Class A and Class AA seeds and brackets announced
Watch for our full previews of Class AA on Monday and Class A on Tuesday.
Class A
The logjam at the top of Class A was broken in favor of once-beaten Lyle Pacelli, who gets the #1 seed, while twice-beaten Mountain Iron-Buhl, rated #1 by QRF and also by us here at Northstar Girls Hoops, got #2.
Otherwise, it appears that recent tournament success played a big role in the seeds as Ada came in at #3 and Minneota at #4. Meanwhile, unbeaten Menahga, one of just 3 unbeatens remaining in all 4 classes, only got a #5. It’s game with Minneota would seem to be the feature game of 1st round play in Class A on Thursday at Williams Arena. The old state tournament hands Lyle Pacelli, MIB and Ada figure to have a big advantage over their opponents.
Here are all 4 matchups for Thursday.
11 a.m. #1 Lyle Austin Pacelli 29-1 vs. unseeded #6 Heritage Christian 19-10
1 p.m. #4 Minneota 25-4 vs. #5 Menahga 30-0
3 p.m. #2 Mountain Iron-Buhl 28-2 vs. unseeded Stephen-Argyle 27-3
5 p.m. #3 Ada-Borup 27-2 vs. unseeded Sleepy Eye 26-4
Class AA
Again, previous state tournament success would seem to have been a factor as defending state champion Roseau, rated just #12 by QRF, leapfrogged Minnehaha and Norwood Young America to get the #3 seed.
No surprise as undefeated Sauk Centre got the #1 seed and Maranatha got the #2.
Unlike Class A, several of these games could be very competitive, including the #4 vs. #5 game, of course, but Tracy-Milroy-Balaton, with its gaudy 29-2 record, could provide a stiff challenge to Roseau. Meanwhile, Sauk is heavily favored but one still needs to see them defend Byron’s 6-5 Yokie Lee who scored 140 points in 4 section games, including a high of 54.
Here are the 4 matchups which are split between Target Center and Williams Arena on Wednesday.
6 p.m. at Target #1 Sauk Centre 30-0 vs. unseeded Byron 19-10
8 p.m. at Target #4 Minnehaha 21-7 vs. #5 Norwood Young America 27-3
6 p.m. at Williams #2 Maranatha 26-4 vs. unseeded Mesabi East 24-6
8 p.m. at Williams #3 Roseau 24-5 vs. unseeded Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 29-2