The top five girls basketball teams in Class 4A all have earned the right to play for a section championship.
Prep weekend update: Minnesota's top girls basketball teams will eliminate each other before state
Saturday's semifinals set it up: Section finals will eliminate at least two of the top five teams in Class 4A.
March 7, 2023 at 1:39AM
Three, maybe, will play in the state tournament.
"It is really a crime, isn't it?" Eden Prairie coach Ellen Wiese said.
Saturday's results set up section finals that will end two of those teams' hopes to play in the state tournament. Chaska, 27-1 and ranked No. 1 in Class 4A by Minnesota Basketball News in the final regular-season poll, will meet No. 5 Eden Prairie for the Section 2 title. Defending state champion Hopkins, 25-2 and ranked second, will play Wayzata, 23-4 and ranked third, for the Section 6 crown. No. 4 St. Michael-Albertville (25-3) is in the Section 8 final against Elk River (22-6).
"Yes, it's disappointing," Wayzata coach Julie Stewart said. "But it's out of our control."
Wiese said it's time for change.
"Section play has to go," she said. "It is used so that we get regional representation at the state tournament. Why? Why is the state tourney a best-of-the-region tournament rather than a best-in-the-state tournament?
"Some teams get a cakewalk to the state tournament while others like Hopkins and Wayzata is a winner-take-all section final. … It is really disappointing that one of them cannot participate in the state tourney year in and year out. The MSHSL must do better."
Chaska is the lone member of the Class 4A top five not in the Lake Conference; the Hawks are in the Metro West. They beat Minnetonka, the fourth-place team in the Lake, 57-55 in the Section 2 semifinals.
Thirteen of the 15 sections in Class 4A and 3A will have the No. 1 seed vs. the No. 2 or 3 seed in the finals. The sections without the No. 1 seed in the championship game are Class 3A, Section 2, and Class 3A, Section 4. Class 4A, Section 5 has yet to play its semifinals.
Coaching milestones
St. Michael-Albertville girls basketball coach Kent Hamre registered his 400th career victory in a 76-62 victory over Minnetonka in the regular-season Lake Conference finale.
Related Coverage
Chaska girls basketball coach Tara Seifert recorded her 300th career win in a 67-42 victory over Waconia in the Class 4A, Section 2 quarterfinals.
Inside the numbers
00.0: Time on the scoreboard clock when East Ridge 6-3 senior guard Alex Mattes made an off-balance three-point shot that gave the Raptors a 65-62 victory Friday over Roseville in a Suburban East Conference boys basketball regular-season finale. Mattes finished with 21 points.
11: School-record three-pointers made by Owatonna 6-1 senior guard Blake Burmeister in a 97-65 victory Friday over Red Wing in Big 9 Conference boys basketball. He scored 44 points, the program's single-game scoring record.
16: Times Brooklyn Center 6-0 senior guard Quyavant Douglas has scored at least 30 points in boys basketball games after scoring 32 Friday in a 95-77 loss to Esko. He averaged 31.6 points per game during the regular season.
35: Season-low points scored by Lac qui Parle Valley in a 48-35 loss to Minneota (20-8) in the semifinals of the Class 1A, Section 3 girls basketball tournament. The Eagles (26-4) averaged 59.5 points per game this season.
2,000: Career points eclipsed Friday two boys basketball players. Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa 6-3 senior guard Kaden Pieper did it in a 76-59 victory over Hancock; he finished with 34 points. Concordia Academy 6-1 senior guard AJ Greene surpassed 2,000 in an 82-51 triumph over Mounds Park Academy.
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
