2022 MINNESOTA STATE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS AAA BOYS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINAL SCHEDULE
(Games played Tuesday, March 22 at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus)
10:00: Hermantown vs. Totino-Grace (Seed 1)
12:00: Mound-Westonka (Seed 5) vs. Mankato East (Seed 4)
2:00: Austin vs. Princeton (Seed 2)
4:00: St. Cloud Tech vs. DeLaSalle (Seed 3)
Examining the Field: Opening up the Williams Arena portion of the state tournament is the Hermantown Hawks, in their third trip to state facing the top seeded Totino-Grace Eagles. Hermantown is best known for its success in boys hockey where the Hawks wrapped up the Class A title two weeks ago. But the Hawks, seeded third in Section 7 have a tough task ahead in the top seeded Totino-Grace Eagles. The Eagles are in their sixth state tournament and they have been the top Class AAA team most of the season and have won seven straight games, including the Section 4 final against the unbeaten Columbia Heights Hylanders. Can the Eagles add another trophy to their case after the girls basketball team won the state Class AAA title over Becker or will the Hawks pull the upset.
For the first time since 1974, the Mound-Westonka Whitehawks are back in the state tournament. They made it to the Class A title game and fell to the Melrose Dutchmen, led by Mark Olberding 38-32. The Whitehawks were the number three seed in Section 6 and beat Orono in the section final. The Mankato East bus drivers seem to be getting paid overtime for frequent trips down Highway 169 to the Twin Cities since the boys and girls hockey and girls basketball teams have qualified for the state tournament. Thr Cougars are playing in their 10th state tournament and beat the New Ulm Eagles in the Section 2 final. Will the Whitehawks play for their first state title in almost 50 years or will the Cougars finally bring home a title trophy to the Key City?
The third quarterfinal game might be the last game for veteran Austin Packer head coach Kris Fadness. He will be retiring after this season and he leads the Packers to their 34th trip to Minneapolis. They did beat Mankato East in the regular season 73-71 in overtime and have gone 8-2 since losing three straight games in February. The Princeton Tigers are on a 16 game winning streak since they lost to Orono on January 15 76-74. An interesting out state match up to watch.
Concluding the Class AAA quarterfinals is the St. Cloud Tech Tigers and a perennia power, the third seeded DeLaSalle Islanders. The Tigers, in their new building in the Granite City are in their 11th state tournament and have won five consecutive games, including a 71-69 win over the Alexandria Cardinals in the Section 8 final. The Islanders in their 27th state tournament and defeated the undefeated South St. Paul Packers in the Section 4 final. Can DeLaSalle add another trophy to its bulging trophy case?
Next, the Class AA preview
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