Girls basketball postseason is on: Be aware of these section tournaments

The process of elimination for girls basketball teams around the state is underway.

For some, the 2024-25 season will end abruptly. For others, the dream of winning a state championship will march on.

And some will be strong enough to be in the state tournament field but will see their dream die thanks to a tough section.

Here are section tournaments, at least one from each classification, to keep a close eye on.

This section has a history of being the state’s best. It tends to produce more intriguing games than the state tournament. Three of its teams were ranked among the state’s best in the Star Tribune’s statewide Minnesota Top 25 rankings: No. 6 Eden Prairie (21-5), defending state champion and No. 12 Minnetonka (14-12) and No. 16 Prior Lake (20-5). No. 4 and 5 seeds Chanhassen (17-9) and Chaska (15-11) can spring an upset. Chaska has defeated No. 9 St. Michael-Albertville (16-10) and knocked off No. 11 Orono (23-3) twice this season.

A loss of a possible state champion annually occurs in this section. The two heavyweights are Wayzata (22-4) and Hopkins (21-5); Wayzata is ranked third, Hopkins fourth. The Trojans won both regular-season matchups by nearly the same score, 73-70 and 76-70. You know what they say about trying to beat a team three times in a season.

At least two Minnesota Top 25 teams will have their state tournament aspirations shattered. No. 13 DeLaSalle (21-5), No. 18 Hill-Murray (20-6) and No. 20 Mahtomedi (19-7) lead five schools in the section with at least 15 wins.

Two-time defending state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s (20-6), No. 14 in the Top 25, will have its hands full with Orono, No. 23 Delano (21-5), Holy Angels (19-7) and Richfield (17-8).

No. 5 Crosby-Ironton (26-0), with junior phenom and Gophers commit Tori Oehrlein, would be a popular state tournament team, and is favored to make its third consecutive state tournament appearance. But Proctor (23-3), Pequot Lakes (21-5) and Duluth Marshall (19-7) and won’t be pushovers. Duluth Marshall boasts the top player from the state’s Class of 2028: Chloe Johnson. Crosby-Ironton, coming off a fourth-place finish in the state tournament a year ago, beat Proctor 50-41 just 10 days ago.

A balanced section can make for a lot of fun. This one includes six teams with at least 20 wins: Hillcrest Lutheran (22-4), Breckenridge (21-5), Underwood (21-5), Hancock (20-6), New York Mills (20-6) and West Central Area (20-6). Underwood is the section’s two-time defending champion.

Here are eight section champion predictions from each class:

Class 4A: Section 1-Lakeville North; 2-Eden Prairie; 3-Eastview; 4-East Ridge; 5-Maple Grove; 6-Hopkins; 7-Anoka; 8-St. Michael-Albertville.

Class 3A: 1-Byron; 2-Marshall; 3-Cretin-Derham Hall; 4-DeLaSalle; 5-Monticello; 6-Benilde-St. Margaret’s; 7-Rock Ridge; 8-Alexandria.

Class 2A: 1-Caledonia; 2-New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva; 3-New London-Spicer; 4-Minnehaha Academy; 5-Providence Academy; 6-Sauk Centre; 7-Crosby-Ironton; 8-Pelican Rapids.

Class 1A: 1-Goodhue; 2-Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s; 3-Central Minnesota Christian; 4-Mayer Lutheran; 5-Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa; 6-Hillcrest Lutheran; 7-Mountain Iron-Buhl; 8-Kittson County Central.