2019 STATE CLASS AA BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE
(Games played Wednesday, March 20)
AT TARGET CENTER
6:00: St. Peter vs. Minnehaha Academy (Seed 1)
8:00: Lake City (Seed 5) vs. Melrose (Seed 4)
AT WILLIAMS ARENA
6:00: Esko vs. Minneapolis North (Seed 2)
8:00: Redwood Valley vs. Perham (Seed 3)
EXAMINING THE FIELD
No it's not a rerun. The same two schools that played in the opening Class AA quarterfinal game last Wednesday will battle again. This time the boys teams from the St. Peter Saints and the top seeded and defending Class AA champion Minnehaha Academy Redhawks opening the Target Center portion of the Class AA tournament. It's been a great winter for Saints fans as they headed up Highway 169 to support their boys hockey and girls basketball teams in the state tournament. Now it's the boys basketball team's turn in the spotlight as they make their sixth state tournament trip. However, it will be difficult for the Saints as they take on a Redhawks team that's going for their third consecutive state title in their seventh trip to state. Minnehaha Academy is led by one of Minnesota's most talented junior athletes in Jalen Suggs. He was also the quarterback on the Class AAAA champion SMB Wolfpack football team. But the Redhawks are more than just Suggs. There's also seven footer Chet Holmgren, Siegel Howard and Prince Aligbe. Can Minnehaha Academy accomplish the threepeat?
Concluding the Target Center portion of Wednesday's quarterfinals is the fifth seeded Lake City Tigers and the fourth seeded Melrose Dutchmen. The Tigers make their eight trip to state and have won 17 straight games. They will be tested against another hot team, the Melrose Dutchmen who have won 18 games in a row. Melrose heads down I-94 to Minneapolis for the eighth time and the first since they took home the Class AA title trophy. It should be a exciting climax to 10+ hours of high school boys basketball.
Over at Williams Arena, the Esko Eskomos are headed down I-35 for the eight time and their third in four years. The Eskomos have won nine straight games since they were blown out by the St. Cloud Cathedral Crusaders 79-50 February 9. As for the Minneapolis North Polars, they re in the state tournament for the 24th time and their first as a Class AA school. Before they moved up to Class AA, they won consecutive Class A championships in 2016 & 2017. They have a shot at becoming one of the few multiple class champions since the four class format began in 1997.
The final game of the day at The Barn features the Redwood Valley Cardinals and the third seeded Perham Yellowjackets. The Cardinals, seeded fourth in Section 3, got hot at the right time with four straight tournament wins, including an upset of the top seeded New London-Spicer Wildcats. The Yellowjackets return to Minneapolis for the first time since 2013 and are in their fourth trip to state. Their only loss this season was to Minnehaha Academy on December 1 78-48. Is a rematch in the Class AA title game a possibility?
Next up: The Class A preview
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