Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa hase been among the state’s elite the past six years. Nothing worse than having the Jaguars walk onto the Williams Arena floor Thursday with a chip on their shoulder.

The Jaguars closed the first half on a 34-5 run, and cruised into the semifinals with an 85-50 victory over Park Christian in the Class 1A quarterfinal game.

The two teams were deadlocked at 13-all when the Jaguars ran off 16 unanswered points to take away any doubt about the outcome.

“Right after our loss last year we talked about getting back here,” Jaguars senior floor leader Brian Goodwin said.

Top-ranked Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa was upset by Wheaton-Herman-Norcross 66-59 in the Section 6 semifinals a year ago. “It’s been in the back of our minds,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin scored 19 of his game-high 35 points in the opening half. Senior James Kuefler added 13 points and senior Billy Borgerding chipped in with 12 points.

“We’ve been playing pretty well since the playoffs started,” Goodwin said. “We’ve been rolling.”

The Jaguars (29-1) went 20-for-36 from the floor and forced 16 turnovers in the first half, building a 47-18 lead.

“We shot the ball pretty well, and I don’t think they had seen anybody with our speed,” said Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa coach Dave Montbriand, who has guided the Jaguars to a 168-13 record over the last six seasons.”

RON HAGGSTROM


Photo gallery: Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa vs. Park Christian