NRHEG Boys Will Open State Tournament at Williams Arena

The NRHEG boys basketball team will open play at the state Class AA tournament Wednesday at 6PM against No. 2 seed St. Cloud Cathedral at Williams Arena.

The Minnesota State High School League announced the Class AA bracket Sunday after the participating coaches cast their votes in the seeding process. The Panthers (28-2) are ranked No. 9 in the latest Minnesota Basketball News poll, but were left unseeded behind a couple of teams they rank ahead of in the poll. No. 15 Jackson County Central (26-4) will face No. 13 Annandale (26-4) in the No. 5/4 seeded game, while NRHEG is forced to battle No. 5 St. Cloud Cathedral (26-4) in the quarterfinals. The game will be heard on Kat Kountry 105FM.

The winner of the NRHEG/Cathedral game will meet the winner of No. 3 seed Crosby-Ironton (No. 4AA, 28-2) versus Breckenridge (No. 16AA, 26-2). Minnehaha Academy (No. 1AA, 23-5) plays Lake City (23-6) in the other first-round game. Quarterfinal winners advance to Target Center for the semifinals Friday night. Quarterfinal losers move to Concordia-St. Paul for the consolation round beginning Thursday night.

NRHEG is at state for the first time after beating Jordan on Friday night 65-64 in the Section 2AA final. In a closing note on the girls tournament, Panthers senior Marnie Wagner was named to the All-Tournament team after NRHEG's consolation championship victory.

Last year's Class A runner-up Goodhue opens play at 3PM Thursday at Williams Arena against Lake Park-Audubon, the same team the Wildcats beat in last year's quarterfinals. Defending champ Minneapolis North is the top seed and opens with Red Lake.

Defending Class AAA champion Minneapolis DeLaSalle plays Big Lake in Wednesday's quarterfinals at The Barn. Section 1 representative Austin is the No. 2 seed and plays St. Thomas Academy in the first round.

In Class AAAA, last year's runner up Lakeville North is the fourth seed and plays Wayzata on Wednesday. Champlin Park is the top seed and begins tournament play against Chaska.