Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa at Pine River-Backus

Recap

In an early season matchup of favorites in Section 5A, it was the Jaguars of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa topping the Pine River-Backus Tigers.

This budding rivalry, piggybacking some great battles on the volleyball court, had the intensity of a playoff matchup. Two outstanding scorers, BBE’s Abby Berge and PRB’s Ramsey Tulenchik, went toe-to-toe with great finishes in the paint and plenty of chances at the free throw line. The two combined for 77 points and 31 free throw attempts on the evening.

BBE had more contributions from the bench, including 11 first-half points that helped the Jaguars to a 40-30 lead at the half. Berge banked in a long three at the buzzer to push the lead back into double-digits at the break.

Pine River-Backus knocked down a three to start the second half, but could never sustain any momentum to mount a big comeback. BBE led by double digits most of the remainder of the game, and an 8-0 run late put the game out of reach.

The Jaguars at 2-0 and host Holdingford Tuesday night. Pine River-Backus is 0-2 and will travel to #9AA Crosby-Ironton Tuedsay night. That game can be heard on Skeeter 101.5 & rjbroadcasting.com.

Team Stats: Turnovers – BBE 25, PRB 24; Rebounds (off.) – BBE 38 (10), PRB 26 (11); Free Throws – PRB 16/28, BBE 12/23

PRB Leaders – Ramsey Tulenchik 32 pts; Cate Travis 10 pts; Claire Dahl 6 pts, 2 asts

BBE Leaders – Abby Berge 35 pts, 2 stls; Allison Dingmann 11 pts; Brooklyn Fischer 10 pts (bench); Tiyana Schwinghammer 9 pts, 5 stls

Postgame talk with PRB Coach Tucker Sheley