Girls basketball
What you need to know for the state tourney
Marshall’s `14th appearance in a state girls basketball tournament will start Wednesday at Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.
The third-seeded Tigers, 27-1, will play sixth-seeded Rock Ridge (24-5) in the final Class 3A quarterfinal at 4 p.m.
Marshall’s lone loss was 59-56 to Orono in a neutral-court game in Delano on Feb. 1. Orono lost to state tournament No, 1 seed Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the Section 6AA final.
The Tigers have played in six Class 3A state championship games:
2001: Marshall 56, North Branch 39
2002: Marshall 61, Minneapolis North 46
2006: Benilde-St. Margaret’s 54, Marshall 39
2014: Park Center 73, Marshall 71 (3 OT)
2015: Park Center 52, Marshall 45
2021: Becker 70, Marshall 58
Other trips to state for Marshall: 1993, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2016, 2019, 2023.
More state tournament information:
Class 3A
Top-seeded Benilde-St. Margaret’s is seeking a three-peat. This is the second consecutive season they are the No. 1 seed in the seven times they have qualified for state. Two other championships (2010 and 2023) came as the No. 2 seed.
Looking at the 3A field:
Wins
Most: Monticello 29
Fewest: Cretin-Derham Hall 20
Losses
Fewest: Monticello 0
Most: Cretin-Derham Hall 9
Points for
Most: Benilde-St. Margaret’s 77.1
Fewest: Cretin-Derham Hall 60.8
Points against
Fewest: Monticello 39.7
Most: Benilde-St. Margaret’s 56.0
Winning streak
Most: Monicello 29
Fewest: Alexandria 3, Stewartville 3
Class 1A
Goodhue is the top seed for the third time. The Wildcats won the state title the other two times, in 2016 and 2024. The Wildcats also won as the No. 2 seed in 2017.
Sophomore guard Morgan Mathiowetz averages 34 points per game for No. 3 seed Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s.
Looking at the 1A field:
Wins
Most: Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s 29
Fewest: Goodhue 24, Sacred Heart 24, West Central Area 24
Losses
Fewest: Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s 2
Most: Sacred Heart 6, West Central Area 6
Points for
Most: Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s 75.8
Fewest: West Central Area 58.0
Points against
Fewest: Cromwell-Wright 35.9
Most: Goodhue 51.6
Winning streak
Most: MACCRAY 10
Fewest: Mayer Lutheran 3
Class 2A
Unbeaten Providence Academy is seeking history as the first team to win four consecutive championships. This is the fourth consecutive season the Lions have been tabbed as the top seed. The Lions have surpassed 100 points seven times this season.
Most people will think of Providence Academy junior guard Maddyn Greenway as the player to watch in the 2A tourney, but she is just one of three 4,000-point scorers in the class. And she’s one of two juniors.
Greenway, a University of Kentucky commit, is third in all-time scoring with 4,359 points.
Crosby-Ironton is also undefeated, led by junior guard Tori Oehrlein, who has committed to play for Minnesota. She has 4,353 career points and is the only player in state history to average more than 30 points per game for her career.
Also, Minnehaha Academy senior guard Addison Mack is currently No. 2 all-time in scoring with 4,593 points. She started her career at Blake.
Minnesota’s all-time leading scorer is 2013 Braham graduate Rebekah Dahlman, who scored 5,060 points. She played college basketball at Vanderbilt and DePaul.
Looking at the 2A field:
Wins
Most: Crosby-Ironton 30
Fewest: Minnehaha Academy 20
Losses
Fewest: Crosby-Ironton 0, Providence Academy 0
Most: Minnehaha Academy 9
Points for
Most: Providence Academy 89.9
Fewest: Minnewaska Area 62.3
Points against
Fewest: Caledonia 37.2
Most: Minnehaha Academy 56.3
Winning streak
Most: Crosby-Ironton 30
Fewest: Minnehaha Academy 4
Class 4A
Maple Grove is the top seed for the first time in school history. The previous best for the Crimson was No. 2 in 2010. In the 17 years of Class 4A seeding, the top seed has won the championship 12 times.
Senior guard Jordan Ode, a Michigan State recruit, averages nearly 25 points per game for Maple Grove.
Hopkins has won eight state championships, tied with Rochester Lourdes for the top spot.
Looking at the 4A field:
Wins
Most: Maple Grove 26
Fewest: Chaska 18, Lakeville North 18
Losses
Fewest: Maple Grove 2
Most: Chaska 11, Lakeville North 11
Points for
Most: Maple Grove 75.5
Fewest: White Bear Lake 55.4
Points against
Fewest: Brainerd 44.6
Most: Chaska 59.0
Winning streak
Most: Maple Grove 19
Fewest: Chaska 3
Quarterfinal pairings
Here are the quarterfinal pairings for each class in the state tournament.
Class 1A
Thursday, March 13
At Maturi Pavilion
No. 1 seed Goodhue (24-5) vs. No. 8 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (25-4), 11 a.m.
No. 4 West Central Area (24-6) vs. No. 5 Cromwell-Wright (25-4), 1 p.m.
No. 2 Mayer Lutheran (26-3) vs. No. 7 MACCRAY (23-5), 3 p.m.
No. 3 Sleepy Eye Saint Mary’s (29-2) vs. No. 6 East Grand Forks Sacred Heart (24-6), 5 p.m.
Class 2A
Wednesday, March 12
At Williams Arena
No. 1 seed Providence Academy (29-0) vs. No. 8 New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (23-5), 6 p.m.
No. 4 Sauk Centre (27-2) vs. No. 5 Minnewaska Area (27-3), 8 p.m.
At Maturi Pavilion
No. 2 Crosby-Ironton (30-0) vs. No. 7 Barnesville (22-6), 6 p.m.
No. 3 Minnehaha Academy (20-9) vs, No. 6 Caledonia (27-3), 8 p.m.
Class 3A
Wednesday, March 12
At Maturi Pavilion
No. 1 seed Benilde-St. Margaret’s (23-6) vs. Stewartville (21-8), 10 a.m.
No. 4 DeLaSalle (24-5) vs. No. 5 Alexandria (24-4), 12 p.m.
No. 2 Monticello (29-0) vs. 7 Cretin-Derham Hall (20-0), 2 p.m.
No. 3 Marshall (27-1) vs. No. 6 Rock Ridge (24-5), 5 p.m.
Class 4A
Wednesday, March 12
At Williams Arena
No. 1 seed Maple Grove (26-2) vs. White Bear Lake Area (20-9), 10 a.m.
No. 4 Lakeville North (18-11) vs. Brainerd (25-4), 12 p.m.
No. 2 Eastview (25-3) vs. No. 7 Anoka (20-8), 2 p.m.
No. 3 Hopkins (24-5) vs. No. 6 Chaska (18-11), 4 p.m.
JCC appearances
Jackson County Central has made three appearances in the state girls basketball tournament with three different head coaches. Each time the Huskies lost in the quarterfinals and there was no consolation bracket.
Here are JCC’s appearances:
2000: Blake 40, Jackson County Central 36
2004: Albany 62, Jackson County Central 49
2011: Minnehaha Academy 60, Jackson County Central 59
Notes on those games:
Coach Tub Voss’s Huskies drew two-time defending state Class 2A champion Blake in the 2000 quarterfinals at Gustavus Adolphus College. Quarterfinal games were played at outstate sites at the time. Teresa Resch, President of the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo, was on that JCC team.
Current Marshall assistant coach Steph Bot led the 2004 JCC squad to the state tourney, where they lost in the quarterfinals at Williams Arena.
Tom Schuller was the coach of the 2011 team that trailed Minnehaha Academy by 17 points at Target Center before a furious rally left the Huskies one point short. The Redhawks would go on to place second.
Wild, wild west
There were some wild times in girls basketball in the western part of Jackson County in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Heron Lake made a trip to the state tournament and placed third in 1977 and then after consolidation in 1978, Heron Lake-Okabena won the state Class A title in 1981 as the Scarlet Knights went 26-0.
In that 1981 state tourney at Met Sports Center in Bloomington, coach Les Knutson’s HL-O squad defeated Bagley 55-28, Austiin Pacelli 52-42 and Moose Lake 62-46.
That Moose Lake team was led by the legendary Annie Adamzcak, who had led the Lakers to the state volleyball title the previous fall and would lead the school to a state softball title the ensuing spring.
Incredibly, Adamzcak and Moose Lake was able to top that during the 1981-82 school year, winning all three state championships while not losing a game in any sport, going a combined 71-0.
She was Ms. Basketball in 1982 and played volleyball at Nebraska and later professionally in Germany and in the U.S.
Her earned run average for her junior and senior softball seasons? 0.00.
Officials
Two local officials have earned the right to officiate at the state tournament:
Tim Hinkeldey, Windom
Greg Thiesse, Fairmont