Bloggers Note: This year there will be a new format for state basketball tournament previews. Instead of writing about the four classes separately, all four classes will be previewed in the same post.
The 2024 edition of the state high school girls basketball tournament gets underway Wednesday with quarterfinal games at Williams Arena and the Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus.
Leading off will be the Class AAAA quarterfinals and the top three seeds all come from the Lake Conference. The top seed is the Hopkins Royals, the second seed is the Minnetonka Skippers and the third seed is the defending Class AAAA champion St. Michael-Albertville Knights. The two non Lake conference team among the top five seeds are the fourth seeded Maple Grove Crimson and the fifth seeded Lakeville North Panthers. Will it be an All Lake final or will Maple Grove or Lakeville North pull off an upset?
The good news for the defending Class AAA champion Benilde-St. Margaret's Red Knights is that they are the top seed. BSM has not lost a game since Olivia Olson returned from an injury and enters the state tournament on a 21 game winning streak. They face the Minneapolis Roosevelt Teddies, playing in their first state tournament. The fifth seeded Stewartville Trojans battle the fourth seeded St. Peters Saints in the second upper bracket game. In the lower bracket, the second seeded DeLaSalle Islanders are in their 12th tournament and in the hunt for their fifth state title, the first since 2019. The Rock Ridge Wolverines are playing in their first state tournament but have a tough matchup against the third seeded Alexandria Cardinals. Cardinal head coach Wendy Kohler joined the 700 win club in the Section 8 Tournament and looks to add three more toward the program's first state title since 1997.
The last two games at each venue are Class AA games. At The Barn, the Perham Yellowjackets, entering tournament play on a nine game winning streak, face the top seeded Providence Academy Lions, on a quest for a Class AA threepeat. But stick around for the nightcap as the fifth seeded Crosby-Ironton Rangers, led by sophomore sensation Tori Oehrlein, battle the perennial power under the veteran leadership of Mike Dreier, the New London-Spicer Wildcats. Over at the Maturi Pavilion, two perennial powers battle as the Rochester Lourdes Eagles face the second seeded Albany Huskies and the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers face the second seeded Minnehaha Academy Redhawks, led by junior guard Addy Mack. Could there be an All IMAC Class AA final.
The next day is the Class A quarterfinals at Maturi Pavilion. The top seeded Goodhue Wildcats head up Highway 52 for the 10th time and face the Mayer Lutheran Crusaders. Then the SW MN Christian Eagles, who ended Minneota's Section 3 title reign battle the fourth seeded Underwood Rockets. The Rockets punched their ticket to Minneapolis with a win over the Hancock Owls in the Section 6 final. Once again, Jeff Buffetta leads the defending Class A champion Mountain Iron-Buhl Rangers to their 14th state tournament and they face the Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Wolves, playing in their first state tournament. Five towns. Two teams. One winner. Finally, they're celebrating in the towns of Buffalo Lake, Hector and Stewart as the Mustangs make their first appearance in a state tournament since 1977. Their opponent is the Fosston Greyhounds, returning to the Twin Cities for their first time since 2006.
There's plenty of outstanding giels high school basketball coming up this weekend.
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