2022 State Class AAAA Girls Basketball Tournament Preview

 2022 MINNESOTA STATE HIGH SCHOOL CLASS AAAA GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULEwith 

                           (Games played Wednesday, March 16 at Williams Arena on University of Minnesota campus)

10:00:  Lakeville North vs. Hopkins (Seed 1)

12:00:  White Bear Lake (Seed 5) vs. Rosemount (Seed 4)

 2:00:  Roseville vs. Shakopee (Seed 2)

 4:00:  Centennial vs. St. Michael-Albertville (Seed 3)

Examining the Field:  The good news for Lakeville North fans is the Panthers open up the day's festivities playing in their 11th state tournament.  Now the bad news.  They face the top seeded Hopkins Royals who have gone undefeated against in-state teams with their only loss against a school from Washington DC.  Head coach Tara Starks has four solid players back from the team that lost to Chaska in last year's semifinals, Amaya Battle, NuNu Agara, Taylor Woodson and Maya Nnaji.  We can hope that Gopher head coach Lindsey Whalen will be in the stands for the game because Battle will be playing her home games next season on The Barn floor.  Hopkins, a heavy favorite for the Class AAAA title trophy.  

The White Bear Lake Bears make their ninth trip to state and their first since 2017.  The Bears were the third seed in Section 4 and beat the top seeded Stillwater Ponies 63-57 in the section final.  They have won seven straight games following a three game losing streak.  The Rosemount Irish last season lost to Chaska in the Class AAAA championship and enter the tournament winning 12 straight games.  Rosemount coasted through Section 3 with the average win margin for the tournament over 33 points.  Can the Irish head into a showdown with the Royals? 

The second team from the Suburban East Conference in the field is the Roseville Raiders.  The Raiders have played a touch nonconference schedule that included defeats to the Chaska Hawks and the Becker Bulldogs.  Roseville clinched their ninth trip to Minneapolis with a 60-50 win over the Maple Grove Crimson in the Section 5 final.  The Sabers are the third South Suburban Conference school to advance to state and are in their seventh state tournament.  They have not lost a game since they were beaten by the Rosemount Irish 62-40 December 21.  Could a rematch be possible in the semifinals?

Wrapping up the Class AAAA quarterfinals is the Centennial Cougars and the third seeded St. Michael-Albertville Knights.  The Circle Pines based Cougars head down I-35W for the ninth time and won a wide open Section 7 with a 67-36 victory over the Andover Huskies.  The Knights overcame a season ending two game losing streak to Lake Conference rivals Hopkins and Minnetonka.  Could the Knights possibly set up a Lake Conference showdown in Saturday night's finals?  

Next up, the Class AAA preview