GLENWOOD — It was suggested to Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa head coach Kristina Anderson that ‘Scared Straight’ might be a good term for how her girls basketball team played Thursday night.
“I really like that expression,” Anderson said. “I’ll take that one.”
BBE cruised to its second straight Section 5A championship, beating Swanville 94-35 at Minnewaska Area High School.
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BBE led 60-18 at halftime, doing all the things it does best, playing defense well to ignite its transition game. It had 23 steals, led by Abby Berge’s nine.
It was a far cry from their West sub-section championship game Tuesday, when it needed overtime to beat Pine River-Backus, 56-46.
“It wasn’t like we were over-looking Pine River or anything like that,” Anderson said. “They took some things away from us and played well.
“But it taught us to be ready to play.”
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BBE heads to the state tournament for the second straight year after making the tournament for the first time in 2020. The Jaguars will learn who their opponent is after a coaches’ seeding meeting Saturday. The game is likely Tuesday at a site to be determined, depending upon who the opponent will be. It’ll likely be at a high school and tickets will be limited.
“We’ll take anything,” Anderson said.
A win in the quarterfinals would enable BBE to advance to the state semifinals April 7 at Target Center in Minneapolis.
The Bulldogs were the East’s No. 3 seed and finish with a 12-10 record. BBE is the West No. 1 and is 21-1.
The Jaguars were led offensively by Berge, who had 23 points on 9-for-17 shooting. BBE shot 54% (37 of 68), including 60% (6 of 10) from 3-point range.
Allisa Knight added 10 points for the Jaguars, who had 14 players score.
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Section 5A final
BBE 94,
Swanville 35
Swanville (12-10) 18 17 — 35
BBE (21-1) 60 34 — 94
SWANVILLE - Stats not available
BBE - Scoring: Karsee Kampsen 2, jackie Lindsay 8, Tiyana Schwinghammer 5, Anna Jaeger 2, Allie Dingmann 6, Kailey Fischer 8, Ella Halvorson 2, Liz French 8, Abby Berge 23, Josie Knutson 3, Harley Roering 9, Jozey Goodall 2, Allisa Knight 10, Karissa Jones 6 … 3-point shots: Lindsay 2-3, Schwinghammer 1-1, Fischer 2-3, Knutson 1-1 … Rebound leaders: Berge 9, Dingmann 6 … Assist leaders: Kampsen 2, Shelby Anderson 2, Berge 2, Knutson 2 … Steal leaders: Berge 9, Knutson 4 ... Block leaders: Knight 4, Dingmann 2
