This year’s state boys basketball tournament will span five days and be played at three venues in the Twin Cities. Games will be played at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus, Target Center in downtown Minneapolis, and Gangelhoff Center at Concordia University is St. Paul.
Quarterfinal pairings
Here are the quarterfinal pairings for each class in the state tournament.
Class 1A
Thursday, March 20
At Target Center
No. 1 Cherry (28-1) vs. No. 8 BOLD (20-10), 11 a.m.
No. 4 Nevis (26-4) vs. No. 5 Henning (27-3), 1 p.m.
No. 2 Dawson-Boyd (27-3) vs. No. 7 Heritage Christian (24-5), 3 p.m.
No. 3 Red Lake County (29-2) vs. No. 6 Goodhue (22-8)
Class 2A
Tuesday, March 18
At Target Center
No. 2 Waseca (30-0) vs. No. 7 Pequot Lakes (23-7), 6 p.m.
No. 3 Breck (19-10) vs. No. 6 Montevideo (25-4), 8 p.m.
At Williams Arena
No. 1 Albany (29-0) vs. No. 8 Pelican Rapids (24-6), 6 p.m.
No. 4 Caledonia (28-2) vs. No. 5 Minnehaha Academy (19-9), 8 p.m.
Class 3A
Tuesday, March 18
At Williams Arena
No. 1 Mankato East (27-1) vs. No. 8 St. Paul Harding (18-10), 10 a.m.
No. 4 Orono (22-7) vs. No. 5 DeLaSalle (23-5), noon
No. 2 Totino-Grace (22-5) vs. No. 7 Duluth Denfeld (20-9), 2 p.m.
No. 3 Alexandria (26-3) vs. No. 6 Byron (26-3), 4 p.m.
Class 4A
Tuesday, March 18
At Target Center
No. 1 Cretin-Derham Hall (27-1) vs. No. 8 Rochester John Marshall (25-4), 10 a.m.
No. 4 Maple Grove (21-8) vs. No. 5 Apple Valley (23-6), noon
No. 2 Wayzata (25-4) vs. 7 Moorhead (22-7), 2 p.m.
No. 3 Shakopee (23-5) vs. 6 Anoka (23-6), 4 p.m.
Big South Conference appearances
Waseca’s appearance in this year’s tournament brings the number of appearances for current members Big South Conference member schools to 92.
Waseca and Marshall have 12 apiece, with Luverne next with 11.
The schools listed in italics are appearances by schools that no longer exist that are part of the current Big South Conference schools.
Marshall (12): 1923, 1942 runner up, 1963 champion, 1970, 1974, 1997, 2001, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2020
Waseca (12): 1918 champion, 1919, 1948, 1975, 1987, 1988, 2002, 2016, 2019 3A runner up, 2021 2A champion, 2024, 2025
Luverne (11): 1913, 1935, 1936, 1938, 1964 champion, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1983 Class A runner up, 2005, 2007
New Ulm (9): 1917, 1918, 1919 runner up, 1920, 1921 runner up, 1922, 1927, 1937, 1975
Redwood Valley (9): 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019
Redwood Falls (3): 1930, 1934, 1937
Morton (3): 1920, 1921, 1924St. Peter (6): 1922, 1923, 1995, 2012, 2014, 2019
Windom (6): 1918, 1966, 1973, 1976, 1980, 2010
Fairmont (5): 1924, 1942, 1955, 1990, 2014
St. James Area (5): 1923, 1954, 1972 A champion and playoff champion, 1974, 2013
Jackson County Central (4): 2016 Class 2A runner up, 2017, 2020, 2024
Jackson: 1987Pipestone (4): 1919, 1924, 1989, 2003
Worthington (4): 1921, 1924, 1998, 2012
Blue Earth Area (3): 1913, 1923, 1956 runner up
Belle Plaine (2): 1999, 2005
Tri-City United (0): None
LeCenter: 2000
Montgomery-Lonsdale: 1982
Championship game appearances
Seven of the schools in the Big South Conference have played in a state championship game.
Waseca has played in a state championship game three times. The Bluejays won their first appearance in a championship game in the one-class format in 1918, beating Duluth Central 29-10.
It took more than a century for Waseca to return to a title game, losing to DeLaSalle 63-56 for the Class 3A championship in 2019. The Bluejays won the state Class 2A crown in 2021, beating Caledonia 51-49.
Four BSC schools have played for a state title twice.
New Ulm lost both of its championship game appearances in a three-year span in the tourney’s early years, losing to Albert Lea 37-8 in 1919 and to Minneapolis Central 19-15 in 1921.
Both of Marshall’s appearances also came in the one-class system, losing to Buhl 30-29 in 1942 and beating Cloquet 75-74 in 1963.
Luverne won a one-class state tournament in 1964 when it beat Rochester John Marshall 72-66, and the Cardinals lost the Class A championship game to Barnum 53-47 in 1983.
St. James won two championship games in 1972. The Saints won the 1972 Class A championship game 57-55 over Melrose and then beat Class AA winner Mounds View 60-52 in the playoff game between the winners of the two classes.
After the two-class system began in 1971, the two winners met in a playoff game until 1975.
Class AA teams won three of those games (Duluth Central in 1971, Anoka in 1973 and Little Falls in 1975). Class A won two, (St. James in 1972 and Melrose in 1974).
Blue Earth is the only other Big South school to play in a championship game, losing to Minneapolis Roosevelt 101-54 in 1956.
Conference schools that have never reached a championship game are Belle Plaine, Fairmont, Pipestone, Redwood Valley (or Redwood Falls), St. Peter, Tri-City United, Windom and Worthington.
The 186 combined points in the 2016 Class 2A championship game between Jackson County Central and Braham at Target Center is the most ever in a state championship game in any class.
BSC state champions
1918: Waseca 29, Duluth Central 10
1963: Marshall 75, Cloquet 74
1964: Luverne 72, Rochester John Marshall 66
1972: St. James 57, Melrose 55 (Class A)
1972: St. James 60, Mounds View 52 (Playoff)
2021: Waseca 51, Caledonia 49 (Class 2A)
BSC state runner ups
1919: Albert Lea 37, New Ulm 8
1921: Minneapolis Central 19, New Ulm 15
1942: Buhl 30, Marshall 29
1956: Minneapolis Roosevelt 101, Blue Earth 54
1983: Barnum 53, Luverne 47 (Class A)
2016: Braham 97, Jackson County Central 91 (Class 2A)
Southwest Minnesota records
There are a few other boys basketball state tournament records that are held by players or teams from the region:
Individual
Tournament (3 games)
FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS: 81, Tom Mulso (Sherburn) 1970
FREE THROWS MADE: 40, Cody Schilling (Ellsworth) 2007
FIELD GOALS MADE: 11, Dan Carpenter (Windom) 1976. Shared with John Wilson (St. Anthony Village) 1984.
Game
THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS: 10, Aaron Van Der Stoep (Ellsworth vs. Cass Lake-Bena) 2007. Shared with Cory Mountain (AlBrook vs, Maranatha Christian Academy) 2006; Trevontae Brown (Fond du Lac Ojibwe vs. Maranatha Christian Academy) 2014
Team
Tournament (3 games)
FREE THROWS MADE: 82, Edgerton 1960
FREE THROW ATTEMPTS: 116, Edgerton 1960
FEWEST TURNOVERS: 15, Luverne 1967
Single game
POINTS: 117, Wabasso (vs. Red Lake) 1997
MOST POINTS BY LOSING TEAM: 113, Red Lake (vs. Wabasso) 1997
FIELD GOALS MADE: 48, Red Lake (vs. Wabasso) 1997
FIELD GOAL ATTEMPTS: 87, Red Lake (vs. Wabasso) 1997. Shared with Fond du Lac Ojibwe vs. Canby 2014
FEWEST FOULS, 2 TEAMS: Mountain Lake (2) vs. Minneapolis North (2) 1933
MOST POINTS ONE QUARTER: 43, Red Lake (vs. Wabasso, 4th quarter) 1997
Class 2A
Albany earned the top seed in the Class 2A field. The Huskies are led by senior forward Sam Hondl, sophomore guard Lucas Hondl and senior guard Zeke Austin.
Points for
Waseca 82.2
Caledonia 80.2
Breck 77.3
Albany 76.7
Montevideo 74.0
Minnehaha Academy 73.7
Pelican Rapids 66.1
Pequot Lakes 64.7
Points against
Albany 43.0
Pequot Lakes 45.0
Montevideo 53.2
Waseca 53.3
Caledonia 53.4
Pelican Rapids 55.0
Minnehaha Academy 64.0
Breck 65.5
Class 1A
Cherry is the defending champion and this year’s number one seed.
The Tigers’ lone loss this season was a one-point setback on Feb. 14 to Red Lake County, which won the Section 8A title and is seeded third for the state tournament.
Cherry has surpassed 100 points in five games since Feb. 13.
Points for
Cherry 89.2
Dawson-Boyd 81.1
Nevis 80.7
Heritage Christian 78.2
Red Lake County 76.6
Goodhue 75.6
Henning 72.7
BOLD 66.6
Points against
Dawson-Boyd 49.1
Henning 49.6
Nevis 51.5
Red Lake County 53.4
Cherry 55.8
BOLD 59.8
Goodhue 61.1
Heritage Christian 62.0
Class 3A
Longtime Mankato East coach Joe Madson has the Cougars in the state tournament for the 11th time and the Cougars are the top seed.
A year ago, Mankato East was the Class AAA runner-up to Totino-Grace.
This figures to be the year for East, which has only one loss, to Class 4A Hopkins the second game of the season.
Brogan Madson, a senior guard and the coach’s son, leads the way. He is the program’s all-time leader in points, assists and steals.
Points for
Alexandria 92.0
Orono 83.4
Mankato East 82.7
DeLaSalle 81.7
Totino-Grace 80.5
Byron 78.2
St. Paul Harding 76.1
Duluth Denfeld 70.9
Points against
Mankato East 53.7
Alexandria 57.0
Byron 60.8
Duluth Denfeld 62.3
Totino-Grace 62.4
DeLaSalle 62.9
St. Paul Harding 67.5
Orono 68.8
Class 4A
Cretin-Derham Hall, the fourth-place finisher in 2024, earned the number one seed.
The Raiders have a dominant post player this season in 6-foot-11 senior Tommy Ahneman, a Notre Dame recruit. He averages 18 points per game. Sophomore forward Ty Schlagel leads the Raiders with 19.3 points per game.
Second-seeded Wayzata has been in the Class 4A championship game the past four seasons, winning in 2021 and 2023.
Points for
Wayzata 87.2
Cretin-Derham Hall 80.6
Shakopee 76.6
Anoka 76.5
Apple Valley 75.4
Moorhead 75.4
Maple Grove 71.6
Rochester John Marshall 70.5
Points against
Rochester John Marshall 54.9
Maple Grove 61.1
Apple Valley 63.2
Cretin-Derham Hall 63.4
Wayzata 63.4
Anoka 64.1
Shakopee 63.3
Moorhead 67.3