Three in a row
JCC boys win third straight sub-section title
Jackson County Central will play in the Section 3AA boys basketball championship game for the third straight year as the second-seeded Huskies won the South Sub-Section title Saturday at the RA Facility at Southwest Minnesota State University with a 77-63 win over top-seeded Montevideo.
JCC, now 24-6, will play North Sub-Section champion Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta at 8 p.m. Thursday, also at SMSU. The Tigers (28-0) beat Minnewaska Area 74-44 for the North Sub-Section title.
Roman Voss led Jackson County Central in scoring vs. the Thunder Hawks with 33 points. Weston Rowe scored 19 and Blaise Rowe nine.
Section 3AA boys basketball
South Sub-Section
Friday, Feb. 27
Quarterfinals
Montevideo 72, Redwood Valley 48
Luverne 79, St. James Area 62
Jackson County Central 62, Pipestone 48
Fairmont 68, Windom 65
Tuesday, March 3
Semifinals
At Windom
Montevideo 74, Luverne 59
Jackson County Central 70, Fairmont 52
Saturday, March 7
Championship
At SMSU
Jackson County Central 77, Montevideo 63
North Sub-Section
Friday, Feb. 27
Quarterfinals
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 89, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 29
New London-Spicer 60, Paynesville 55
Litchfield 74, Eden Valley-Watkins 57
Minnewaska Area 61, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 54
Tuesday, March 3
Semifinals
At Willmar
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 69, New London-Spicer 37
Minnewaska Area 60, Litchfield 55
Saturday, March 7
Championship
At SMSU
Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 74, Minnewaska Area 44
Section 3AA
Thursday, March 12
Championship
At SMSU
Jackson County Central (24-6) vs. Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta (28-0), 8 p.m.
Postseason layoff
Whoever wins the Section 3AA title will have an 11-day break before its first game in the state tournament as state is not being played the following week.
The state tournament is being delayed a week in case the University of Minnesota is selected to host first- and second-round games in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
An early loss in the Big Ten tournament has left the Gopher women on the bubble for hosting those games.
Minnesota was the 15th-ranked team in the NCAA Selection Committee’s Top 16 reveal last week. That meant that the Gophers would be a four-seed in the NCAA Tournament and host the first two rounds.
The conference tournament loss means that while they’re firmly in that range, they could slip to the number five seed, which would send them on the road.
State schedule
Quarterfinal games for the state Class AA tournament will be played on Tuesday, March 24.
Winners of those games will have two more days off before the semifinal games on Friday, March 27. Quarterfinal round losers will have only one day off, playing in the consolation semifinals on Thursday, March 26.
Here’s the schedule for Class AA:
Tuesday, March 24
Quarterfinals, with two games at Target Center and two at Williams Arena.
Thursday, March 26
Consolation semifinals, Concordia-St. Paul.
Friday, March 24
Semifinals, Williams Arena
Consolation championship, Concordia-St. Paul
Saturday, March 27
Championship, Williams Arena
Third place, Concordia-St. Paul
20 wins
This is the sixth time in the past 11 seasons JCC has won 20 games in a season and the fourth in which it’s won two dozen (24) games.
Here’s the list of seasons that the Huskies have won at least 20 games in the order of the total games won.
26-6: 2016-2017
25-6: 2015-2016
24-6: 2025-2026
24-5: 2024-2025
22-9: 2023-2024
20-7: 2019-2020
JCC losses
Five of Jackson County Central’s six losses this season have been to a team with at 20 wins and the other was to a team from a larger class with 15 wins.
Here are the teams that the Huskies have lost to in the order of their wins. Belle Plaine is the lone team still playing.
15: Marshall
21: Luverne
22: Fairmont
22: Belle Plaine
23: Zumbrota-Mazeppa
26 Montevideo
One number one out
One number one seed in Class AA has been eliminated as top-seeded Holy Family Catholic lost 76-67 on its home court to ninth-seeded Blake in the Section 5AA quarterfinals on Saturday.
It was the second straight road playoff win for Blake, which had won 78-55 at eighth-seeded Watertown-Mayer in the previous round.
The Bears, 17-12, are on the road again in the 5AA semifinals Wednesday as they play at fourth-seeded Minneapolis North (15-12).
Wednesday’s other semifinal has third-seeded Maranatha Christian (24-3) at second-seeded Southwest Christian (20-7). The winners meet in the championship game on Friday at Augsburg University.
Other sections
Section 3AA and Section 1AA are the only Class AA sections that are down to only two teams.
Each of the other sections still has the semifinal round and championship games remaining.
Here are the schedules for the other section boys basketball tournaments in Class AA.
Section 1AA
At Mayo Civic Auditorium, Rochester
Saturday, March 7
Semifinals
Goodhue 83, Triton 71
Caledonia 58, Zumbrota-Mazeppa 55 (OT)
Thursday, March 12
Championship
Goodhue (28-1) vs. Caledonia (18-10), 8 p.m.
Section 2AA
At Taylor Center, Mankato
Monday, March 9
Semifinals
Belle Plaine (22-5) vs. Blue Earth Area (18-8), 6 p.m.
Glencoe-Silver Lake (22-6) vs. Waseca (21-7), 7:45 p.m.
Wednesday, March 11
Championship
Semifinal winners, 7:45 p.m.
Section 4AA
Saturday, March 7
Quarterfinals
Minnehaha Academy 82, Higher Ground Academy 48
Concordia Academy 90, St. Paul Humboldt 70
St. Croix Lutheran 65, New Life Academy 51
St. Paul Academy and Summit School 83, St. Croix Prep 76
Tuesday, March 10
Semifinals
Concordia Academy (17-11) at Minnehaha Academy (21-5), 6 p.m.
St. Croix Lutheran (18-9) at St. Paul Academy and Summit School (20-7), 7 p.m.
Friday, March 13
Championship
At St. Thomas Academy
Semifinal winners, 7:30 p.m.
Section 5AA
Saturday, March 7
Quarterfinals
Blake 76, Holy Family Catholic 67
Minneapolis North 91, Hiawatha Collegiate 64
Southwest Christian 73, Breck 37
Maranatha Christian 87, Providence Academy 70
Tuesday, March 10
Semifinals
Blake (17-12) at Minneapolis North (15-12), 7 p.m.
Maranatha Christian (24-3) at Southwest Christian (20-7), 7 p.m.
Friday, March 13
Championship
At Augsburg
Semifinal winners, 7 p.m.
Section 6AA
Saturday, March 7
At St. John’s University
Quarterfinals
Albany 88, Legacy Christian 67
St. Cloud Cathedral 72, Spectrum 60
Annandale 67, Sauk Centre 62
Melrose 61, Holdingford 59
Tuesday, March 10
At St. John’s University
Semifinals
Albany (22-6) vs. St. Cloud Cathedral (19-9), 6 p.m.
Annandale (23-5) vs. Melrose (17-11), 7:45 p.m.
Friday, March 13
Championship
At St. Cloud State
Semifinal winners, 6 p.m.
Section 7AA
Saturday, March 7
At Denfeld High School
Quarterfinals
Pequot Lakes 71, Pillager 34
Mora 77, Aitkin 57
Pierz 96, Moose Lake/Willow River 57
Esko 71, Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin 47
Wednesday, March 11
At Minnesota Duluth
Semifinals
Pequot Lakes (26-1) vs. Mora (19-9), 5:30 p.m.
Pierz (20-7) vs. Esko (15-13), 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 13
Championship
At Minnesota Duluth
Semifinal winners, 8 p.m.
Section 8AA
Saturday, March 7
Quarterfinals
East Grand Forks 82, Park Rapids 73
Perham 72, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 45
Staples-Motley 73, Thief River Falls 50
Osakis 63, Hawley 52
Wednesday, March 11
At Concordia-Moorhead
Semifinals
East Grand Forks (22-5) vs. Perham (16-12), 6 p.m.
Staples-Motley (18-8) vs. Osakis (18-10), 7:45 p.m.
Friday, March 13
Championship
At Concordia-Moorhead
Semifinal winners, 8 p.m.
Thursday opener
There will be two games at SMSU on Thursday.
Hills-Beaver Creek (26-3) plays Central Minnesota Christian (28-1) in the Section 3A championship game at 5 p.m.
The Patriots won the 3A South title with a 69-48 win over Southwest Minnesota Christian Saturday and the Bluejays won 90-74 over Wabasso for the 3A North crown.