CLASS 4A

Title defense

Defending state champion Wayzata is back despite losing a lot of talent from last year’s squad. The No. 3-ranked Trojans (25-4) by Minnesota Basketball News are riding a 14-game winning streak. One of their four setbacks came at the hands of No. 1-ranked Park Center, 66-62 back in December. “We have some of the best leaders we have ever had,” Wayzata coach Bryan Schnettler said. His squad is seeded third. “We have a very deep program in terms of talent.”

Intriguing matchup

The No. 4-5 seed tilt is expected to be the best matchup in the quarterfinals. This one, Eastview (22-6) vs. Eden Prairie (19-10), will live up to the billing. The teams are accustomed to hard-nosed tussles with each other. Eastview beat Eden Prairie 91-78 in the second game of the year, after the Eagles had won the previous six meetings. Don’t expect that many points to be scored this time.   

Looking for a longshot

Moorhead (17-12) will be making its first state tournament appearance in a decade. The Spuds, who were the No. 6 seed in Section 8, edged Brainerd 53-52 in the final. They have not won a quarterfinal game since 2000, beating St. Francis 63-49 in the opening round.

CLASS 3A

History on its side

DeLaSalle (20-7) knows what it takes to win a state championship. The No. 4-ranked Islanders have won 12 of them, most recently in 2019. Nine of those titles — the state record for coaches — came under Dave Thorson. He now serves as a Gophers assistant coach under one of his former players, Ben Johnson.

Eye on the prize

Six teams in the field — Hermantown, Mankato East, Mound Westonka, Princeton, St. Cloud Tech and Totino-Grace — have never won the state championship. The only other team to do so besides the Islanders is Austin. The Packers have won three state titles, but the most recent came in 1958. Their other two championships were in 1935 and 1946.

Long wait is over

Who remembers Jerry Gibbs and coach John Blomlie? That’s right! We are talking about when Mound Westonka was a member of the Lake Conference. Mound Westonka’s only two state tournament appearances came back-to-back in 1973 and 1974. They were the Class A runner-up — it was a two-class system at the time — to Melrose and Mark Olberding in 1974. 

CLASS 2A

King of the court

No. 1-ranked Caledonia (27-1) is led by senior guard Eli King, a Mr. Basketball finalist. The 6-3 Iowa State recruit can score in transition, hit the mid-range jumper and bury the three-pointer. He scored seven points in the final 11 seconds of regulation, rallying the Warriors to a 72-61 victory over Plainview-Elgin-Millville in triple overtime in the Section 1 final. He missed his entire junior year because of a knee injury suffered during the football season.

Wright County power

The Wright County Conference is known for football supremacy. Now it’s become a basketball hotbed, too. It boasts three teams in the state tournament, including Annandale (28-2) and Glencoe-Silver Lake (20-9) in Class 2A and Mound Westonka (21-8) in 3A. Glencoe is the only one to have won the state crown, back in 1931.

A look ahead

If Minnehaha Academy (17-10) and Minneapolis North (25-6) prevail in the first round, the two winningest state tournament coaches based on won-loss percentage will meet in the semifinals. The Redhawks’ Lance Johnson enters the tournament with a career mark of 15-2 (88.2) while the Polars’ Larry McKenzie is 21-3 (87.5). McKenzie has won one more state title, 6-5. Fourth-seeded Minnehaha Academy won three consecutive Class 2A championships from 2017-19 and won the 3A crown a year ago.

CLASS 1A

Back for more

Hayfield (29-2) is back to defend its 2021 state championship. The Vikings’ three leading scorers — senior Easton Fritcher and juniors Isaac Matti and Ethan Pack — were all starters a year ago. All three average in double figures, with Matti leading the way at 20.8 points per game. Fritcher is a Gophers baseball recruit.

Making history

East Grand Forks Sacred Heart is the only school in the field making its initial state tournament appearance. The Eagles (28-3) needed double overtime to slip past Cass Lake-Bena 69-67 in the Section 8 final. Senior guard Kobe Tomkinson, the program’s career leading scorer, had 27 points in the game.

Offensive fireworks

If you like scoring, the Cherry-Nevis matchup is a must see. Cherry (26-4) is the highest scoring team in the field, averaging 78.6 points per game. Nevis (27-3) isn’t far behind at 74.4. Both teams have hit the century mark this season. Cherry, which set the school record for wins, is making its second state tournament trip and first since 1997. Nevis is 71-10 over the past three years.