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!
Tuesday, December 23, 2025
The eve of Christmas Eve (VIDEOS)
Tonight is the eve of Christmas Eve. I can't believe that Christmas is less than 2 days away. Where on earth did December go? It's a mad dash to the finish line for the December 25 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. This blog post will be refreshed with various news and sports items on Wednesday.
Here's a video recorded in the final minute of the first half last night against K-M-S:
The Jaguars went into halftime down 29-21 after they began the game with 10-0 and 15-2 deficits.
Multiple area churches have Christmas Eve worships tomorrow. One of them, South Lake Johanna Lutheran Church, begins their worship at 4 p.m.
Area boys' basketball scores on December 22:
Yellow Medicine East 70, Red Rock Central 38
Benson 84, Ortonville 54
Minnewaska Area 75, Sauk Centre 51
Area girls' basketball scores on December 22:
Osakis 47, Paynesville 40
Minnewaska 67, Melrose 28
Sauk Centre 83, Montevideo 36
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 61, Yellow Medicine East 54
Wednesday morning update:
Good grief! The layout of the 16-page issue this week included approximately 48 pictures. I did not take all of them...this is the third straight 16-page issue in December. That's a Bonanza Valley Voice record!
How about more Christmas music!
Below is a video from the high school band's winter Christmas concert held a week ago on Tuesday at Olson Auditorium.
Here's the 7th-8th grade band performing:
More to come.
Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on December 22:
Kimball Area 59, Holdingford 47
Area girls' basketball scores on December 22:
Legacy Christian 77, Maple Lake 17
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 67, Bagley 24
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 77, Eden Valley-Watkins 40
Pine River-Backus 74, Nevis 54
Milaca 58, Braham 43
Hancock 59, Minneota 54
In games with vastly differing play in the final minutes, we suffered two non-conference border battle losses tonight.
In a closely contested game at Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg high school, the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team had their three-game winning streak end with a 47-42 loss.
The Jaguars suffered from ice cold 3-for-24 three-point shooting in the game. They missed all 12 three-point attempts in the first half. At the free throw line, they went 7-for-11. Overall on field goals, B-B-E shot just 25 percent (16-for-62). Teagan Dingmann was the leading scorer with 19 points.
The Fighting Saints (5-2) entered the night averaging 72.6 points per game. They are currently the No. 3-ranked team (QRF) in Sub-Section 3AA-North behind Minnewaska Area and New London-Spicer.
In boys' basketball action...
In a home game, the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team was in a one-possession contest early in the second half with K-M-S after trailing 29-21 at halftime. Across the last 10 1/2 minutes of the game, the Fighting Saints shot the lights out and extended a 39-34 lead to a 69-48 final score to improve to 4-1 overall. The Minnesota-Scores.net records are incomplete; on December 8, the Fighting Saints lost a Camden Conference game at Dawson-Boyd. To date, that is their only loss.
K-M-S has a key Sub-Section 3AA-North game at Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City tomorrow night.
Here's a lengthy video featuring the National Anthem tonight and more...
The opening minutes of the game were rough. B-B-E's first successful field goal came with 10:40 on the clock.
Here's a video recorded in the middle of the first half:
In other news...Christmas news!
I don't want you to take your eye off the ball from the Christmas and holiday season! You can click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website and take in songs performed at East Norway Lake Lutheran church on Saturday: NorwayLakeJingleBells.
The River Lakes girls' hockey team defeated Delano/Rockford 3-1 on Saturday to snap a two-game skid. They move above .500 to 6-5-1 overall heading into tomorrow's game at the Buffalo Ice Arena. The Stars face Buffalo/West Lutheran/Maple Lake/Annandale, who has a 5-9 overall record.
B-B-E's Lillian Thompson has now faced 351 shots on goal with 315 saves. She's logged all 620 minutes of goalie time for the Stars through 12 games.
In boys' and girls' wrestling news...
At the Jackhammer Invitational in Pequot Lakes on Friday and Saturday, the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team placed 20th out of 29 teams with 47.5 points in a tie with Albany. In first place was Staples-Motley, who had 260 points. The runner-up was Perham with 154 points, and Paynesville Area took third with 147.5 points.
Freshman Noah Jensen won the 114-pound title.
In the girls' brackets, B-B-E sophomore Elizabeth Rademacher placed first in the 125-135 division. In the championship, she won by fall (20 seconds) against Isabella Jackson of Detroit Lakes. B-B-E freshman Marianna Baker placed third with a 1-2 record in the 135-139 division.
It has taken nearly a week! But I am finally getting to band concert video from the Christmas concert last Tuesday night.
Here's the second song performed by the senior high band that night:
The name of the song performed was The Rowan Tree, arranged by Randall Standridge.
More to come.
COMING on Monday night:
The basketball teams have home-and-away border battle action with Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. The girls' basketball team travels to K-M-S high school in Kerkhoven; the C-squad game starts at 4:15 p.m. Meanwhile, the boys' basketball team hosts K-M-S in Brooten. For the boys, the C-squad and JV games start at 5:30 p.m
Sunburg Community Players perform at Norway Lake (VIDEOS)
The Sunburg Community Players performed a special Sing-Along concert at East Norway Lake Lutheran church this afternoon. It was part of a fundraiser for ENL's grand piano project.
Here's a video featuring some of the first songs performed:
Another cold night ahead in the Bonanza Valley! I hope you can consider taking a trip to Belgrade for dining at the Mexico Querido restaurant this weekend. They are open today (Saturday) until 9 p.m. Their hours on Sunday are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. They are closed on Mondays.
And now it's Sunday morning...
I encourage you to drive to Belgrade today and enjoy a meal at Mexico Querido. I met with the owner, Jose, and his family last night. They are a hard-working and super friendly group of people to get to know. Mexico Querido is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and you can order takeout.
Big Grove Lutheran Church held their Sunday School Christmas program, and the kids and the two directors (Kiara Quade and Shannon Wander) did a marvelous job working with them. They should be commended!
Here's another video from the Christmas Sing-Along at Norway Lake:
Girls' basketball nabs ugly win at Melrose (VIDEOS*, Updates)
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. After falling back by a wide margin, the Dutchmen turned up fullcourt pressure in an attempt to thwart B-B-E's speed. They also became more effective at forcing long shots with better interior defense.
With about 8 minutes to go in the first half, the Jaguars had a 17-6 lead.
Here's a video from the middle of the first half:
The Dutchmen played even with the Jaguars for the next 3 minutes, but a baseline shot by Macey Roering, a shot in the paint by Mya Worms and a free throw by Teagan Dingmann made it 26-14 with 3:44 left.
Here's a video from later in the first half:
The Dutchmen closed out the first half with an 8-2 run in the last 3 minutes before halftime.
In the second half...
A three-pointer by Makenna Roelike extended B-B-E's lead to 35-22 with 11:11 left. Back-to-back shots by Teagan Dingmann and Kamie Fischer brought the score to 39-24 with 9:40 left, and additional field goals by Jacinta Jackson and Worms made it 46-29 with 6:30 left.
Credit to Melrose, the chips were down after they fell back by 17 points, 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.
Here's a 4-minute video clip featuring the last 18 seconds of the game:
The final field goal attempt from near half court was launched by Melrose senior guard Kaitlyn Klasen.
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. Update: the Lakers beat K-M-S 77-44.
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.
Coming on Saturday! Don't forget! The Norway Lake Lutheran community is hosting a Christmas Jubilee sing-along at East Norway Lake Lutheran Church. Their soup meal starts at noon, and the singing gets going at 1 p.m. Read all the details, including the cost, by clicking over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: NorwayLakeChristmasJubilee.
Central MN Conference girls' basketball scores on December 19:
Eden Valley-Watkins 52, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 47
Paynesville Area 67, Maple Lake 43
Central MN Conference boys' basketball scores on December 19:
Holdingford 87, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 55
Area girls' basketball scores on December 19:
Henning 59, Battle Lake 53
Foley 70, Upsala 26
New London-Spicer 80, Annandale 32
Yellow Medicine East 80, Montevideo 49
Willmar 79, St. Cloud Crush 12
West Central Area 55, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 49
Ogilvie 69, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 57
Osakis 58, Browerville 21
Underwood 48, Parkers Prairie 35
Ashby 40, Hancock 37
Minnewaska Area 77, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 44
Swanville 63, Sebeka 36
Area boys' basketball scores on December 19:
Willmar 86, St. Cloud Tech 76
Brandon-Evansville 83, Kimball Area 79
Annandale 81, New London-Spicer 54
Benson 85, Lac qui Parle Valley 52
CMCS 97, Paynesville 54
Melrose 58, Minnewaska 50 (Dutchmen improve to 2-3 overall and break a 3-game skid)
The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team is in a makeup game tonight with a Stearns County border battle at Melrose Area.
In the C-squad game, the Jaguars overcame a 17-16 halftime deficit to pull away in the closing minutes. Final: B-B-E 42, Melrose 32.
Due to technical difficulties, I am unable to add an advertisement here. I want to give a huge shout out to our two community banks, who both held Christmas customer appreciation events today. Kudos to the staff of Bonanza Valley State Bank of Brooten and Kensington Bank of Belgrade! They advertised these events in the December 11 and 18 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. That advertising keeps this sports department going!
Varsity halftime score: B-B-E 28, Melrose 20. Macey Roering and Mya Worms are both leading the Jaguars with 8 points each. The second half will start at about 6:33 p.m.
When I left Belgrade this morning for an errand to Elrosa, the temperature on the minivan said 30 degrees. It was also raining. Less than 15 minutes later, the van's thermometer said 24 degrees...but it was still raining. The van's defroster had to remain on high to keep the windshield from icing over.
About 1 hour after that, the word went out at 10:19 a.m. saying that B-B-E schools is dismissing at noon today. No after school activities.
Gosh, dang it!
Odd and strange is the best way I can say how the day's weather is shaping up! Multiple evening activities for tonight have been scrubbed and/or postponed. It wreaks havoc on the activities office. The home dance competition will likely be sometime in January.
Now, I can get caught up on multiple other tasks such as office cleaning and photo/video editing.
In case you weren't there, the Elrosa Santa Day event brought over 100 kids to town. The organizers there should be proud of the response by families in and around Elrosa!
Here's Amy Zenzen of Elrosa reading to children that morning...click on the following link to see more: ElrosaSantaDay2025.
Looking ahead briefly to tomorrow...the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball game at Melrose has a unique schedule. The C-squad Jaguars face the Dutchmen at 4:15 p.m., and the varsity game is set to begin at about 5:45 p.m. Please spread the word! I am seeing a "ticket link" at the school website, which makes me wonder if Melrose accepts cash at the door when paying for your ticket to watch the game.
ALSO tomorrow! The Bonanza Valley State Bank and Kensington Bank will both hold Christmas-season customer appreciation events. They advertised in the December 11 and 18 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper. The support of these two banks is vital to the survival of the newspaper and its sports department. I can't repeat that enough.
And back to coverage of Tuesday's concert...
Click over to the newspaper's website to watch the senior high choir singing at Olson Auditorium: SeniorHighChoirCarolBells.
In other news...
In the Clara City Herald newspaper this week, they reported on the MACCRAY's school budget. I noticed their property tax levy was set at $5.283 million for the 2026-2027 school year. For comparison, B-B-E recently set their tax levy for the same period at $2.861 million. That's a massive difference. It should also be noted that B-B-E and MACCRAY have very similar K-12 enrollment figures.
At Renville County West school, their 2026-27 levy was set at $2.591 million. Their school is a bit smaller than B-B-E, so that levy amount seems more in line from my perspective.
The Padua Pub Customer Appreciation is being held today until 8 p.m. This was advertised in the December 11 issue on page 3.
THANK YOU, Dave and Clara! My family will be there later this evening!
Also! Don't forget about Bonanza Valley State Bank and Kensington Bank...they are both loyal and regular supporters of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper and our sports department! Click to read about their events coming on Friday: BanksCustomerAppreciation2025.
The Padua Pub was hopping tonight! I enjoyed visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Julius Evenson of Crow Lake Township. Always a treat to see good friends out and about in our communities!
Let's go back almost 2 weeks to the Brooten Santa Day evening:
When the dust settles, I'll have Brooten Santa Day coverage in the December 11, 18 and 25 newspaper issues.
