Two boys basketball defending state champions find themselves in familiar territory after the brackets were unveiled Saturday by the Minnesota State High School League for the state tournament.
Wayzata in 4A, Totino-Grace in 3A land top seeds for boys basketball state tournament
Breck is atop the field in Class 2A, and Cherry, with Gophers recruit Isaac Asuma, is seeded first in 1A.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 16, 2024 at 10:09PM
Wayzata (27-1) in Class 4A and Totino-Grace (24-5) in Class 3A received top seeds and will try starting Wednesday to repeat as state champions. The two powers met during the regular season on Dec. 9, with Wayzata prevailing 83-81. Each was No. 1 in its class in Minnesota Basketball News’ final regular-season rankings.
The top-ranked schools in the two smallest classes also garnered top seeds, Breck (28-1) in Class 2A and Cherry (28-2) in Class 1A.
The tournaments will get underway Wednesday morning with the quarterfinals in the top three classes at Target Center and Williams Arena. The Class 1A quarterfinals will begin Thursday morning at Target Center. The four championship games will be held Saturday at Williams Arena.
A rematch of last season’s Class 4A title game could be brewing. No. 2-ranked Park Center (25-3) is the No. 2 seed. The Pirates were swept by Totino-Grace in their two Northwest Suburban Conference regular-season meetings.
The Eagles won’t have an easy time in their quarterfinal matchup against No. 3 Stewartville (26-3). The Tigers are unseeded, and all three of their losses — to No. 2 Mankato East (26-2), No. 7 Alexandria (24-5) and unranked Orono (19-10) — were to state tournament entrants. Mankato East is seeded second, Alexandria third and Orono fourth.
Orono won’t have an easy task in the opening round either, going against No. 5-ranked DeLaSalle (20-9).
In Class 2A, No. 4 Albany (28-2) and No. 3 Lake City (24-5) drew the second and third seeds.
In Class 1A, only two other ranked teams besides Cherry made the field: No. 3 West Central Area (27-3) and No. 8 Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey (27-3). Cherry, featuring Gophers signee Isaac Asuma, is a heavy favorite.
Quarterfinals schedule
CLASS 4A
Wednesday at Target Center
[1] Wayzata (27-1) vs. Rogers (21-8), 10 a.m.
[5] Cretin-Derham Hall (24-4) vs. [4] Farmington (23-6), noon
Eagan (17-12) vs. [2] Park Center (25-3), 2 p.m.
[3] Minnetonka (22-6) vs. Coon Rapids (16-13), 4 p.m.
CLASS 3A
Wednesday at Williams Arena
Stewartville (26-3) vs. [1] Totino-Grace (24-5), 10 a.m.
[5] DeLaSalle (20-9) vs. [4] Orono (19-10), noon
Chisago Lakes (22-7) vs. [2] Mankato East (26-2), 2 p.m.
Minneapolis South (21-5) vs. [3] Alexandria (24-5), 4 p.m.
CLASS 2A
Wednesday at Williams Arena
Waseca (20-10) vs. [1] Breck (28-1), 6 p.m.
[5] Minnehaha Academy (14-14) vs. [4] Pequot Lakes (26-4), 8 p.m.
Wednesday at Target Center
Jackson County Central (21-7) vs. [2] Albany (28-2), 6 p.m.
[3] Lake City (24-5) vs. Pelican Rapids (24-5), 8 p.m.
CLASS 1A
Thursday at Target Center
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (23-7) vs. [1] Cherry (28-2), 11 a.m.
[5] Nevis (23-7) vs. [4] Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey (27-3), 1 p.m.
Heritage Christian (21-7) vs. [2] West Central Area (27-3), 3 p.m.
Goodhue (18-13) vs. [3] Fertile-Beltrami (25-6), 5 p.m.
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
