Hopkins and Providence Academy are defending state champions. Becker is a state tournament runner-up, and Mountain Iron-Buhl captured a consolation championship in 2022.
There was no suspense about which girls basketball teams would receive the top seeds in the four classes when those were announced Saturday morning by the Minnesota State High School League: Hopkins in Class 4A, Becker in 3A, Providence Academy in 2A and Mountain Iron-Buhl in 1A. The four compiled a 10-2 record in the state tournament a year ago.
Lake Conference teams took the top three seeds in Class 4A, with St. Michael-Albertville at No. 2 and Eden Prairie No. 3. Hopkins (26-2), St. Michael-Albertville (26-3) and Eden Prairie (20-9) were Nos. 2, 3 and 5 in the final regular-season rankings by Minnesota Basketball News.
Eden Prairie knocked off No. 1-ranked Chaska (27-2) in the Section 2 championship, and Hopkins outlasted No. 4 Wayzata (23-5) in overtime in the Section 6 final.
Three teams in the field have 10 losses: Eagan, Centennial and Roseville. Each of them is 19-10.
In Class 3A, the top four teams in the rankings are among the top five seeds — No. 1 Becker (25-3) in seeded first, followed by Benilde-St. Margaret's (23-6) at No. 2, Stewartville (27-2) at No. 4 and Grand Rapids (26-2) at No. 5. Eighth-ranked Alexandria (24-4) climbed into the No. 3 spot.
Becker has victories over Alexandria and Benilde-St. Margaret's. The Bulldogs were the state champion in 2021. Defending state champion Totino-Grace didn't make the field.
In Class 2A, the top four teams in the final rankings are seeded in the top four positions: No. 1 Providence Academy (27-2), No. 2 Goodhue (27-3), No. 3 Albany (28-1) and No. 4 New London-Spicer (28-1).
