MINNEAPOLIS — The last of the winter sports state tournaments kicks off Tuesday, March 18, as boys basketball players from across Minnesota head to the Twin Cities to compete.
Four teams from rural Northern Minnesota won their section championships last week in their quest for the state title.
The first to play from the Northland is Section 7-2A champs Pequot Lakes, set to face No. 2 seeded Waseca at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Target Center. The Patriots were the consolation final winners last year and are on a six-game winning spree headed into the quarterfinals.
On Thursday, Class 1A teams will take the court.
No. 1 seeded Cherry is the defending state champion in Class 1A and will play No. 8 BOLD at 11 a.m. Thursday. Cherry’s only loss this season came to Section 8A champs Red Lake County, the No. 3 seed who will face No. 6 Goodhue at 5 p.m. Thursday. This is Red Lake County’s first state tourney appearance since 2017.
5A section champions Nevis got the No. 4 seed and will play Henning at 1 p.m. Thursday. Nevis placed third last year and defeated Henning earlier in the season.
All quarterfinals, consolation rounds and third-place games are scheduled to be streamed by NSPN.tv . Find the stream at nspn.tv .
All semifinal and championship games will be broadcast live by 45TV and shown via stream at prep45.com.
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