JCC, Hills-Beaver Creek boys hoops teams one win away from state

Second-seeded Jackson County Central overcame an 11-point deficit Saturday and went to take down top-seed Montevideo — the fourth-ranked team in state Class A boys basketball 77-63 at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

The Huskies captured the Section 2AA South title with the win and will meet Morris Area-Chokio/Alberta — the section's top-seeded North team — at 8 p.m. Thursday at SMSU for a trip to next week's state tournament.

JCC, now 24-6 on the season, got 33 points from Roman Voss, with 22 of them coming in the second half. He also added six rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Weston Rowe contributed 19 points for the Huskies, who trailed 30-19 in the first half but then ran off 10 points in a row to get within one. Montevideo led at the break 34-29, then tallied the first five points of the second half to go back up by 10. JCC, though, dominated from there.

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In the Section 3A South boys basketball title game, top-seeded Hills-Beaver Creek — ranked sixth in the state — downed second-seeded Southwest Minnesota Christian 69-48 at SMSU to move into the sectional finals.

The Patriots will take on Central Minnesota Christian at 5 p.m. Thursday at SMSU with the goal of qualifying for state for the first time. The Patriots have a record of 26-3 overall. Central Minnesota Christian, meanwhile, is 28-1 and ranked second in the state.

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At the NJCAA national wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Minnesota West had three competitors.

At 141 pounds, freshman Leif Ingebretsen, a 2025 graduate of Luverne High School, went 0-2. He lost a 3-0 decision to Parker Ballantyne of North Idaho and later lost via technical fall to Evan Coble of Neosho County.

At 174 pounds, freshman Romarian Farquharson defeated Andrew Geisenheimer of Camden County 11-0 in the Round of 64, then lost by a 9-2 to top-ranked Damarcus Powe of Iowa Central. He then was defeated 7-0 by Micah Cauthers of Cloud County,

At 285, sophomore Powers Mensah lost a 9-2 decision to Hunter Tibodeau of Big Bend in the Round of 32 and was then edged 3-0 by Robert Tatum of Colby in his nest match.

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Katie Lange, who hails from Sherburn, won a national title at 138 pounds this weekend at the NCAA Women's Wrestling Tournament. Lange wrestles for Grand Valley State University.