Boys State Starts Today

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

The coaches have selected the top seeds in all four classes for the fourth time — Rushford-Peterson in Class A, St. Croix Lutheran of West St. Paul in Class AA, DeLaSalle of Minneapolis in Class AAA, and Champlin Park in Class AAAA.
Three teams are returning to defend their 2014 titles; Esko in Class AA; DeLaSalle in Class AAA; and Lakeville North in Class AAAA. Both Esko and Lakeville North are unseeded in their respective classes this year.
Two teams are making first appearances: Nevis in Class A and Hermantown in Class AAA.
This is the 19th year of the four-class format and the 12th year that all games are being played in Minneapolis. This year and next year the boys’ basketball tournament will precede the girls’ basketball tournament because Target Center is hosting the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Frozen Faceoff tournament.
The seeding process had all 32 coaches of the section champions log onto a special page of the League Web site. Each coach then ranked the other teams in their class one through seven. The highest and lowest rankings for each team were discarded, leaving five rankings for each team. From those rankings, the top five teams were seeded. In conference calls with all eight head coaches of each class, League Associate Director Kevin Merkle announced the top five seeds. Tom Critchley, representing the boys’ basketball coaches association, then blindly drew the three remaining teams to establish the opponent for each seeded team. Numbers four and five automatically play each other.
The 2015 State Boys’ Basketball Tournament starts Wednesday, March 11. Quarterfinal games will be played at Target Center on Wednesday, March 11, and at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis on both Wednesday and Thursday, March 11 and 12. Semifinals will be played at Target Center on Thursday, March 12 and Friday, March 13. The championship games of all four classes will be played at Target Center on Saturday, March 14. Third-place games will be played on Saturday at Concordia University in St. Paul.

Class A Quarterfinal Schedule — Thursday, March 12
11:00 a.m. — Fond du Lac Ojibwe vs. Rushford-Peterson at Williams Arena, U of M
1:00 p.m. — Nevis vs. Central Minnesota Christian at Williams Arena, U of M
3:00 p.m. — Red Lake vs. Maranatha Christian Academy at Williams Arena, U of M
5:00 p.m. — Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City vs. Battle Lake at Williams Arena, U of M

Class AA Quarterfinal Schedule — Wednesday, March 11
6:00 p.m. — Esko vs. St. Croix Lutheran at Target Center
8:00 p.m. — Redwood Valley vs. Melrose Area at Target Center
6:00 p.m. — Annandale vs. Caledonia at Williams Arena, U of M
8:00 p.m. — Breckenridge vs. Maple River at Williams Arena, U of M

Class AAA Quarterfinals Schedule — Wednesday, March 11
10:00 a.m. — Albany vs. DeLaSalle at Williams Arena, U of M
12:00 p.m. — Mankato East vs. New Prague at Williams Arena, U of M
2:00 p.m. — Hermantown vs. St. Paul Johnson at Williams Arena, U of M
4:00 p.m. — Waconia vs. Orono at Williams Arena, U of M

Class AAAA Quarterfinals Schedule — Wednesday, March 11
10:00 a.m. — St. Francis vs. Champlin Park at Target Center
12:00 p.m. — Shakopee vs. Roseville Area at Target Center
2:00 p.m. — St. Michael-Albertville vs. Apple Valley at Target Center
4:00 p.m. — Lakeville North vs. Hopkins at Target Center

Television and Webcast Coverage
All semifinal and championship games will be televised live by KSTC-TV, Channel 45, and also streamed live at Prep45.com for a fee of $4.97 per day. Live statistics of all games will also be displayed on the League website (www.MSHSL.org).

Ticket Information
Tickets will be available at Target Center and Williams Arena. Quarterfinal tickets cost $14.00 for adults and $9.00 for students. Quarterfinal wristbands, which are good at both venues on Wednesday only, are $19.00 for adults and $12.00 for students. Semifinal and championship tickets will be available at Target Center and are $14.00 for adults and $9.00 for students per session. Third-place tickets will be available at Concordia University and are $10.00 for adults and $7.00 for students.
A visit to any participating Wells Fargo metro location can yield you a $2 discount coupon for students 13 and younger. The discount coupons are also available for the Girls’ Basketball Tournament.