Boys Basketball State Tournament 2024: Day 1 Recap

Three classes completed their quarterfinal rounds on Day 1 of the Minnesota State High School League’s Boys Basketball State Tournament on Wednesday, March 20. As a result, semifinals are set in Classes AA, AAA and AAAA. On Thursday, the Class AAA semifinals will be played at noon at Williams Arena with the Class AAAA semifinals during the evening session.

The Class AA schools that advanced from the quarterfinals will wait until Friday’s evening session to play their semifinals.

The eight Class A schools begin their quarterfinal round on Thursday at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis.

Kicking off the Class AAA semifinals is a matchup between No. 1 Totino-Grace, the two-time defending champion, and No. 5 DeLaSalle. It will be the first meeting this season between the private schools located 16 minutes and 9.8 miles apart. Totino-Grace is seeking a third consecutive spot in the Class AAA championship game. DeLaSalle was the Class AAA runner-up to Totino-Grace a year ago.

In the bottom bracket semifinal, Mankato East plays Alexandria in a matchup of schools from greater Minnesota.

In Class AAAA, top-seeded and defending champion, Wayzata, takes on No. 5 Cretin-Derham Hall. Wayzata turned back Rogers in the quarterfinals while Cretin-Derham Hall topped Farmington. The lower-bracket semifinal features Eagan, which upset No. 2 Park Center in a fast-paced quarterfinal. Eagan is making its first state tournament appearance since 2001. The Wildcats move on to face Minnetonka, which posted a strong victory over Coon Rapids.

Breck looked the part of a top seed by zipping past Waseca at Williams Arena. The Mustangs move on to face a familiar opponent: No. 5 Minnehaha Academy, which advanced with a victory over No. 4 Pequot Lakes. Breck defeated Minnehaha Academy twice this season during the Independent Metro Athletic Conference schedule.

In the lower-bracket semifinal, it will be Albany facing Lake City, both of whom advanced with victories to close the session at Target Center.

Here is a look at what happened during Wednesday’s quarterfinals:

Class AA

• No. 1 Breck 76, Waseca 42: Breck, making its first state tournament trip since 2006, played like it was making up for lost time in racing past the Bluejays. Senior guard Hanif Muhammad and sophomore guard JP Musoke had 13 points each to pace a Mustangs’ attack that produced a 24-point halftime lead. Senior guard Daniel Freitag, a University of Wisconsin recruit, added 12 points for Breck (29-1). Senior forward Laird Keeton had 10 points Waseca (20-11).
• No. 5 Minnehaha Academy 63, Pequot Lakes 47: Senior Lorenzo Levy scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while junior George Norsman had 14 points to spur Minnehaha Academy (15-14) past Pequot Lakes (26-5) at Williams Arena. Junior forward Harrison Keenan scored 10 points for the Patriots.  
• No. 2 Albany 87, Jackson County Central 66: Albany, the defending Class AA champion, nearly saw its quest for a title defense end early. Unseeded Jackson County Central (21-8) came out strong and fast, building a 13-point lead at the break. But Albany (29-2) turned that deficit around and created a runaway behind a 54-20 run in the second half. Junior guard Zeke Austin poured in 32 points for the Huskies and junior forward Sam Hondl had 16. Sophomore Roman Voss and junior Grant Freking had 19 each for Jackson County Central.
• No. 3 Lake City 7, Pelican Rapids 61, OT: Lake City sidestepped an upset by using a 12-1 run in the overtime session to record a victory over Pelican Rapids. The Tigers (25-5) needed a 7-2 surge in the final minute of regulation time to force the extra session. Senior guard Hunter Lorenson had all seven points in the run. He started the overtime session with a basket, too, en route to finishing with 19 points. Senior guard Jaden Shones added 15 points. Senior guard Timmy Guler scored 18 points for the Vikings.  

Class AAA

• No. 1 Totino-Grace 57, Stewartville 48: Totino-Grace, the two-time defending Class AAA champion, turned back an upset bid from potent Stewartville in the first quarterfinal at Williams Arena. Senior forward Isaiah Johnson-Arigu, a Miami (Fla.) recruit, scored 13 points for the Eagles (25-5), as did junior guard Chase Watley. Junior guard Tyler Wagner was right on their heels with 12. Senior guard Henry Tschetter, a St. John’s recruit, had 15 points for Stewartville (26-4).
• No. 5 DeLaSalle 70, No. 4 Orono 64: Freshman reserve guard Jadean Udean scored 23 points, including 5 of 8 from three-point range to help send the Islanders (21-9) past the Spartans (20-11). Junior guard Andrew Apiagyei, another reserve, added 10 points for DeLaSalle. Orono had four players in double figures, paced by junior guard Nolan Groves with 18. Junior guard Brady Wooley chipped in 16.
• No. 2 Mankato East 80, Chisago Lakes 41: Junior guard Brogan Madson scored 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting to power Mankato East (27-2) to a quarterfinal victory over unseeded Chisago Lakes (22-8). Junior Ganden Gosch and senior post Carson Schweim each had 12 points in sending the Cougars to Thursday’s semifinals. Senior guard Zander Schmidt and senior forward Benjamin Paulsen had 10 each for the Wildcats.
• No. 3 Alexandria 72, Minneapolis South 70: Sophomore guard Talan Witt made a layup with two minutes remaining in regulation time and then added a single free throw with three seconds left to help Alexandria (25-5) hold off the Tigers (21-6). Senior post Grayson Grove led the Cardinals with 26 points and 15 rebounds. Junior forward Chase Thompson added 18 points. Senior guard Poet Davis had 23 points and six assists for the Tigers, who were making their first state tournament appearance since 1992.  

Class AAAA

• No. 1 Wayzata 76, Rogers 64: The Trojans opened defense of its big-school championship with a convincing victory over the unseeded Royals at Target Center. Senior guard Jackson McAndrew and sophomore guard Isaac Olmstead set the tone with 17 points each. Reserve guard Wyatt McBeth, a junior, chipped in 10 points for Wayzata (28-1). Rogers (21-9), making its first state tournament trip since 2009, got 14 points from senior guard Christian Wagner-Walthall.
• No. 5, Cretin-Derham Hall 57, No. 4 Farmington 56: Senior guard Miles Bollinger made a three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining in regulation time and that was enough for the Raiders to get past the Tigers. Bollinger’s timely shot gave the Raiders (25-4) a three-point advantage. Farmington (23-7) would pull to within one after two free throws by senior center Brandon Hrncir with 32 seconds left. Each team had opportunities after that but couldn’t convert. Sophomore guard JoJo Mitchell scored 23 points for Cretin-Derham Hall. Reserve forward Nik Domier led the Tigers with 13.
• Eagan 73, No. 2 Park Center 70: Senior guard Max Buslee made two free throws with 12 seconds remaining and sophomore guard Alex Schroepfer added another with 11 seconds left to send Eagan to a frenzy-filled three-point upset victory over Park Center. The Wildcats (18-12) trailed by as many as 13, but pieced together a spirited second-half comeback that turned a nearly game-long deficit into a seven-point lead. Schroepfer finished with 19 points, including 12 of 15 from the free throw line. He also had 10 rebounds. Senior forward Charles Birk and senior post Owen Bockenstedt added 15 each. Senior guard Casmir Chavis nearly single-handedly willed the Pirates (25-4) in a comeback effort that fell just short. He scored Park Center’s final 20 points over the closing five minutes. He had the ball on Park Center’s final possession in an attempt to tie the score but lost control of it as time expired. He finished with 36 points.
• No. 3 Minnetonka 83, Coon Rapids 36: Minnetonka completed the Class AAAA quarterfinals by racing past Coon Rapids. Senior guards Greyson Uelmen and Jordan Cain had 19 points each for the Skippers (23-6). Senior forward Kayden Wells chipped in 13. Senior power forward Kenny Jones scored six points for the Cardinals (16-14), who were making their first state tournament appearance since 1983 when they were the Class AA runner-up.