2019 Class A State Boys Basketball Tournament Preview

                                            2019 STATE CLASS A BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE
                                               (Games played Thursday, March 21 at Williams Arena, Minneapolis)

11:00 Spring Grove vs. Springfield (Seed 1)
  1:00: Christ's Household of Faith (Seed 5) vs. Henning (Seed 4)
  3:00: Cromwell-Wright vs. Ada-Borup (Seed 2)
  5:00: Westbrook-Walnut Grove vs. North Woods (Seed 3)

                                            EXAMINING THE FIELD

Spring is here as the Spring Grove Lions make their first state tournament trip up I-35 to Minneapolis and battle the top seeded Springfield Tigers who are in their fifth trip to state and in the hunt for their first Class A title since 2011.  Several members of the state Nine Man football champion Lions also excel on the basketball court, including Ethan Matzke and Alex Folz.  Folz, the quarterback of the Spring Grove football team will need to quarterback the Lion hoopsters to a potential upset of the favored Tigers, who have lost two games by an average margin of 2.5 points.  Could Tiger fans start celebrating on Saturday when they head home down Highway 14?
The Christ's Household of Faith Lions are in the second trip to state and their first in 18 years.  They will go up against the hot Henning Hornets who make their third trip to state and their first since 1966.  The Hornets only loss was to the Parkers Prairie Panthers 77-74 in overtime on February 26.  CHOF has gone 15-1 since they lost to the St. Paul Academy Spartans 59-57 in overtime January 19.  It should be an interesting match up as the Lions and Hornets begin their quest to end long title droughts.

Another school with a state tournament drought plays in the third quarterfinal game as the Cromwell-Wright Cardinals head to Minneapolis for the first time since 1996.  They will face the second seeded Ada-Borup Cougars, in their first state tournament in 10 years.  The Cardinals have won 15 straight games since they lost to the Esko Eskomos 54-46 on January 25.  The Cougars came up one point short of an unbeaten season, losing 78-77 to the Hawley Nuggets on February 19.  Ada-Borup has a 6'8" junior center Mason Miller.  Be sure and head to The Barn early to hear one of the state's great pep bands.

The quarterfinal session wraps up with the Westbrook-Walnut Grove Chargers facing the third seeded North Woods Grizzlies.  The Chargers were the third seeded in Section 3 and beat the fifth seeded Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks in the championship game.  The Blackjacks upset the top seeded Minneota Vikings in the quarterfinals.  North Woods, located in Cook is back in Minneapolis for the third straight year, hoping to improve on two consecutive second place finishes.  They have won 18 straight games since losing to BOLD 77-57 January 12.  Can they make it to their third straight title game?

Plenty of exciting basketball action Starting Wednesday.