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!
Friday, March 20, 2026
Spring sports are underway...track competes indoors
At the St. John's University fieldhouse in Collegeville on Thursday, the B-B-E Jaguars track and field teamscompeted in the indoor Central Minnesota Conference meet. This is traditionally held in the latter part of March for CMC schools. The lone result I have is from the girls' high jump, where Laken Anderson took second place.
The sports section of this week's newspaper includes one picture from the boys' basketball team banquet that was held last Monday. The picture includes the All-Central Minnesota Conference players on the team. They are Taylor Pieper, Lance Radermacher, Owen Radermacher and Hudson Reed. Additional coverage from the banquet will appear in the March 26 issue.
Here's the playing of the National Anthem and the starter introductions before the playoff game a little past two weeks ago in Underwood:
An exciting business Open House is coming to Belgrade on March 28
This is one you'll want to mark your calendars for! Last spring (2025), the flower, plant, gift and rock shop called Earthy Elements opened at The Shed in Brooten. Ashley Zimmerle, owner of Earthy Elements, expanded her business last summer after she founded it in 2022. The next step in her business journey was a recent move to Main Street Belgrade. This took place while an expansion in another business is taking place at The Shed (located on Highway 55 East in Brooten)...on the weekend of Valentine's Day, Zimmerle moved her business to 303 Washburn Avenue, Belgrade, to The Boosters building on the north end of main street.
The next step Ashley's got in store is a business open house on Saturday, March 28 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at her new location. The Earthy Elements open house features flower, plant and prize giveaways. Easter lilies and bulb garden plants. FREE coffee samples. To-go bracelet make and take packes for $15 also available. You're invited to stop by and see the new space in the Booster's building.
Ashley is excited for upcoming special events and holidays including Easter (just on the horizon) and also B-B-E's prom (Saturday, May 2). Soon after prom is Mother's Day, and that's soon followed by the Memorial Day weekend. Ashley got off to a great start with Early Elements expanding in Brooten, and her business will continue growing on main street Belgrade. Today, I learned she'll be able to work hand-in-hand with Mary Solbreken and Rustic Designs Flower Farm of Burbank Township. That's another terrific small business we can be proud of right in our backyard!
In sports news...
I lost track of the late-winter college basketball games. The last I was plugged in to that, Abby Berge's MSU-Moorhead Dragons team was in a tight ball game in the NSIC playoffs. Berge is a 2023 B-B-E graduate and was a junior for the Dragons.
In the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference playoffs, the University of Minnesota-Morris Cougars lost on a buzzer-beater to Bethany Lutheran in the UMAC championship game. B-B-E's Kaden Pieper, also a 2023 graduate, was a junior on that squad. He ended up as the team's second-leading scorer for UMM, who should compete for a conference title again next year. They were regular season runners-up in the UMAC this year with an 8-4 record.
As for spring sports, I know of B-B-E's Gannon Walsh (Class of 2022) playing for the University of Minnesota-Crookston men's golf team. He's currently ranked 58th in the NCAA Division II Central Region. As a team, Walsh's Golden Eagles is ranked No. 11 in the Central Region. UM-Crookston's spring season begins next Monday and Tuesday at the NSIC Preview in Smithsville, Missouri.
Here's a video featuring tip-off and the opening minute of the playoff game at Underwood:
Sunshine is gaining strength, but it's still cold out! and CHICK DAYS in Regal is underway
The full sunshine feels incredible today, even as the temperatures hover in the upper single digits across the Bonanza Valley area.
The Belgrade city council meets tonight, and their meeting agenda can be found at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper's editor's blog: https://lifeinbonanzavalley.blogspot.com.
It's time to advertise CHICK DAYS in Regal!
Jerry Fischbach, the kind-hearted, down-to-earth Regal Elevator owner, is promoting Chick Days for the 2026 season. Regal Elevator is now offering discounts on all chicks and chick feed. Supply your own eggs! Call for livestock feed AND pet feed at Regal Elevator; phone number 320-243-4220. Website: http://www.regalelevator.com.
Mid-Week Lenten worship in Brooten (VIDEO) + Padua news
While you're stuck at home today during the blizzard, you don't have + to miss church worship. At the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website, a video was just posted from Trinity Lutheran in Brooten from Wednesday, March 11. Worship that night was the second-to-last Mid-Week Lenten worship for the Trinity and West Lake Johanna Lutheran parish.
Snowfall totals across the past 15 hours or so, at least for the town of Brooten, appears to have been only about 6 inches. The large snow system tracked farther south than was predicted, which is good for those weary of winter.
News out of Padua regarding Saint Patrick's Day weekend activities:
The St. Patrick's Day parade in Padua for today has been cancelled due to the weather and the tough road conditions. The Padua Pub is still open for those who are able to travel, but of course, your own discretion is advised. Tread lightly out there! Here's additional information...click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice website to read more: PaduaStPatricksNews.
I spoke with Dave Rooney by telephone right around the time the parade was scheduled to be held today. Dave was thrilled to report that the Padua Pub had a "packed house" on Saturday evening for their St. Patrick's Day festivities. The Rooneys want to thank everyone for their support, and they look forward to seeing you on Tuesday for the final hurrah of St. Patrick's Day in Padua.
Currently, the forecast is calling for 5 to 10 inches of snow coming our way on Saturday and Saturday night. Please share this information: the Brooten Ambulance pancake feed is being moved to Sunday, March 22 with all other information being the same. This weekend, on Sunday, we'll all likely be digging out from the snow. We'll see how it shakes out!
The pancake feed will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 22 at Bucky's Pickles, which is the former Brooten American Legion building on Central Avenue in Brooten. Here's the same information with a Brooten Ambulance statement posted at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: BrootenAmbulanceFeed.
Tonight! the B-B-E Knights of Columbus will host their Fish Fry fundraiser night at the KaDe Shack in Brooten. They serve from 5 to 8 p.m. Additional details: KofCFishFryMarch13.
I'd also like to encourage you to visit the Padua Pub on Saturday this weekend. It looks like they should be able to have a nice run of things on Saturday for their Saint Patrick's Day celebration. The Sunday activities in Padua might not fare as well. It's the reality of the situation. By all means - please help the Rooney family hit their food and green beer supply by patronizing them on Saturday! The food and green beer will be served starting at 3 p.m.
**Update: early Friday night, The forecast is saying we could get 10 to 18 inches of snow across the next 48 hours. Wow.
I've had quite a bit on my plate this week as the winter activities are winding down (with the exception of the speech team)...here's a nugget I want to share from Monday night's school board meeting: the fall play performed last November had strong participation from the 7th and 8th grades (15 total students) but just 2 freshmen, one sophomore, no juniors and just one senior. Doing additional math shows that out of 172 students in grades 9-12, only 4 participated in theater.
I find this to be simply wild: 168 students out of 172 did not participate in theater in grades 9-12. That is utterly unacceptable.
Catching up with basketball playoffs (VIDEO, UPDATES*)
Let's start with a few notes on the upcoming state girls' basketball tournament.
For the Section 5A championship last night, the Braham girls' basketball team defeated Pine River-Backus 56-37. This sends the Bombers to the state tournament for the first time since 2013. In the Section 6AA championship, Sauk Centre won 55-41 over Milaca to earn a repeat trip to the state tournament. It's a huge achievement for the Mainstreeters to repeat trips to state after they were stung in the section playoffs for four straight seasons, 2020-2021 through 2023-2024. In the upcoming Class 1A state tournament, Braham has received the No. 8 seed; they begin in the quarterfinals with top-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl.
On Thursday in Marshall, New London-Spicer beat Fairmont 61-54 to advance to state for the first time since the 2023-2024 season. The Wildcats received the No. 3 seed for the Class 2A state tournament.
Now for some boys' basketball news...
In the Section 6A quarterfinals, the top-ranked Henning Hornets survived a high-scoring upset bid by 8th-seeded Underwood in an 85-78 win tonight. The Hornets improve to 28-0 with the win and are currently averaging over 80 points per game.
I finally got some video uploaded from Thursday night. This blog post will be updated a couple times during the day on Sunday while I'm at my daughter's JO volleyball tournament in Paynesville.
Here's action early in the first half against Underwood...
That video begins while the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team holding a 13-4 lead with just over 13 minutes to go. B-B-E had a terrific start in the game and played well throughout the first half before falling behind a few minutes left before halftime.
In the following video, the Jaguars trailed 27-26 with under 4 minutes to go before the break.
Late in the first half at Underwood...
The Underwood Rockets finished the season 19-8 overall. They went 11-5 in the Little Eight Conference for third place alone. The Hancock Owls, runners-up in the Little Eight, were stung in the first round of the Section 6A tournament on Thursday in a 64-59 loss to visiting West Central Area. As it stands, the top four seeds in Section 6A remain alive: Henning, Pelican Rapids, Park Christian and Breckenridge.
The Brooten city council meets on Monday night. The agenda can be found at the newspaper's editor's blog: BrootenCouncilAgenda.
Area boys' basketball playoff scores on Saturday, March 7:
Braham 86, Swanville 51
Nevis 75, Browerville 61
Jackson County Central 77, Montevideo 63
Sebeka 73, Pine River-Backus 51
Upsala 51, East Central 32
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 74, Minnewaska Area 44
Annandale 67, Sauk Centre 62
Melrose Area 46, Holdingford 45
Park Christian 66, Benson 51
Osakis 63, Hawley 52
Breckenridge 65, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 47
Henning 85, Underwood 78
Pelican Rapids 69, West Central Area 57
Youth groups from Trinity and West Lake Johanna Lutheran churches plus Big Grove/Crow River/Grace Lutheran churches are at Target Center this afternoon. The main event is the Minnesota Timberwolves facing Orlando. The Wolves (40-23) are currently in 3rd place in the NBA's Western Conference, while the Magic (33-28) sit in 8th place in the Eastern Conference.
The Timberwolves have won 5 straight. Also, today is Crunch's birthday. Attendance-wide, the team is averaging crowds of over 17,000 per home game.
Powered by low-priced 1.99/gallon E85 at Coop's Corner, the newspaper's Chevy Suburban hauled 1/3 of the group of 18 children to Minneapolis. Highway 55 was super icy from Brooten to Belgrade, but travel conditions improve greatly once we got out of Belgrade.
After Thursday's playoff game in Underwood, I took some time off from sports reporting. I will get back to blogging on Sunday after church. There's quite a bit of college basketball news that I need to get caught up on.
After the first quarter, Minnesota has a 30-27 lead over Orlando. Anthony Edwards has poured in 17 points with three 3-point shots.
Halftime: Orlando 60, Minnesota 50. Edwards did not score in the second quarter.
