Minnesota Boys High School Basketball 2019 Tournament Seeds

The 2019 MSHSL Minnesota Boys High School Basketball Tournament begins Wednesday at Williams Arena and Target Center in Minneapolis.  KDHL Radio will be providing our 71st year of coverage of the high school dance.  Roy Koenig will have the first game of the tournament between top Class 3A seed DeLaSalle (24-5) and Bemidji (23-4) Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.

I will have the Noon Class 4A contest between #4 seed Eden Prairie (20-9) and #5 seed Lakeville North (25-4).  Then the scene shifts back to Williams Arena for a 2:00 p.m. game between #2 Class 3A seed Waseca (28-1) and Academy of Holy Angels (24-4).  Our first day coverage ends with Hiawatha Valley League Champion Lake City (26-2) getting a tough #5 seed and playing #4 seed Melrose Area (26-4). A 8:00 p.m. start at Target Center.

Thursday will be the Class 3A Semifinals at Noon and 2:00 p.m.  Class 4A Semifinals at 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.  Friday the Class 1A Semifinals are Noon and 2:00 p.m. and Class 2A Semifinals 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

The State Championship games are Noon, 2:00 p.m. for Class 1A and 2A.  6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. for Class 3A and 4A.  All on KDHL.  Best way to listen is with the FREE KDHL app.  It's static free.

The top seeds in each class are: 1A Springfield, 2A Minnehaha Academy, 3A DeLaSalle and 4A Park Center.

Springfield (27-2) will open with Section 1A representative Spring Grove (23-4) at 11:00 a.m. Thursday in The Barn.  Springfield ended Waterville-Elysian-Morristown's season en route to the Section 2A title.  The Tigers average 88.3 points and allow 57.1 points per game.  The Lions of Spring Grove average 61.3 and have the lowest points allowed per game in the Class A field (46.4).  Former Rushford-Peterson Head Coach Tom Vix retired from coaching after last season's trip to state and joined his friend Wade Grinde in Spring Grove as a volunteer assistant.  The impact has been noticeable for the Lions as evidenced by their first ever trip to state this year.

Two time defending Class 2A State Champion Minnehaha Academy (26-2) will play Section 2 Champion St. Peter (22-6) at 6:00 p.m. at the Target Center in their first game.  The Redhawks average 76.3 and give up 53.9 points per game.  They have a 20 game winning streak.  Minnehaha Academy's only losses were twice to Hopkins in the Class 4A State field.  All of the Saints losses have been to state ranked teams including twice to state tournament entrant in 3A Waseca.  St. Peter also lost to state tournament team Springfield.

Class 3A top seed DeLaSalle (24-5) had their string of state titles snapped after six last year when they lost to Columbia Heighs in the semifinals.  Delano went on to capture the 3A crown last year.  The Islanders have two losses to Minnesota schools.  To Minnehaha Academy and North St. Paul.  DeLaSalle was defeated by national powers Yankton, South Dakota, Fridley Prep (Arizona) and Sun Prairie Area (Wisconsin).  The Islanders average 78.4 and give up 54.2.

The Islanders open with Bemidji (23-4).  The Lumberjacks losses came against Alexandria Area, Superior, Wisconsin, Brainerd and Fergus Falls.  They average 67.4 points per game and allow 57.3.

Thanks to seeds of the top 5 teams and a draw for the remaining three the Islanders have a tough opponent right out of the gate.  If the tournament were seeded 1 through 8 undoubtedly DeLaSalle would be playing Monticello (14-15) in the first round.  The Magic will tangle with #3 seed Austin (23-5) at 4:00 p.m. in Williams Arena on Wednesday.

Park Center (28-1) is the #1 seed in the largest schools.  The Pirates only loss was January 8th, 62-56 to Robbinsdale Armstrong.  Park Center advanced to state with a 57-55 triple overtime win over Champlin Park.  Maple Grove (23-6) will be the first opponent in the tournament for the Pirates.   The Crimson average 66.4 and allow 51.6 points per game while Park Center scores an average 72.1 points per game while giving up 57.6.

We will have more analysis of the games we are broadcasting before coverage opens Wednesday so check back for more insight into this year's tournament.

Remember to check our new Cash Wise Foods Owatonna, Waseca scoreboard for the latest scores from around the area.