2019 State Class AAA Boys Basketball Tournament Preview

                   2019 CLASS AAA STATE BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
                                (Games played Wednesday, March 20 at Williams Arena, Minneapolis)
10:00:  Bemidji at DeLaSalle (Seed 1)
12:00: Mahtomedi (Seed 5) vs. Princeton (Seed 4)
  2:00: Holy Angels vs. Waseca (Seed 2)
  4:00: Monticello vs. Austin (Seed 3)

                                            EXAMINING THE FIELD
The Lumberjacks are back!  The Bemidji Lumberjacks are playing in their 30th state tournament, their first since 1985.  That's the good news.  The bad news is they have to face the top seeded DeLaSalle Islanders who are playing in their eight consecutive state tournament and 24th overall.  Last time the Lumberjacks won a state title was 1948.  They have won seven of their last eight games.  The Islanders, led by guard Tyrell Terry have been on a roll, winning 15 of their last 16 games.  The Islander girls basketball team took home the Class AAA title trophy with a win over Becker.  This week, can the boys make it two straight state titles for the Minneapolis school?

Two teams with long state tournament droughts will battle in the second quarterfinal game as the fifth seeded Mahtomedi Zephyrs face the fourth seeded Princeton Tigers.  The Zephyrs are in the first state tournament since 1961 and the Tigers head down Highway 169 for the first time since 1932.  Mahtomedi enters the tournament with a 12 game winning streak and beat the Totino Grace Eagles in the Section 4 title game.  Princeton has a high powered offense anchored by Jon Stimmler.  Princeton has a great shot at meeting DelaSalle in the semifinals but can Mahtomedi's momentum carry them past the Tigers.

The Holy Angels Stars make their first state tournament appearance since 2004 and first under head coach Andy Hannan.  when the stars last played in the state tournament,Jesse Foley was the head coach.  The Stars clinched their state tournament berth with a win over the St. Thomas Academy Cadets.  The Bluejays are in their 10th state tournament and have only one loss this season, a 77-73 loss to the Marshall Tigers February 22.  Last time Waseca won a state title was 1918 and they have a good shot at their first championship trophy in 101 years.

Wrapping up the Class AAA quarterfinals is the Monticello Magic and the third seeded Austin Packers.  There must have been some magic for Monticello in the Section 5 tournament.  They were the third seed and beat the second seeded Willmar Cardinals and the fourth seeded Big Lake Hornets to earn their 10th trip down I-94.  The Packers packed up their 32nd trip to state and are in the hunt for their first state championship since 1958.  Two year ago, they played in the Class AAA final, losing to DeLaSalle.  Among the veterans returning for Austin are Dongrin and Ngor Deng and Agwa Nywesh.  Can they lead the packers to another Class AAA title game?

Next up:  The Class AA preview