Friday) in Fergus Falls to claim the Section 6A title. Over the weekend, the Knights earned the No. 2 seed at the state tournament, which is quite noteworthy. Cherry is the top seed in Class 1A, while Fertile-Beltrami is the No. 3 seed, Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey is the No. 4 seed and Nevis is the No. 5 seed. WCA tips off in their quarterfinal game at 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 21 at Williams Arena against unseeded Heritage Christian Academy.
**Here's action from the second half in the subsection finals:
I've got part of the robotics story that was published in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper posted in a web article on the newspaper website. It includes a video from Saturday at the Alerus Center last weekend: Voice robotics story.
Here's the first match of Saturday in Grand Forks a week ago:
As I wrote in The Voice last week, it was really a sight to take in to witness the robotics team recover from multiple mechanical issues that hampered the cause on Friday. They finished strong and have much to be proud of with how they performed under pressure! That's what matters.
In a nutshell...here's what went down in the Class 1A individual state wrestling quarterfinal matches this afternoon...three members of the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team each improved to 2-0 in the tournament, two winning by decisions and a third earning a pin. The two Jaguars who lost their quarterfinal matches will compete in the wrestlebacks later tonight. According to the schedule, all wrestleback matches will be completed tonight.
139: Ryan Jensen won a 7-0 decision against Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial Area sophomore Zach Palmer (34-15). Now 45-0 overall, Jensen faces Pipestone Area senior Hudson Burnett (30-5) in the semis. Burnett won a 12-4 major decision in his quarterfinal match against Kimball Area sophomore Mark Schiefelbein.
145: Tanner Viessman lost by fall (3:23) to top-seeded Nolan Ambrose (52-1) of Jackson County Central. Viessman, ranked No. 6 in the latest Guillotine poll, remains in contention for state hardware in the consolation bracket. His wrestleback match is later tonight against Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial Area sophomore Talan Osborne (28-23).
152: Brett DeRoo lost an incredibly tough heartbreaker by a 4-3 decision to top-seeded Colbe Tappe (40-1) of Staples-Motley. Trailing 3-1 in the middle of the third period, DeRoo earned a takedown with 51 seconds left. Tappe, ranked No. 1 in the division, then got an escape just seconds later and rode out the 4-3 lead to the final buzzer. DeRoo also remains in contention for state hardware in the consolation bracket.
172: Maximus Hanson won by fall (1:41) against Jackson County Central senior Seth Stai (36-19). Now 47-0 overall, Hanson faces Holdingford junior Luke Bieniek (40-6) in the state semis tomorrow morning. Bieneik won by fall (1:42) against Frazee senior Preston Mayfield (39-8) in his quarterfinal match; he was ranked No. 5 in the 160-pound division in the latest Guillotine rankings.
215: Carson Gilbert won a 1-0 decision against New York Mills senior and No. 8-ranked Bode Roberts (35-5). He earned the lone point of the match with an escape with 1:44 left in the second period. Now 41-3 overall, Gilbert faces Kenyon-Wanamingo senior Will Van Epps (42-2) in the semis tomorrow morning. Van Epps is the No. 2 seed in the bracket and was ranked No. 2 in the latest Guillotine poll. Gilbert was ranked No. 5.
All consolation bracket quarterfinals and semifinals plus the championship semifinal matches begin during the 9 a.m. sessions tomorrow, Saturday, March 2, at Xcel Energy Center.
I'll get more details posted in this blog post closer to 8 p.m. tonight.
UPDATES late Friday night: at 145 pounds, Tanner Viessman won by fall (2:03) to advance into Saturday's action! He is 40-4 overall now going into the consolation semifinals, where he will take on Holdingford junior William Pilarski (38-7).
Also! At 152, Brett DeRoo won a 5-0 decision in his wrestleback match against New York Mills junior Austin Geiser (28-22) to advance to Saturday's action! This is terrific news! In tomorrow morning's consolation semis, DeRoo (39-7) faces Royalton/Upsala senior Sawyer Simmons (29-10).
In boys' basketball news...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team won their fifth straight game tonight by defeating Hancock on the road 66-52. They take an 18-8 record into the Sub-Section 6A-South playoffs, which begin next Thursday in Brooten with a 7 p.m. tip-off. The Jaguars will be the No. 2 seed. In tonight's win, the Jaguars were led by 17 points each by juniors Hayden Sobiech and Luke Illies. They shot 38 percent from the field and drained 10 of 32 three-point shots. Altogether, five different Jaguars made at least one three-point shot.
The Owls fall to 11-15 overall and appear to be a lock for the No. 4 seed in Sub-Section 6A-South. They went 8-8 in the Little Eight Conference to place sixth. Hillcrest Lutheran Academy (22-4) won the LEC with a 15-1 record; they will likely be the No. 3 seed in Sub-Section 6A-South.
Area boys' basketball scores on March 1:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 100, Mayer Lutheran 86 (a play-in round game of Sub-Section 2A-North)
Dassel-Cokato 75, Maple Lake 32
Browerville 71, Menahga 52
Albany 68, Foley 48
Park Christian 79, Rothsay 45
Sauk Centre 62, Melrose Area 45
Osakis 53, Royalton 51
West Central Area 69, Border West 57
Henning 74, Battle Lake 42
Best of luck to two members of B-B-E's Class of 2023 tomorrow, as both Tiyana Schwinghammer and Abby Berge play in women's basketball playoff games. Schwinghammer's Northland Technical and Community College Pioneers face their junior college counterparts from Fergus Falls in the Region 13B semifinals starting at 2 p.m. at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids. Down at The Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Berge's MSU-Moorhead Dragons team plays in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference playoff quarterfinals against top-seeded Minnesota State University-Mankato with a 4:30 p.m. tip-off. These are such exciting times!
To read a short preview of the Region 13 junior college women's basketball tournament, click here: https://shorturl.at/jpELQ.
To see a video at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website from the elementary school volcano project, click here: https://shorturl.at/qvyM7.
Dance team at conference championships, plus basketball and wrestling on the road (VIDEO)
We want to give all the best wishes and messages of good luck to the B-B-E/Paynesville Pirouettes dance team as they compete in the Camden Conference championships at 6 p.m. at Lakeview high school in Cottonwood. Other teams competing include host Lakeview, Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd, Canby, MACCRAY/Renville County West, Worthington and Yellow Medicine East.
The dance comp starts at 6 p.m.
At Canby, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team is facing potential Section 5A playoff opponents with a triangular that also includes Minneota.
Meanwhile...to the north! It is Hoops For Hope night
A big and exciting basketball doubleheader is taking place at Sauk Centre high school. The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is battling the No. 10-ranked hosts as the gymnasium is filling up. They trailed 26-19 with about 8 minutes left in the first half. Halftime: #10 Sauk Centre 38, B-B-E 33. The Jaguars have stuck with the taller Mainstreeters, and a three-pointer by Anna Jaeger with 8 seconds left drew them within 5 points before the break.
Here's a video from just before the boys' basketball game tonight:
In the girls' basketball varsity game, Sauk Centre won 76-56.
The varsity boys' basketball game should tip off at about 19:40. Updates to come after the game.
Boys' basketball game updates...
The boys' basketball game has been a treat for the packed house at SCHS gymnasium. B-B-E rocketed out to an 8-0 lead with 15:40 left when Hayden Sobiech drained his team's second three-pointer. Luke Dingmann hit a short-range shot with 14:18 left to make it 10-0. The Mainstreeters got on the board with Jay Neubert's three-pointer with 13:15 left. From that point, the Jaguars expanded their lead to 20-5 with 10:49 left on a Josh Walstrom three.
B-B-E led 39-22 at one point with about one minute remaining, but the Mainstreeters got two huge three-pointers and trail 39-28 at halftime. For B-B-E, Luke Illies leads the way with 11 points, and Hayden Sobiech and Josh Walstrom each have 9 points. Luke Dingmann has 6 points, and Kaden DeRoo has 4 points to round out the first half scoring.
Time to head home. This blog post is a wrap...a new one will be posted after 10 p.m.
*Late Monday night I finally added a second and third video to this post...they can be seen below.
It was a tale of two halves for Friday's classic match up between Top-Five boys' basketball teams at the Granite City Classic. The B-B-E Jaguars, ranked No. 3 in the latest Minnesota Basketball News rankings, squared off with No. 5-ranked Cass Lake-Bena.
After building a huge 25-6 lead in the opening half, the Jaguars led 32-25 at halftime.
**Here's a video featuring part of that early surge where the Jaguars could do no wrong:
**Added late Monday night...here's a lengthy video from later in the second half of regulation...this video starts with the game tied 47-47 with about 7:30 left:
**Here's the last three minutes of the 2nd half of regulation...not including the last 11 seconds...
In another blog post which I believe I got up late Friday night, you can watch those last 11 seconds of regulation play.
CL-B, which shot poorly in the early stages even though they were taking high-percentage shots, heated up dramatically in the second half. At the end of regulation play, the score was deadlocked at 60-all. CL-B's potential game-winning shot at the regulation buzzer danced around the rim and rolled off.
Final score: Cass Lake-Bena 67, B-B-E 64 in overtime. The Jaguars finish the December schedule with a 3-1 record. They had one game wiped because of the Prep Bowl (NL-S game on 12/8) and then two games postponed due to the weather.
And this weather just keeps dishing out! Currently we are predicted to get 5 to 8 inches of snow during the heart of the day tomorrow, Tuesday...this puts everything planned after school at risk. We'll see how this develops.
Basketball teams settle for splits at Granite City Classic (VIDEOS**)
With two games each played at the Granite City Classic this week, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' and girls' basketball teams both went 1-1 against very good competition. For the girls' team, they suffered an 85-62 loss to No. 2-ranked Mountain Iron-Buhl yesterday before rebounding with a convincing 85-52 win against South Ridge today. The boys' varsity team won 79-60 yesterday against Mountain Iron-Buhl before suffering a very hard-to-swallow 67-64 overtime loss to No. 5-ranked Cass Lake-Bena.
Girls' basketball recap: B-B-E 85, South Ridge 52:
The No. 10-ranked B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team led 43-26 at halftime. After building a 30-16 lead with 5:29 left, the Jaguars led 43-24 with 1:23 to go after Anna Jaeger scored on a fastbreak on a terrific feed from Tiyana Schwinghammer out on the left wing.
The girls were led by Abby Berge's season-high 25 point, 10-rebound effort as the first of four players in double figures. Harley Roering had a terrific comeback today after a tough outing with MI-B as she poured in 16 points fueled by red-hot 4-of-5 three-point shooting; this is her second 16-point night as she also had 16 points at Litchfield. Tiyana Schwinghammer scored in double figures for the fifth straight time this season with a 14-point effort. Allison Dingmann also had a very solid game with 12 points. As a team, the Jaguars shot 37 percent from the floor on a crazy high 74 attempts. Also helping the cause was B-B-E's huge 42-29 advantage in rebounds.
**Here's a video from the final minutes of the first half today against South Ridge:
The clip begins with 2:33 on the clock and the Panthers at the free throw line shooting bonus.
*And here's video from the first half yesterday against Mountain Iron-Buhl:
The video begins with Harley Roering getting a steal and then layup plus an and-one free throw with 14:11 on the clock.
NEXT: the girls' basketball team gets home cooking! Finally! They have not played at home since Tuesday, November 29. Next is a home conference game next Tuesday, January 3 with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. Also, an extended interview with Coach Anderson after today's win is posted in the previous blog post. You can find it by clicking here (short link): https://bit.ly/3VvnBsh.
Boys' basketball recap: No. 5 Cass Lake-Bena 67, No. 3 B-B-E 64 OVERTIME:
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team suffered an overtime loss to a Cass Lake-Bena squad that runs on high-octane jet fuel after both teams battled to a 60-60 tie in regulation play. The Jaguars were staring at a defeat in the final minute of regulation before Kaden Pieper knocked down a runner with 28 seconds to go. After one minute of play in overtime, CL-B junior guard Dominic Staples-Fairbanks drained a three-pointer. Pieper then slashed to the basket with 2:38 left to make it a one-point game. Staples-Fairbanks hit a floater in the lane with 2:20 left to put the Panthers up 65-62. They hit again in the lane to make it 67-62 with 68 seconds to go. Pieper hit from outside with 38 seconds left, but the three-point deficit stood to the overtime buzzer.
As a team, the Jaguars shot 42 percent from the floor.
NEXT: the boys' basketball team makes the trip north to Ashby on Tuesday, January 3 for a Section 6A makeup game with the Arrows.
This is some fun news to share! The JV girls' team won today by a 39-37 score in overtime against Orono!
Here's a short halftime video I recorded just as B-B-E and Cass Lake-Bena's teams were retaking the court:
*Here's the tip-off of yesterday's girls' basketball game, plus the first couple of minutes of action:
The Jaguars struck early in that video with a Brooklyn Fischer putback shot, but the Rangers then fired away an 11-0 run before Coach Anderson called a timeout with 15:31 on the clock. Whatever was said in that huddle worked out, as the Jaguars then reeled off 10 straight points to gain a 12-11 lead on Harley Roering's three-point play with 14:11 to go.
And today I confirmed with a Cass Lake-Bena coach that the Panthers defeated Northwoods 89-59 yesterday in their first game of the Granite City Classic. I saw scores posted online last night suggesting that CL-B lost that game. With today's overtime win, the Cass Lake-Bena Panthers are now 6-0.
Area girls' basketball scores on December 30:
Crosby-Ironton 76, Mountain Iron-Buhl 69 (I am not sure that is accurate!)
Pequot Lakes 51, Montevideo 46
Litchfield 68, Concordia Academy 33 (Second win in two days for Litchfield)
MACCRAY 56, Yellow Medicine East 39
More to come on Saturday afternoon. I have a mountain of newspaper administrative work to accomplish this weekend!!!
I just noticed that I still have 32 video clips to comb through from the past two days. THIRTY-TWO! Crazy. It was fun. It is always fun, and this work is always worth it! It's also exciting to be back on Twitter! (Thank you, Elon!) @bonanzavalley
JUST FOR FUN! Check out this video (short link): https://bit.ly/3VClhzI. That takes you back to March of 2020! Remember that?
We are so blessed here in Jaguar Countrylooking at yet another highly anticipated season of B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball action. The team is at Osakis high school with the JV game already underway. I'm heading there shortly. We will face a very good Osakis team. This will be a tough, tough game. Updates to follow!
Also! I did not find anything regarding a live stream. However, once I'm in the gym I will know more and will update as I am able to. Time to take flight for the 30-mile trek!
Update: the game is tied 10 to 10 after 6 minutes of action. The Jaguars did trail 8-3 with 14 minutes left in the half. This is a well played game so far with lots of action up and down the court.
*Update: with just over 6 minutes left, the Jaguars trail 20 to 18.
Halftime: BBE 33, Osakis 28.
Update: with over 9 minutes to go in the game, the Silverstreaks have a 54 to 52 lead. They regained the lead on a three-pointer after the Jaguars led 52 to 51. *More to come in a new blog post.
Late Sunday night and I'm back in the saddle with the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper sports department fired up.
The Sleepy Eye St. Mary's boys' basketball team defeated BOLD 64-57 in their subsection championship game. Last Friday against Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey, the Knights won 62-40. They are led by a "big three" of proven scorers and have solid threats in their fourth and fifth-best scorers as well. In their playoff opener, senior forward Carson Domeier scored his 2,000th career point. He scored 18 points in both the subsection and section title games last week. He also had 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.
In SESM's state semifinal game last year at Target , a 65-53 loss to Hancock, then-sophomore guard Kaleb Wait led the Knights with 19 points and 4 steals. Then-junior guard Trent Steffensmeier added 17 points. SESM held a 34-29 halftime lead over Hancock, who then tied the game at 39-39 in the second half with 14:27 to go.
Playing the Section 2A championship at Bresnan Arena on the campus of Mankato State University gives SESM an edge in terms of their transition to Williams Arena. This is something to keep in mind for Wednesday's game!
With all that said, B-B-E has one big advantage at this point with a defensive average of about 49 points per game compared to 57 points a game for SESM. The Knights are a high-octane type of team that averages 74 points per contest. For what it's worth, New York Mills averaged 75 points per game before being held to 65 points by B-B-E on Friday night.
In other news...
The B-B-E high school will host a state tournament pep fest and send-off on Tuesday this week from 1:45 to 2:15 p.m.
**Here's a video clip from the final ticks of halftime in the Sub-Section 6A-South semis:
Have you purchased your state tickets yet for Wednesday? The cost is $17 for adults and $11 for students. They must be purchased online at https://www.mshsl.org/tickets.
Also! As of Monday night, the spectator bus for the state tournament has about 30 signed up. They have room for more people!
The crazy pandemic school year continues, and now in mid-May we are getting post-season winter awards. That's not a criticism of anyone involved, just stating that up is down and down is up, but we are getting through it! We are getting through it and keeping our heads up. Today is the last school day of B-B-E's 2020-2021 school year. It is incredible how well we all got through it.
Here's some B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball conference awards...Central Minnesota Conference 1st Team All-Conference: Luke Dingmann, Ashton Dingmann, Kaden Pieper; and the 2nd Team All-Conference honors are to Will VanBeck and Ryan Schwinghammer.
I'll get more posted here as I learn of the awards. A new blog post is coming with updates on today's varsity events.
Step I: boys' basketball surpasses 90 in playoff opener
In their playoff opener tonight on the home court, the No. 2-seeded B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team defeated Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 93-34. They are 15-4 now and will host the second round on Saturday, March 20 back on the home court.
W-H-A finishes the season 3-16 overall.
*Update: the Sub-Section 5A-West semifinal game at B-B-E elementary will be this Saturday, March 20, with tip-off at 7 p.m. The Jaguars will face either No. 3-seeded Verndale or No. 6-seeded Sebeka.
**Another update: two nights after sending their girls' basketball team to Jaguar Country for the playoffs, the Verndale Pirates will send their boys' basketball team to our community. This Saturday, Verndale will head to B-B-E elementary to face our Jaguars in the subsection semifinals. Verndale defeated Sebeka 57-38 tonight to advance.
Verndale went 1-1 in the regular season with the Trojans, losing 45-39 at Sebeka on February 8 during their second meeting. They are now 10-9 overall, and they finished 6-7 (fifth place) in the Park Region Conference.
Section 5A playoff scores on March 18:
Browerville 53, Pine River-Backus 40 (No. 5 beats the No. 4 seed)
Upsala 62, Swanville 38 (Upsala is the No. 2 seed in the east sub-section)
St. John's Prep 2, East Central 0 (forfeit win)
Braham 74, Hinckley-Finlayson 62 (OT)
Nevis 91, Bertha-Hewitt 41
Area boys' basketball playoff scores on March 18:
Sauk Centre 2, Pine City 0 (forfeit win)
Paynesville Area 80, Benson 56
New London-Spicer 60, Minnewaska Area 58 (at MAHS high school)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 85, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 57
Two wins on the hard court...and conference champs!
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team prevailed in a tough game over visiting Eden Valley-Watkins tonight. They led 49-37 at one point in the second half before closing out strong in a 57-42 win.
It was a historic win! This win gives the Jaguars at least a share of the Central Minnesota Conference title. This is the first time in school history that they have won part or all of a conference championship. That is awesome!
Next: the Jaguars (15-1) travel to Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on Thursday this week before finishing the regular season on Friday with a home game against Maple Lake.
Fun fact: currently the Jaguars are tied with Heritage Christian for the best defensive average in Class 1A (35.3 points per game). Heritage Christian (15-1) is the second-ranked team in Section 4A.
Against a very tough Section 5A opponent, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team defeated visiting Upsala tonight by a 64-55 score. The Jaguars trailed 26-25 at halftime. They trailed 53-50 late in the game before making the big comeback. Ashton Dingmann had a monster game with 18 points and 12 rebounds, including a 7-of-10 effort at the free throw line.
As a team, the Jaguars shot an outstanding 19-for-20 at the free throw line in the second half. Free throws bought huge insurance for them down the stretch.
Below, video from late in the first half of the Upsala game:
Upsala falls to 11-6 overall with their third straight loss. They are 8-2 (second) in the Prairie Conference. The Cardinals are currently the No. 2-ranked team in Sub-Section 5A-East behind East Central (13-2).
More to come.
Area boys' basketball scores on March 8:
Litchfield 59, Eden Valley-Watkins 40
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 60, Renville County West 55
Rockford 83, New London-Spicer 67
Spectrum 71, Maple Lake 50
Albany 68, Sauk Centre 41
Holdingford 63, St. John's Prep 39
Parkers Prairie 73, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 31
Hinckley-Finlayson 88, Ogilvie 62
Battle Lake 64, Rothsay 48
Verndale 67, Swanville 50
Onamia 46, Isle 36
New York Mills 76, Pillager 75
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 69, Paynesville Area 68 OT
Hancock 66, Lac qui Parle Valley 39
Central MN Christian 71, MACCRAY 49
Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 52, Browerville 36
Benson 74, Dawson-Boyd 64
West Central Area 69, Barnesville 50
Two wins for the basketball teams, and a great night for the Knights of Columbus fish fry! I spent way too much time at the fish fry before the game, and I barely managed to post the video players just before the tip-offs took place. It's been a very fun night. We are having a wonderful Lenten worship season in the Bonanza Valley.
After the girls' basketball game, I made a return trip to the KaDe Shack and visited with a very nice crowd gathered there. The K of C folks were all smiling. They were thrilled by the turnout. Officially they served 120 fish fry meals. That's a wonderful turnout considering that a typical night is in the 140 to 160 range (pre-pandemic).
More to come. I'll get a video up but it will be much later tonight.
From the top!
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team earned a very important sub-section win over visiting Pine River-Backus in a battle of Top 10 teams. After posting a 34-27 lead at halftime, the Jaguars led by no fewer than four points on their way to a 67-56 win. The Jaguars built a nice double-digit lead in the closing minutes, but the Tigers (9-3) never backed down and fought to the final buzzer. Allisa Knight had a career night with 25 points, two blocked shots, 11 rebounds and two steals to lead the Jaguars.
In a huge Central Minnesota Conference border battle, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team earned a 64-61 win at Paynesville Area. The closing minutes were nip-and-tuck all the way. They won with the help of "guts and defense" and some key baskets down the home stretch. With the win, the Jaguars stay within reach of CMC leader Eden Valley-Watkins. The Eagles won 85-35 over A-C-GC tonight to improve to 9-1 in the CMC. The Jaguars are one game behind at 8-2.
Kaden Pieper led the Jaguars with 23 points, three assists and five rebounds. Next was Luke Dingmann with 17 points.
Paynesville Area falls to 7-6 overall and 6-4 in the CMC.
Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on February 26:
EV-W 85, A-C-GC 35
Holdingford 35, Maple Lake 31
For tomorrow: the wrestling team hosts a dual meet, not a triangular. I have to confirm when it begins. I do have a firm date on the beginning of team playoffs! The wrestlers will host the first round of the Section 5A playoffs on Wednesday, March 10.
More to come. Time to check out the area scoreboard.
Area girls' basketball scores on February 26:
Maple Lake 53, A-C-GC 27 (a Central MN Conference game)
Sauk Centre 60, Benson 26
New London-Spicer 78, Glencoe-Silver Lake 55
Annandale 52, Rockford 39
Willmar 61, Bemidji 48
Albany 67, Milaca 23
Pierz 57, Mora 30
New York Mills 68, Battle Lake 50
Featured below is video from the joint Thanksgiving Eve worship of Norway Lake Lutheran parish on November 21, 2018.
The video begins with Priscilla Erickson reading the lessons. She is a grandmother to two of our B-B-E Jaguar athletes: elementary-age Taylor Pieper and also sophomore Kaden Pieper, who was a key reserve on last year's sub-section finalist Jaguar boys' basketball team. Erickson also works as a cook at B-B-E high school. Taylor and Kaden were both featured in photos in the November 12 Bonanza Valley Voice with deer they shot near Spicer back in October.
Two minutes into the video, Pastor Wayne Kopitzke begins his Holy Gospel reading. He reads from the Bible's book of Matthew, chapter 6. Then around 4 minutes into the video, worshipers sing the Gospel acclamation. Pastor Wayne's sermon begins at the 4:40 mark.
Also! Please remember to call ahead if you are getting take out meals from the Padua Pub tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner. Their advertisement was in last week and is in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. The fine staff at the Padua Pub will go above and beyond to help serve us on a day when we should all give extra care and thought to take stock of what we have to be thankful for.
If you click on the following (short) link, you can watch the Thanksgiving Eve 2020 worship service at Norway Lake Lutheran parish: https://bit.ly/3q3c3Or. The service is posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice website. Also in that web article is a video clip from Thanksgiving Eve worship on November 22, 2017 plus a few extra photos added.
Fun fact: the sanctuary building of East Norway Lake Lutheran is 145 years old this year. Wow! I don't know many buildings in our area that are 145 years old.
And what a day that was! Here's members of the B-B-E choir singing the National Anthem before the start of the boys' basketball team's state tournament run.
The date was Thursday, March 22, 2012, and the Jaguars defeated Lakeview Christian Academy 85-76 in the Class 1A state quarterfinals on their way to a state title in a perfect and truly unforgettable 33-0 season. The singing group included freshmen through senior choir members. A new member of the K-12 teaching staff at B-B-E, Brittany (Roelike) Borgerding, is in the far back of this group. She was a junior that year.
