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.

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

The Voice is at Target Center

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. 

Step I: Jaguars fall short in playoff opener

The last 5 to 6 minutes were rough for the B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team in their playoff opener at Underwood on Thursday night. While they appeared strong and in command with about 4 minutes gone in the second half, the host Rockets caught fire down the stretch and utilized superior rebounding to post a 69-55 win.

With just over 14 minutes left in the game, the Jaguars led 45-38. About 11 minutes later, the Rockets were ahead 54-53 after going on a 16-8 run. If you do the math, the Rockets outscored the Jaguars 31-10 in the last 14 minutes.

The Rockets (19-8) travel to Henning for the Section 6A quarterfinals on Saturday night.

Here's a video from last Saturday's Belgrade Lions chili contest:


The Belgrade Lions hosts their chili cook-off each year at the Belgrade VFW. They selected the last Saturday of February as a permanent date to hold this event, which helps kick off March FoodShare month. The Lions were grateful for a showing of 66 guests who purchased tickets and voted on Saturday. Additional coverage can be found here at the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: BelgradeLionsChili2026.

GAME NIGHT in Ottertail County

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team is at Underwood tonight for the Section 6A opening round game.

Play-in games took place on Monday night. This week has been far too crazy for me to catch up at Monday night scoreboard. 

The Rockets are 18-8 overall. Like the Jaguars, they took third place alone in their conference. 

**Tonight's game is aired on Smooth Magic 107 of Glenwood. 

UPDATES:

With 8 minutes left in the first half, the Rockets are ahead 21-16.

Halftime: Underwood 33, B-B-E 31. The second half is starting at 7:32 p.m.

**With 2:10 left in the game, the Rockets are ahead 62-53.  The Jaguars have a steep hole to climb out of. The final score will be posted in a new blog post.

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

GAME NIGHT! In Benton County (VIDEOS*)

We make the trek once again over to Foley high school for the Sub-Section 5A-East playoffs. The B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team will face top-seeded Braham in the subsection championship with a 7 p.m. tip-off. The game will be aired on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood. (Thanks, Brady!)

I'm guessing the Minnewaska boys play tonight...so 107.1 FM will have their game tonight instead. I'll see what I can find out about the radio stations that are here in Foley.

If you want to get caught up on local events, click over to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website's community calendar: BBEareaEvents2026.

Here's a video featuring the end of the Swanville game:


That video above begins with about 1 minute, 8 seconds left in the game.

Here's a video starting with just over 5 minutes left against Swanville:


When that video started, the Jaguars led 41-36. They outscored the Bulldogs 10-3 in those final 5 minutes.

Tonight's opponent, Braham, is 22-6 overall while seeking their first state tournament trip since 2012-2013. In that season, Braham went 32-1 and lost a heartbreaker 60-59 in the Class 2A state title game. The Bombers are ranked No. 14 in the most recent QRF rankings, while the Jaguars are No. 17.

UPDATES:
With just under 3 minutes left, Braham senior guard Bridget Golly drained a deep three-pointer for a go-ahead basket by the Bombers. This shot lifted Braham to a 25-24 advantage. HALFTIME: Braham 30, B-B-E 26. At the break, Mya Worms has 8 points, Macey Roering has 6 points, and Kacey Fischer has scored 5 as the leading scorers. Braham's sensational junior guard Morgan Rysdam is leading the Bombers with 11 points.

With 1:25 left, Rysdam drained a clutch three-pointer just before the shot clock expired. This three put Braham ahead 28-26 after Mya Worms scored to lift B-B-E ahead 26-25. The second half is starting at about 7:42 p.m.

**With 7 minutes left in the game, the Bombers are ahead 52-40.

The final score will be posted in a new blog post.

In the other subsection, Cass Lake-Bena and Pine River-Backus are playing in overtime.

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.

Step II: Jaguars shake Saturday jinx, advance to the 'Ship! Jensen finishes with state silver medal

A terrific second half performance, fueled by outstanding defense in the final 10 minutes of the game, lifted the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team to a 51-39 playoff win against the Prairie Conference champion Swanville Bulldogs. The Jaguars displayed lights-out defense across the final 10 minutes of the game, during which the Bulldogs scored just 6 points.

NEXT: the Jaguars (20-8) head to the Sub-Section 5A-East championship game, which is on Tuesday, March 3 at Foley high school. The opponent will be state-ranked Braham. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. Braham is 22-6 overall after defeating Upsala 67-39 in the other semifinal today in Foley. The Cardinals finished 11-17 overall.

Last season, Braham went 23-6 and lost 61-59 in overtime to Walker-Hackensack-Akeley in the Section 5A championship. Two seasons ago, W-H-A defeated Braham 67-63 in the Section 5A finals.

Here's the start of today's game in Foley:


AS FOR STATE WRESTLING...Noah Jensen's title match should start at about 3:30 p.m. today. He is on Mat 1. **Update: Noah lost a 6-1 decision in the championship match to Kenyon-Wanamingo sophomore Liam Sommer (48-1). Jensen finishes one of the best-ever freshman wrestling seasons at B-B-E high school with a 45-4 final record. He was an outstanding 3-1 at state with a silver medal after he earned a bronze state medal (3rd place) as an eighth grader.

In the 114 championship today, Jensen fell behind 1-0 in the second period. He got an escape to tie it 1-1 in the third period. With a little over 40 seconds left in the third, Sommer got a takedown to go up 4-1. A late two-point near fall was also earned by Sommer for a final score of 6-1.

Don't forget that the Belgrade Lions chili cook-off contest is from 5:30 to 7 p.m. tonight at the Belgrade VFW. It's just $5 for any member of the public to be able to participate. Please do your part to suppor this event. You can read more details at the Bonanza Valley Voice website: BelgradeLionsChili2026.

Area girls' basketball playoff scores on February 28:
Foley 56, Albany 47
Sauk Centre 58, Kimball Area 40 (Cubs finish a fine season 20-8 overall)
Milaca 51, Royalton 47 (Royals finish 17-11 overall)
Pine River-Backus 70, Bertha-Hewitt 54
Cass Lake-Bena 52, Sebeka 45
Willmar 56, Fergus Falls 53 OT
Rothsay 58, West Central Area 56 (the Cardinals avenge two Central Lakes Conference losses this season with this Section 8AAA playoff win at Fergus Falls)
Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 80, Hancock 44


I've gotten more updated galleries included in the 2025-2026 winter sports folder: https://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/B-B-E-Winter-Sports-25-26.

Championship wrestling, basketball consuming the afternoon (*UPDATES)

A big day is underway! The championship wrestling session begins at 1 p.m. in Saint Paul. I just finished up with my daughter's basketball games at Cold Spring. It's time to head east. I'm thrilled to report that the B-B-E 6th grade Class of 2032 girls' basketball Jaguars went 2-0 today at Rocori high school. They defeated Kimball 23-10 and then K-M-S 17-4. This concludes their 2025-2026 Highway 55 league season.

At Foley, top-seeded Braham is taking apart Upsala in the first semifinal game. With 2:23 left, the Bombers hold a 64-35 lead. Smooth Magic 107.1 FM will carry today's girls' basketball game against Swanville. Please spread the word! Smooth Magic streams online at https://www.kmgk1071.com. The pregame music at Foley is terrific! REO Speedwagon is on the loudspeakers with 8 minutes to go before the 20-minute timer ends.

As of 1:30 p.m., Noah Jensen is not in the wrestling queue. I'll follow that up until the tip-off of the basketball game in Foley. Tip-off for the Sub-Section 5A-East semifinals between our B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team and the Swanville Bulldogs should take place at about 1:47 p.m.

HALFTIME in Foley: No. 3-seeded Swanville 21, No. 2-seeded B-B-E 16. The Jaguars were playing with mild foul trouble and utilized their depth to push through without any players getting their third personal foul. Nightmarish shooting from the floor has been the biggest obstacle to overcome this afternoon. Also hurting is free throw shooting of just 5-of-10 at the line. Leading the way for the Jaguars is Teagan Dingmann with 8 points. She's followed by 5 points from Macey Roering and 3 by Mya Worms. Swanville's Addison Hudalla leads the Bulldogs with 14 points.

The Jaguars led 16-11 but went stone cold from the floor. With 1:19 left, a free throw by Swanville lifted them in front 17-16.

The second half should start at about 2:31 p.m.

UPDATE in the second half: the Bulldogs hold a 33-28 lead with 10:43 to go after Addison Hudalla scored on the right block. MORE TO COME in a NEW blog post.

GOOD TIMES! Jensen heading to the 'Ship! Boys' hoops thrash Arrows (VIDEOS)

Don't look now! B-B-E freshman Noah Jensen is championship bound! He wrestled a marvelous match, he was outstanding, in tonight's Class 1A 114-pound state semifinal at Grand Casino Arena. Jensen has been ranked No. 2 in The Guillotine polls all season, and today he lived up to that by defeating Pelican Rapids senior Danny Salazar by a 4-1 decision in a sudden victory overtime period.

For Jensen, he now heads to the medals round at state, which starts at 1 p.m. on Saturday. In the championship, Jensen faces top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Liam Sommer, a sophomore from Kenyon-Wanamingo with a 47-1 record. It will be a match that the wrestling scene has been looking forward to all season.

Here's a video featuring Noah winning in his state opener on Thursday:


He's now guaranteed first or second place in his third overall state tournament. As a seventh grader, he wrestled at 107 pounds for the Jaguars when they took third place as a team in 2024.

In basketball news...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team takes a 14-11 record into the Section 6A playoffs after defeating Ashby 81-50 tonight on the home court. It was the final home game for five seniors: Cameron Loe, Jesse Niklaus, Owen Roering, Taylor Pieper and Aiden Radermacher.

The Jaguars shot 47 percent from the floor while making 8 of 30 three-point attempts. At the free throw line, the Jaguars made 7 out of 8 shots. Leading the way was Taylor Pieper with 27 points, and Hudson Reed had 15 points. Aiden Radermacher also had a fine game with 13 points and a team-high 8 rebounds.

Here's a video from the middle of the second half tonight:


In Section 6A, it appears the Jaguars will not be included in the play-in round, which will be on Monday next week. The Jaguars are currently ranked No. 9 out of 22 teams, and this lands them a spot in the section quarterfinals. The Section 6A quarterfinal round will be next Thursday, March 5.

The Jaguars took third place alone in the Central Minnesota Conference with a 7-6 record. Royalton and Eden Valley-Watkins each tied for fourth place with 7-7 records. In first place, we had a tie this season for the CMC title, as Holdingford and Paynesville Area each went 13-1 while splitting the series against one another. To close out the regular season, Holdingford defeated Kimball Area 100-85 tonight at Kimball.

Area boys' basketball scores on February 27:
Melrose Area 58, Sauk Centre 49 (the Dutchmen clinch third place in the West Central Conference and completed the series sweep against the neighboring rival Mainstreeters)
Parkers Prairie 66, Bertha-Hewitt 49
Montevideo 72, Redwood Valley 42
West Central Area 63, Border West 53
St. Cloud Apollo 68, Willmar 66

Area boys' basketball playoff scores on February 27:
New London-Spicer 60, Paynesville Area 55
Litchfield 74, Eden Valley-Watkins 57
Minnewaska Area 61, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 54

State wrestling Day II (UPDATES*)

Noah Jensen won his state quarterfinal match today at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul.  He wrestles again later in the semifinals. In his match this morning, Jensen won by fall (2:34).

In the 114 semis, Jensen faces senior Danny Salazar of Pelican Rapids. That session begins at 4 p.m. today. As for when Jensen's semifinal match will take place, I have no idea. The sessions start with Class 3A wrestlers, and they're followed by the Class 2A field and then Class 1A.

Friday afternoon updates...
Elizabeth Rademacher is wrestling this afternoon in the 130-pound wrestlebacks. Rademacher's opponent is St. Croix Lutheran senior Amelia Converse (14-5). As of 2 p.m., her match hasn't started yet. The match will take place on Mat 7. As of 3 p.m., it has not taken place, but Rademacher is in the queue.

UPDATE on Friday afternoon:
In a crushing loss, Elizabeth Rademacher lost a 2-1 decision in the third tiebreaker to see her season close out at the state tournament. She finishes a terrific sophomore season with a 33-12 record.

Here's how Rademacher's state match played out...
With 1:37 left, Rademacher earned an escape to take a 1-0 lead. Early in the third period, with 1:51 left, Converse got an escape to tie it at 1-1.

Two choice tiebreakers went by without any scoring. In the next tiebreaker, Converse got an escape with 6 seconds to go to claim the 2-1 win.

ONCE again...a friendly reminder! The B-B-E Knights of Columbus will host their first Lenten season fish fry tonight, Friday, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the KaDe Shack. This is an all-you-can eat meal! Please spread the word and come out and support a great organization. Our communities would not be what they are today without our local civic groups. They need your support.

COMING tomorrow...
The Belgrade Lions chili cook-off is tomorrow. You can read all those details here: LionsChiliContest2024. This event is in support of the B-B-E Area Food Shelf. Please, please! I am talking until I'm blue in the face...come out and show your support for our local groups like the K of Cs and the Lions.

Friday evening update...as of 5:30 p.m., Jensen's semifinal match hasn't taken place.

**Update: Noah Jensen is heading to the championship match! He won a 4-1 sudden victory overtime decision in the semifinals. 

At halftime in Brooten, the boys' basketball team is ahead 40-25 over Ashby.

MORE to come in a new blog post.