2020 State Class A Girls Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal Preview

2020 STATE CLASS A GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE
                      (Games played Thursday, March 12 at Maturi Pavilion) 

11:00:  Red Lake vs. Minneota (Seed 1)
 1:00:   Heritage Christian Academy (Seed 5) vs. Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (Seed 4)
 3:00:   Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa vs. Cromwell-Wright (Seed 2)
 5:00;   Fillmore Central vs. Henning (Seed 3)

Examining the field:  If you plan on attending the Class A quarterfinals instead of the Class AAA semifinals at The Barn, you might want to pay $5 for a program because there are four teams making their Class A debut.  Not so in the opening game which pits the Red Lake Warriors against the top seeded and defending Class A champion Minneota Vikings.  The Warriors, seeded third in Section 8, beat the top seeded Fosston Grehounds to advance to the title game where they beat fourth seeded Badger-Greenbush-Middle River 64-54.  Red Lake got off to a slow start before heading to Minneapolis on a 17-1 run that included four games where they broke the 100 point mark.  The Vikings, under the veteran leadership of Chad Johnston lost only one game in the regular season to the Goodhue Wildcats.  It's the ninth trip to state for Minneota, led by The Hennen Sisters, Abby and Morgan.  Can they add another championship trophy to their case? 

In the second game, the fifth seeded Heritage Christian Academy Eagles make their third straight trip down I-94 to the state tournament.  Last season, the Eagles lost to Minneota in the semifinals and didn't leave the Twin Cities empty handed since they took home the third place trophy.  Their opponent is the first of the four newcomers in the Class A field, the fourth seeded Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers.  The Buccaneers enter state tournament play on an eight game winning streak after starting the season 15-0.  Could there be a rematch of last year's Class A semifinal between the Eagles and the Vikings or will the Buccaneers ship contend for the state title? 

Next up is another first time team.  The Belgrade-Brooten Jaguars got hot at the right time, winning four straight section games, including an 18 point upset win over top seeded Walker-Hackensack-Akeley.  Rhey face the second seeded Cromwell-Wright Cardinals, who lost to the Minneota Vikings and the Hermantown Hawks by a combined total of four points.  It's the third trip to state for Cromwell-Wright and the fifth for the growing metropolis of 234 inhabitants.  Is a potential state title game in the Cards for Cromwell-Wright. 

Concluding the Class A  quarterfinals is a couple of first time teams as the Fillmore Central Falcons face the third seeded Henning Hornets.  The Falcons, based in the Amish community of Harmony were the second seed in Section 1 and beat the Blooming Prairie Awesome Blossoms in the section final.  Last season, the Henning boys basketball team captured the hearts of state tournament fans by winning the Class A title for the first time since they played in the one class tournament in 1966.  This year, it's the girls turn to make the trip to Minneapolis and the Hornets are red hot, winning nine straight games.  Will it be another season to remember for Henning basketball fans? 

Those are the previews of the four classes.  Plenty of outstanding girls basketball over the tournament's four days.