Happy New Year

Be safe out there. A good idea for all teenagers is to be home by 10!! Just sayin'!

A learning experience

It was a learning experience when the Jaguars boys' basketball team tangled with Apple Valley on Saturday night at SCSU. Between that game and the Sartell-St. Stephen game, the Jaguars faced opponents who were bigger and stronger than they were for the first time in years. I suppose I could go back to the Springfield game when we battled with their Division-I lineman in the paint.

With all the shots that rimmed out during the first half, had even half of them gone down, the Jaguars easily could've gone into halftime down by 10 or 12 points instead of 22.

Coming up in Jaguar Country: multiple road games for the boys' and girls' basketball teams, beginning Thursday when the boys travel to .500 Paynesville for a border battle and the girls head up to winless Ashby.

The Jaguars wrestling team hosts an 8-team invitational on Friday starting at 2:30pm. Don't forget to circle your calendars for the B-B-E Dazzlers dance team invitational with 9 teams next Monday, January 7 starting at 7:00pm at the high school. It's a robust event that includes A-C-GC, Albany, Alexandria, Lakeview, Melrose Area, Paynesville Area, Rockford Area and Yellow Medicine East. That makes it the biggest dance team invitational that B-B-E has ever hosted.

Rich Vos Memorial tournament

A photo from the 2011-12 wrestling season at the Jaguar Invite on January 6, 2012.

The second annual Rich Vos Memorial Old Timers wrestling tournament is on Saturday, January 4 beginning at noon at the high school gymnasium.

Facebook users are encouraged to visit the event's Facebook page to read all the details:
https://www.facebook.com/events/419619684833713

It's been about 14 months since we faced the unimaginable tragedy when Coach Vos was killed south of Belgrade in a bicycle/truck accident. I'll never forget that morning, sitting in my office when a co-worker came downstairs to tell me the horrific news. I sat at my desk for two hours in stunned disbelief while gathering my thoughts and writing about what happened: http://bbejaguars.blogspot.com/2012/10/b-b-e-suffers-unimaginable-loss.html

Undoubtedly the loss still weighs heavily on the Vos and Lieser families, but now we all have the opportunity to come out and show our support for the scholarship program as well as the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team.

Here's the official website that has all the specific details about the tournament:
https://www.smore.com/mrbc

(Video) B-B-E vs. Apple Valley

Here's action from the middle of the second half last night:


Up until that point in the second half, the Apple Valley had outscored the Jaguars 14-12 after some competitive basketball was played.

More will be posted Sunday afternoon..

Eagles shoot down the Jaguars

The Jaguars, shown during introductions at Apollo high school yesterday, were just as fired up tonight against Apple Valley but didn't have the horsepower to stay with the Eagles for all 36 minutes.

The field goal shooting didn't improve much in the 2nd half for the Jaguars, and the Eagles cruised over the final 10 minutes to win 83 to 47. BBE (7-1) shot 30% from the floor in the first half compared to 49% by Apple Valley.

This is just the second regular season loss for the Jaguars since February 4, 2010 when they lost 77-72 at Dawson-Boyd. Such streaks are not important this season. It's all about getting better and preparing for the Section 5A playoffs!

At a pit stop in Cold Spring and the roads are surprisingly dry.

First half struggle

Pre-game video clip:

A promising start has faded a bit as the Eagles' strength and size have challenged the Jaguars. With 10 minutes gone, Apple Valley has a 21-11 lead.

With 14:13 left, the game was tied 7-7 after Brian Goodwin knocked down a 10-foot pullup shot.

After a second B-B-E timeout with 5:08 left, Apple Valley is ahead 33-14. The Jaguars are playing well other than the fact that their field goal shooting percentage is ice cold, probably around 30%. They haven't fared all that well at the free throw line, either, going 6-of-10 at the stripe.

A jump shot from 12 feet out with 8 seconds left by Goodwin was the last bucket of the first half, and the score at the break is 45-23.

We have an outstanding following of Jaguar fans! That is awesome! I hope everyone is aware of the elements outside, as we'll all have a brutal and very difficult drive home after the game.

Second half update:
For the first few minutes of the second half, the Jaguars played very well and were trading buckets with the vaunted Eagles. Try as they would, they had a tough time getting the deficit under 20 points. A mid-range shot by Nick Benton with 13:20 left made it 54-33. A minute later, James Kuefler hit a paint shot for a 56-35 deficit, but from there the Eagles slowly pushed it to 30 points and greater.

Final: Apple Valley 83, B-B-E 47. Coach Montbriand said after the game, "I was hoping we could out-do them in the desire department, but I'd say we both played with equal desire. They were just flat out bigger at every spot, but we played with a lot of hustle and quickness. I liked our effort, we just couldn't get the shots to fall. It was difficult to play defense against them. It was a learning experience."

Photos, video and other game information will be posted later tonight. Time to venture out in the tundra. Say a prayer for all travelers tonight!

50 degrees

Hard to believe but we are in a 50 degree drop in the ambient air temperature in Jaguar Country right now. To those at SCSU tonight...expect bad driving conditions after the game. It's raining and sleeting in Alexandria as of 7:00pm.

Be safe everyone!

Apple Valley

Apple Valley beat Roseville last night 112-81. Roseville, also a Class AAAA team, was co-champions of the very tough Suburban East Conference.

The JV Jaguars won 54-41 this morning to finish 2-0 at the Granite City Classic against St. Cloud Apollo. Yesterday they beat Big Lake by two points in a thriller thanks to Dalon Bitzan's three-pointer in a come-from-behind win.

Make sure you take advantage of the last hours of the great weather we're having in central Minnesota by attending tonight's match up between our Jaguars boys' basketball team and Apple Valley at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud. Tip off is at 8:30pm, and tickets are $9 for adults.

Tanner Heinsius.

James Kuefler, Alex Schumann and Justin Schmitz applying defensive pressure on a Sabres fast break.

I think the Jaguars are going to give the Eagles a battle! Be there to cheer them on.

(Video) End of the first half

Here's the final moments of the first half today in St. Cloud, with Sartell-St. Stephen's senior guard Alex Haima knocking down a pretty incredible three-pointer while floating in mid-air as the buzzer sounded:


Area boys' basketball scores on December 27:
Albany 69, Holdingford 43
Upsala 71, Little Falls 61
Isle 72, Royalton 46

Area girls' basketball scores on December 27:
Kimball Area 55, Upsala 54
Sauk Centre 80, Pierz 25
Holdingford 57, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 23
Albany Area 62, Willmar 37
Melrose Area 49, Mora 35

Jaguars earn impressive win over Sartell-St.Stephen

In the first game of the Breakdown Sports Holiday Classic in St. Cloud, the Jaguars boys' basketball team defeated Sartell-St. Stephen 60-48 in front of a large crowd at Apollo high school.

After being tied 28-28 at halftime, the Jaguars knocked down tough shots on their first three possessions to take a 35-30 lead with 16:50 left. Nick Benton then fired up his team and the B-B-E crowd with two difficult, consecutive rebound shots in the paint to put the Jaguars up 39-30 with 14:10 left.

Some great defense today.

The Jaguars put their undefeated 7-0 record on the line tomorrow night when they face Class AAAA Apple Valley at Halenbeck Hall at SCSU. Tip-off will be at about 8:30pm.

More coming later! Time to head back to the office and also try to enjoy some of this GREAT weather we're having today.

Halftime: 28-28 tie

The Jaguars boys' basketball team raced out to a 15-5 lead just 7 minutes into the game today against Sartell-St.Stephen but cooled off the rest of the way. The Sabres tightened up in the paint and made the Jaguars work for outside shots.

Down 28-23 with 100 seconds left, the Sabres scored the last 5 points before halftime,  including a wild buzzer-beating jumper near midcourt as the buzzer sounded.

With 5 minutes left: BBE 56, Sabres 42.

Final: BBE 60, Sabres 48. That was quite a second-half defensive performance!

Missing iPod

The iPod was lost in the last week of school on the late shuttle bus after a basketball practice. Here's the description:

white 16 GB 4th gen iPod touch with a black rugged case and a slightly sticky home button.

Anyone with information about it should e-mail me: saukheraldreporter@gmail.com.

(Herald Photo gallery) BBE vs. Maple Lake

A handful of photos from Friday night's win over Maple Lake:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/201314-winter-sports/BBE-vs-Maple-Lake-girlsBB-1220

Tournament time

The annual Granite City Holiday Classic, featuring 14 games altogether, is coming tomorrow and Saturday in St. Cloud. From what I see, advance tickets are not available.

Day one has the Jaguars boys' basketball team playing Sartell-St. Stephen (5-2, 3-1 Central Lakes Conference) at the St. Cloud Apollo high school at 12:30pm. Earlier in the day, the JV Jaguars play Big Lake at the same location at 8:00am.

Day two is the big one, with the Jaguars facing #1-ranked Class AAAA Apple Valley at 8:30pm at Halenbeck Hall at SCSU. Their feature player is 6'2" Tyus Jones, who has signed with Division I powerhouse Duke.

Yes, I'll be blogging at both games.

The aging process

Some light humor for you to enjoy:

Merry Christmas from Jaguar Country

A model nativity scene set up along Highway 55 in Belgrade.

Please travel carefully and have a safe, enjoyable and very Merry Christmas this week.

 

May we all get a couple days lived at a slower pace while remembering what's important in life: faith, friends and family. Please pray for the less fortunate in our world, especially those who are suffering such as a family near Garfield who had a severe fire in their home this morning as the weather beat us down hard with bitter cold temperatures.

http://www.echopress.com/content/house-fire-near-garfield-injures-two-people

Unveiling the B-B-E Jaguars Facebook page

I haven't had much time to blog in the last couple of days, as I've been busy creating and building up content on a new B-B-E Jaguar Facebook page. While numerous groups and athletic teams at B-B-E have their own Facebook pages (i.e. football, volleyball, robotics, speech) I wanted to have one Facebook page available where all groups are promoted. It's another way to promote what is posted to this Jaguar Blog plus random sports or news articles posted at the Sauk Centre Herald website.

Here's the URL that Facebook users are invited to "like" and bookmark. I hope to get a few varsity photos added from the 2013 fall season and also share links for video clips that haven't been available so far.

https://www.facebook.com/BBEJaguars   (like it up!)

Here's one source of photos that this Facebook page will help promote...here's photos from the Fall 2013 sports season:
http://saukherald.smugmug.com/2013SPORTS/B-B-E-fall-varsity-sports

Mark your calendars, 2nd annual Rich Vos Memorial tournament

It's Saturday, January 4 in Belgrade.

More information is at at http://www.smore.com/mrbc.

Take it easy out there!

The U.S. National Weather Service has issued a Wind Chill Warning, which is in effect until noon on Tuesday (12/24). Wind chill values are expected to reach 35 below to 45 below zero. A wind chill warning means the combination of very cold air and strong winds will create dangerously low wind chill values. If you plan to travel, have weather emergency supplies in your vehicle.

I hope area youth who are avid snowmobilers make smart decisions today and limit their time outside on their sleds and definitely stay close to home if they decide to go out for a spin.

The temperature in Brooten was -17 at 7:00am and then dropped to -18 at 9:00am. A half hour later the mercury had climbed to -15.

(Video) 8th grade Jaguar boys' basketball beats NL-S

Video from Osakis on December 14:


The conclusion of this game had the "bottle throwing" incident by one of the NL-S players.

A ton of respect for our Jaguars

The Jaguars huddle up one last time against Minneapolis North at the Breakdown Sports tournament. It was the only game of the year so far where they haven't played in "running time" under the Mercy Rule. That will change after Christmas, when they battle in the Granite City Classic in St. Cloud.

I have to comment that in so many cases good sportsmanship can be sorely lacking in high school sports now days, especially when you take to the Internet and read articles about what goes on in other states.

A good, crystal-clear exception to that would be with our 6-0 Jaguars boys' basketball team, who has played numerous games this year where they could have literally named the score. Take their last game, at Holdingford, where they led 69-28 just halfway into the second half. Instead of running the starters a little longer and pushing the score towards the century mark, they called off the dogs and decided to only win 73-32.

While they have a team that may not come around for a hundred years in a small school like B-B-E, they're not whooping it up and trying to embarrass other teams. That's not their style. You have to have a ton of respect for that. I do.

Jaguar girls blast Irish

Alex Evenson is off to the races for a breakaway layup, as the Maple Lake bench and coaches look on in back. There was little the Irish could do that went right tonight

The Jaguar defense was cranked up at full steam in the second half, holding the Irish to 13 points after halftime. They were swarming tonight! It was fun to watch.

The Jaguars girls' basketball team got out to a big early lead and didn't look back while defeating Maple Lake 62 to 30 tonight in a home Central Minnesota Conference game. They led 32-17 at halftime and then jumped out to a commanding 46-24 lead mid-way through the second half. Running time was employed near the end under the "Mercy Rule", and every player on the roster saw action. Megan Weller led all scorers with 20 points, most coming on the fast break.

The Jaguars take a 5-2 record into the Christmas break. That's the second-most wins they've had in the December portion of the schedule since 1996-97. In the 2008-09 season, they went 6-3 in December on their way to an 18-9 final mark.

Josie Kirckof made this free throw attempt and also a field goal in the closing minutes of the game.

Maryy Dak shown late in the varsity game. Her B-squad team was also victorious tonight over the Irish.

This was a very good night for the varsity program. The C-squad won 69-27, and the B-squad won 41-33.

Here's the Sauk Centre Herald photo gallery from the Kimball game:
 http://saukherald.smugmug.com/201314-winter-sports/BBE-vs-Kimball-girls-bsktbll-1

**Basketball followers: don't miss out on D-Mac's interview with Coach Kristina Anderson tomorrow morning at 7:30am on Smooth Magic 107 FM.

Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on Dec. 20:
Eden Valley-Watkins 41, Kimball Area 24
Holdingford 46, Rockford Area 37
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 80, Pierz 36

Here's action from the middle of the second half tonight:



Area wrestling scores on December 20:
Kimball Area 39, Paynesville Area 36
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 59, Osakis 12
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 53, Eden Valley-Watkins 12

Area girls' basketball scores on December 20:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 62, Paynesville Area 36
Montevideo 50, MACCRAY 45
Minnewaska Area 71, Benson 32
Osakis 87, Swanville 17
Hancock 51, Ashby 48
Nevis 51, Bertha-Hewitt 42
Sauk Centre 73, A-C-GC 36
Melrose Area 58, Yellow Medicine East 40

Area boys' basketball scores on December 20:
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 91, Sauk Centre 89 OT! (Mainstreeters, down by 15 at one point, storm back to force overtime in Grove City but are tagged with a loss)
Clinton-Graceville-Beardsley 70, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 31
Dawson-Boyd 49, Central Minnesota Christian 42
Eden Valley-Watkins 68, Browerville 61
Foley 69, Maple Lake 60
West Central Area 72, Royalton 41
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 44, Staples-Motley 42
New London-Spicer 65, Litchfield 56 OT
Swanville 56, Henning 54
Breckenridge 70, MACCRAY 58
Paynesville 96, Benson 65
Albany 71, Mora 54   

Wrestlers fall

The Jaguars lost 43 to 22 to Eden Valley-Watkins tonight. They led 18-0 then faded.

The Jaguars girls' basketball team is burying Maple Lake 44 to 21 with 12:32 left in the game.

Jaguars completely throttle Huskers

The whole team saw action tonight in Holdingford.

It was all B-B-E, all night long at Holdingford as our top-ranked Jaguars boys' basketball team mauled the Huskers by a final score of 73-32 in their 3rd Central Minnesota Conference game of the young season. The Jaguars, not letting up one bit with a 47-16 halftime lead, came out strong after halftime and blasted the Huskers with a quick 7-2 run and set the tone for the rest of the game.

A nice baseline shot by David Rodgers with 13 minutes left made it a 60-24 lead. With around 10 minutes to go, the Jaguars subbed in 5 players, and the starters were slowly pulled for good as running time went into effect. Holdingford falls to 3-4 overall and 0-3 in the CMC.

With Kimball Area losing tonight, the Jaguars are the only undefeated team in the CMC. (See scores below) It's way too early to talk "14-0" however, as I feel Rockford, Kimball and Eden Valley-Watkins all have quality teams. I also think the second time around with HL-W-W won't be a cupcake either, even with it being a home game.

Up next: two tough games in St. Cloud next Friday afternoon and Saturday night. I'll talk more about those games in the next few days.

Central MN Conference boys' BB scores on Dec. 19:
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 73, Kimball Area 69 (quite a game at Kimball!)

**Don't miss out: a home girls' basketball game tomorrow night against 0-5 Maple Lake. Santa Claus will also be in town (Belgrade). Our Jaguar girls are 4-2 overall and definitely need to take out their frustration over tonight's loss at Osakis on the Irish tomorrow night.

Wrestling fans: make sure to make tracks to Eden Valley to see an important Section 5A quadrangular with EV-W, Osakis, our Jaguars wrestling team and Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. Action begins at 5:00pm. With a little luck, I'll catch some of the final matches and blog updates ASAP.

Area boys' BB scores on Dec. 19:
Dawson-Boyd 77, Lac qui Parle Valley 37
Willmar 56, Fergus Falls 51
Pierz 54, Pequot Lakes 52
Albany 53, Becker 43
Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity 65, Maple Lake 62 OT (Irish fall to 1-5)
Paynesville Area 66, Yellow Medicine East 55
Melrose Area 64, Montevideo 63 OT! (a Seth Noll free throw with no time on the clock wins the game for Melrose)
Osakis 48, Henning 46
Eden Valley-Watkins 72, Milaca 54
Rockford 88, Norwood-Young America 51
MACCRAY 81, Renville County West 53

Area girls' BB scores on Dec. 19:
Browerville 90, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 73 (Holy cow! I almost don't believe that...Tigers are 5-0)
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 63, Annandale 59 (a very nice Section 5AA win for the 6-0 Lakers)

Basketball updates!

The boys' basketball B-squad Jaguars won 45-40 at Holdingford tonight. The C-squad boys lost a close one 39-33.

The girls' basketball B-squad Jaguars lost at Osakis.

In the varsity game at Holdingford, the Jaguars boys' basketball team has a 17-7 lead with 12 minutes left in the first half. Then with 8 minutes to go, it's 23-8.

With about 4 minutes left, the Jaguars are ahead 40-12. *HALFTIME: Jaguars 47, Huskers 16. *Second-half update: with 13 minutes left in the game, the Jaguars have a 60-24 lead. Then with under 6 minutes left with running time underway, the Jaguars have a 69-30 lead.

In the varsity game at Osakis, the Jaguars girls' basketball team trails 15-10 with under 12 minutes to go. The Jaguars have suffered 7 turnovers already. *Update: with 2 minutes left to halftime, the Silverstreaks lead 34-13. *Halftime: Silverstreaks 38, Jaguars 13.

The Jaguar girls had an early 4-point lead with a three-pointer by Peyton Miller and a three-point play by Megan Weller. It's been all Osakis from there, however, with the Silverstreaks forcing over 20 first-half turnovers on the Jaguars. *Update in the 2nd half: Osakis 53, Jaguars 25. *Final: 67-31 loss.

Tonight: girls' basketball at Osakis, boys at Holdingford

The Jaguars girls' basketball team is looking to go to 5-1 on the year with a tough road non-conference game at Osakis tonight. It will be carried on Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood, with Dave McClurg providing play-by-play coverage.

The Jaguars boys' basketball team faces Holdingford in a Central Minnesota Conference game that will be carried by 106.5 FM the Train. Bill Dean and Don Leukam will provide play-by-play coverage.

I was just sent a nice reminder from Don that both stations stream their coverage online for the whole world to take in.

Wrestling reminder for all K-12 wrestlers!

Here's a reminder about a "Meet and Greet" with the varsity wrestlers for elementary wrestlers and parents, this Thursday, December 19 at 6:30pm at the high school. Parents will meet in the media center, while the kids will meet the varsity crew in the wrestling room.
Sign-up sheets, shoes, NYWA forms and other important information will be available. Please spread the word. Go Jaguars!!

B-B-E celebrating the Christmas season

Click to enlarge this.

The kids are having a fun week at B-B-E. Lots of excitement in the air for the Christmas/holiday season. I even heard that Santa Claus made an appearance at the high school yesterday.

Jaguar girls' basketball gets 4th win

Peyton Miller closely guards Kimball's Madison Libbesmeier on the top of the key tonight.

Kinlee Swanson looks to pass on the wing during the first half. She hit the game-winning bucket on a bank shot with 63 seconds on the clock. Swanson got a free throw to boot on the three-point play to make it 44-41.

In a tight ball game, dozens of small things have to go right in order for it to result in a win. A little luck helps too, and the combination of all that is what led to an exciting 44-42 win for the Jaguars girls' basketball team over Kimball Area tonight. The Jaguars did it the hard way, coming back from being 9 points down in the opening minute of the second half.

It was a night when the Jaguars swept all three games: the C-squad won a 54-48 overtime thriller to stay undefeated at 2-0, and the B-squad girls won 39-28 to improve to 3-2 on the year.

In the varsity night cap, a 4-0 lead quickly vanished when the Cubs drilled consecutive threes up to the 15:10 mark. A Megan Weller bucket tied it at 6-6, and two Hailey Braegelman free throws put the Jaguars up 8-6. Weller got two free throws with 12:29 left for a 10-8 lead before both teams traded threes. Peyton Miller sniped from the arc for a 12-11 lead, and sure as you guessed...the Cubs got their 4th three of the night to go back up 14-12 with 10 minutes left.

Alex Evenson got off a tough shot in heavy traffic in the low post for a 14-14 tie with 9:43 left, but from there the Jaguars went absolutely cold up to halftime. They managed just two points, a bucket by Weller, and trailed 23-16 at the break.

The good stuff was yet to come, though, in the second half.

The Cubs scored the first after halfitme, but a three by Miller and a point-blank shot in the lane by Hailey Braegelman put new life into the Jaguars, down 25-21 with 16:55 left

Again, both teams traded threes, with Miller's shot on the arc making it 28-24 with 15:47 left. Braegelman got a rebound shot on the left block, and Kinlee Swanson got a steal and layup to tie it at 28-28. Braegelman got another shot down low, this time on the right block, for a brief 30-28 lead. The Cubs hit their 7th three-pointer of the night to go back up 31-30.

Bailey Buchholz drained a long outside shot, but a Cubs free throw tied it at 32-32 with 12 minutes left. Just over 2 minutes later, Swanson swatted the ball away while guarding the wing, bolted forward and grabbed a steal on her own tip while blasting down court for a layup. That sequence is at the end of the video below.

Here's a 5+ minute long video clip from the second half tonight:


The 34-32 lead on Swanson's steal and layup was short-lived, with the Cubs firing in the paint with 9:31 left for a 34-34 tie. Two more minutes went by before either team scored, when the Cubs got a second straight paint shot to go up 36-34. With 7 minutes left, Miller drained a three to put the Jaguars ahead 37-36. With 6:24 left, Evenson got a fast break shot. They went cold, though, going over 4 minutes without scoring; meanwhile, the Cubs got a free throw and paint shot to tie it at 39-39 with 3:31 left. Braegelman drained two free throws with 2:16 left to make it 41-39, but just as the entire night played out, the Cubs tied it with two bonus free throws with 95 seconds remaining.

Swanson made a gutsy move around one defender on the right wing, then pulled up against Kimball's tallest player (Madelyn O'Brien, standing 6'2") on the right block and nailed a bank shot with 63 seconds left while getting an and-one shot to complete a three-point play. B-B-E 44, Cubs 41.

The lone point from there was a Kimball free throw, and the Jaguars hung tough in the end with great defense to preserve the win. The Cubs had a shot in the closing seconds, but on an inbounds play with 4.4 seconds left they passed from the half court to the baseline, and the ball sailed quite high and hit the gym's east wall.

Here's more video, this time showing the last moments of the game...marginal quality shot on my SmartPhone:


(GREAT job cheering, Jaguar student section!!!!)

The Jaguars, now 4-1 on the season for their best start in five games since 1996-97, have a very tough game ahead of them when they travel to Osakis (3-1) on Thursday night. They have a short turnaround the following night with their third CMC game of the year when Maple Lake visits on Friday.

Central Minnesota Conference girls' basketball scores on Dec. 17:
Eden Valley-Watkins 56, Maple Lake 40
Rockford Area 66, Pierz 55
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 65, Holdingford 35

Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on Dec. 17:
Eden Valley-Watkins 66, Pierz 49

The B-B-E Dazzlers dance team competed in Fergus Falls tonight. I haven't heard any results yet. Alexandria, Wadena-Deer Creek and Melrose Area were other teams in attendance.

Area boys' basketball results on December 17:
St. Cloud Cathedral 63, Sauk Centre 58 (back-and-forth game plays out at CHS, Mainstreeters get 1st loss)
Upsala 69, Browerville 60 (a great Section 5A match up)
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 45, Osakis 34
Holdingford 68, Foley 54
Benson 64, BOLD 60
New London-Spicer 68, Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 50

Area girls' basketball scores on Dec. 17:
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 56, Melrose Area 51
K-M-S 58, MACCRAY 38
ACGC 68, Benson 32
Sauk Centre 82, Paynesville Area 40
Isle 55, Parkers Prairie 33 (Isle is a top team in Section 5A)

Jaguars trail at the half

Against Kimball Area in a home girls' basketball game, the Jaguars trail 23 to 16. They were in a 14 to 14 tie with 9:43 left.

What an awesome ending! The Jaguars won 44 to 42!

The world needs more of this

Saw this on Facebook earlier today:

"When you get a call from your son's elementary principal at 8:30 in the morning, you know it can't be good. But instead, he tells me that my son helped a girl who fell and all her breakfast was over the floor. He stopped what he was doing, helped her up and asked her if she was okay. I'm so proud that he is my son."

(Video) Jaguars at Holdingford on Friday

Video courtesy of the Melrose Beacon. Peyton Miller knocked down a three-pointer from the left corner.



And here's a shot from the first half against Minneapolis North on Saturday night: 

Nick Benton posted up strong to deny a slice to the basket. The North player made an excellent pass to the low post, but James Kuefler denied a close look at the basket at that point.

The Jaguars played outstanding interior half-court defense for the second night in a row. It was fun to watch.

Getting our Zorbas on

Enjoying a day away from the computers today with some family Christmas fun. Later tonight I'll post more video from last night.

Up next for varsity action is a home girls' basketball game on Tuesday night against Kimball Area.

Jaguars beat Minneapolis North in Minnetonka (updated)

Brian Goodwin maintaining his dribble after getting pushed on the left wing by Minneapolis North's sophomore Jamil Jackson. Goodwin managed to slice and dice the North defense multiple times while draining 13 field goals and 16 free throws to set a new single-game school scoring record.

A little hand-checking tonight...here's Tanner Heinsius dribbling against the pressure near the half court line.

Jordan Wosmek working against a tenacious North full court press.

The Jaguars boys' basketball team won 90-75 tonight over Minneapolis North to improve to 5-0 this season.

Brian Goodwin finished with a school-record 46 points. Billy Borgerding had 20 points including four threes and three very important three-pointers in the second half. Nick Benton was also in double figures with 10 points.

**Update: the second half...
James Kuefler got two free throws just 13 seconds into the second half. Just 30 seconds later Brian Goodwin got one of his patented slicing layups for a 45-32 lead, and it appeared that the Jaguars were about to pull away from the Polars. With 14:55 left, Goodwin's coast-to-coast layup put the Jaguars up 47-39, but from then up until the 9:46 mark, things got really, really dicy for travel-weary B-B-E. The Polars got two free throws, an outside shot, two bonus free throws and a layup to suddenly get a 49-45 deficit. They cut it to 51-48 with 11:06 left, but Goodwin again sliced up the defense for a 53-48 lead just seconds later.

At 10:43, North got a shot in the paint, and at 10:26, they hit one of two bonus free throws to make the score 53-52. Just seconds after that, Goodwin hit two bonus free throws, and with 9:46 left Billy Borgerding nailed a three to spark new life into the Jaguars. The Polars never really threatened after that, and two Nick Benton free throws with 8:45 left put the lead back to 10 points, 62-52.

I have a lengthy video of D-Mac's interview with Minneapolis North's head coach, Larry McKenzie, taken prior to the game. I could get quite a story out of just that. He has been part of a mini-turnaround of sorts for the formerly-troubled Minneapolis high school that almost was shut down 2 years ago. They're bringing it back from the brink with a new staff and new attitude. The motto on their boys' basketball MSHSL Internet page is "New Coach, New Direction, New Beginning".

I was very impressed with the fast pace Minneapolis North liked to run with. They tried running a half-court offense, and that worked at times, but you could tell those kids wanted to run and run and run. Fortunately, our Jaguars thrive on that style of play. What's crazy is that North had mostly sophomores and freshmen players on the court. They will be playing "lights out" basketball next year. They could even become a state-contender by the end of this season. I had a great time visiting with a number of very basketball-passionate yet down-to-earth and friendly North parents. Tomorrow I'll talk more about those conversations.

Interesting factoid: a grand total of 54 fouls were called in tonight's game.

Here's some first-half video:


Loading the bus now and heading home. I've got about 200 photos to go through from the game plus a fair amount of video.

20:50: we're pulling out from Tonka Center and heading west. The televisions on our bus just started playing the classic Christmas-time movie "Home Alone" which is being a very nice distraction from my blogging. It will help get me in the mood to switch gears dramatically from tonight's game to tomorrow morning's Christmas program at Trinity Lutheran Church. ##happyjournalist

21:42: driving past Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted high school in rural Howard Lake. I just heard that the bond referendum they passed will allow them to build a middle-school addition to their 9th-12th grade facility. That building was opened in 2008.

22:10: "Home Alone" just got to the good stuff...with Macaulay Culkin's character shooting Joe Peschi's character right in the jewels with a pellet gun through the doggy-door to the kitchen. ##lovethismovie ##ilovemyjob

22:18: done blogging until after I get home. We're almost to Kimball and should be arriving at the high school at about 23:00. It's been quite a day!