Jaguars pummel Rockford

The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team was absolutely on fire at Rockford Area hitting 30-of-54 field goals and shooting 50 percent on the arc on eight three-point tries. It's their 44th straight win in the Central Minnesota Conference.

Rockford (1-2 CMC, 5-7) shot 16-for-46 from the floor in the loss.

Here's a little snapshot of how the game played out...Four minutes after tip-off, the Jaguars had built a 10-2 lead. Only two minutes after that, Billy Borgerding banged in his first dunk of the season to make it 21-4. Six minutes after that with 6 minutes remaining, B-B-E led 29-13. At halftime, the Jaguars were up 39-17. The second half started just as the first half did, with the Jaguars outscoring the Rockets 21-6 in the first 7 minutes of play. As reported last night, the final score was B-B-E 72, Rockford Area 39.

Two solid days of rest and practice lead into a big home game this Friday against Kimball Area (7-3, 2-1 CMC). Also this Friday, the Jaguars wrestling team travels to compete in a tough field of teams at the Paynesville Invitational (4:00pm start).

Coach Montbriand commented following the win that his Jaguars came out "on fire" and "broke the Rockets spirit" with some incredible first-half play. He was very pleased with how the game developed in comparison to their last trip to the Rockets' gymnasium. Montbriand and his team have great respect for Rockford, Coach Mike Tauber and the strong history of their basketball program; their gym has never been an easy place to play. In the 2011-12 season, the Jaguars opened up huge leads at halftime and early in the second half only to see Rockford make a run and close the gap to 9 points by the final buzzer in a 67-58 win. Earlier in the season, B-B-E buried Rockford 75-38 on the home floor. Prior to last night during the past five years, B-B-E's biggest win in Rockford was by a 90-76 score in the 2009-2010 season. In 2008-2009, while the Jaguars were winning their first-ever conference championship, they lost at Rockford 76-74 and finished 12-2 in the league. In 2010-11, the Jaguars won 85-72 in Rockford in the second game of the January schedule.

Last night was a great night to win in the CMC, with every other conference game having some interesting final scores (see below).

**The Jaguars girls' basketball team won for the first time in over a month, snapping a five-game losing skid, as they defeated visiting Minnewaska Area in a border battle between teams hungry for wins. The Lakers fell to 3-8 overall, while the Jaguars improve to 3-7 overall. Up next: a home game against a 1-9 Holdingford team desperate for a win this Thursday night in Central Minnesota Conference action. The Huskers will be tough, though, as they just lost to 9-0 Upsala 61-51 last night.

Don't miss additional coverage of the Jaguars at the Sauk Centre Herald website...here's the direct link you should bookmark for that:
http://saukherald.com/main.asp?SectionID=8&SubSectionID=402&TM=54116.46

While I've got your attention, it's interesting to note that yesterday (Tuesday, January 8) this website had a total of 295 unique visitors click by. I'm usually getting 100 to 200 a day but yesterday that figure spiked. It's not hard to figure out why, though, with interest in the B-B-E Jaguars climbing from around the state.

Central Minnesota Conference boys' basketball scores on Jan. 8:
Holdingford 57, Kimball Area 49 (a mild upset at Kimball; the Huskers have won 3 of their last 5 games after starting the season 0-4)
Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted 56, Eden Valley-Watkins 53 (at Howard Lake, another surprising score)
Pierz 62, Maple Lake 58 (on the Irish home court)

Central Minnesota Conference wrestling scores on Jan. 8:
Pierz 72, Rockford Area 7
Pierz 51, Eden Valley-Watkins 19 (Pioneers are 12-2 overall and 3-0 in the CMC)

Area boys' basketball scores on Jan. 8:
New London-Spicer 70, Annandale 68 (huge win for the 6-5 Wildcats in their Wright County-West Conference debut; the now 8-3 Cardinals were ranked #8 in the latest Class AA poll)
*Wheaton/Herman-Norcross 61, Hancock 36 (W/H-N, 8-3 overall, has a solid team this year)
LQPV 50, BOLD 48 OT
Montevideo 77, Yellow Medicine East 41
Melrose Area 74, Benson 41 (9-1 Dutchmen keep rolling)
A-C-GC 76, Minnewaska Area 73 (Dylan Hoerchler's three free throws made in the final 3.5 ticks gave the 9-2 Falcons the win and broke up a 73-all tie)
St. John's Prep 60, Osakis 49
Browerville 71, Royalton 35
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 48, Swanville 41
Upsala 96, Eagle Valley 40
St. Cloud Cathedral 75, Albany 68
Bertha-Hewitt 69, Henning 65 (OT! a pretty big upset in Park Region Conference action...the Hornets were 7-2 and had a high QRF ranking at #27, while the Bears were 4-4 coming in and ranked #117...the Bears now have a half-game lead over the Hornets in the conference)
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 66, Paynesville Area 29
West Central Area 65, Brandon/Evansville 53

Area girls' basketball scores on Jan. 8:
Annandale 57, New London-Spicer 46 (Wildcats suffer their first loss of the year)
CMCS 57, Hancock 46
K-M-S 63, Lincoln HI 36 (8-2 Fighting Saints shake off a two-game skid after their 7-0 start to the season)
Russel-Tyler-Ruthton 59, MACCRAY 24 (Wolverines get just 8 second-half points)
Osakis 49, Sauk Centre 40 (Silverstreaks stun the Mainstreeters after building a 28-18 halftime lead)
Brandon/Evansville 56, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy 24
Eden Valley-Watkins 62, Paynesville Area 38
Upsala 61, Holdingford 51 (the 1-9 Huskers make a game of their home battle with the neighboring, undefeated, state-ranked Cardinals)
Albany 67, Milaca 33
Parkers Prairie 84, West Central Area 35 (Panthers senior forward Madison Dorn surpasses 2,000 career points in this match-up of sub-section teams)
Pierz 73, Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 67 (a good sub-section win for the Pioneers)
Underwood 68, Rothsay 45

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