MSHSL Boys Basketball Class 4A and 3A State Semifinals on KDHL

KDHL Baseline to Baseline coverage of the MSHSL Boys Basketball State Tournament moves into full swing with all the upcoming Semifinals games and title contests.

High Noon at the Target Center top Class AAA seed and rated Totino-Grace (22-8) faces #5 seed Alexandria Area (25-4).

The Eagles are the defending Champions and are coming off a 50-point win Tuesday 86-36 over St. Francis.

The no doubter included 14 players scoring for Totino-Grace.  The most minutes logged by a Eagles player was 23:27 by Isaiah Johnson, junior, 6'7, with 9 points, 5 rebounds.

Patrick Bath, senior, 6'9, tallied 23 points, 7 rebounds in 17:08.  Taison Chatman, Freshman, 6'4, added 16 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists in 17:05.

That is efficiency. Totino-Grace hit an eye-popping 72 percent of their shots including 8 shots from long range (46.2%), Twelve different players had a rebound.  11 different players had at least one assist,

The Eagles scored 58 points in the paint.  23 points off turnovers.

The Cardinals downed Big Nine member Mankato East 62-57 Tuesday in Williams Arena.

Alexandria Area never trailed in the contest.  They were the #5 seed in the tournament and captured the victory thanks to a 13-4 advantage scoring at the free throw line and an 8-point advantage in the paint (32-24) as well as 24-8 difference in points off turnovers.

The Cardinals had 20 assists on 22 field goals led by junior, Grayson Grove, 6'9, with 20 points, 10 rebounds 5 assists in 34:16.  Chase Thompson, sophomore, 6'7, added 15 points, 4 rebounds in 32:51.

The other Semifinals contest features #2 seed Orono (25-5) and #3 seed DeLaSalle (25-5) with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Target Center.

The Spartans led by 12 points at the half against Hermantown then had to hold on for dear life in their 84-82 win.  Isaiah Hagen, senior, 6'4 played every second and finished with a monster performance 35 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists.  Kyle Kallenbach, senior, 6'1, added 20 points with four three-point baskets.

Orono had 19 assists on 31 field goals.  They also scored 50 points in the paint.

The Spartans were rated #4 in final Minnesota Basketball News rankings and knocked off #2 rated Benilde-St. Margaret's 66-62 in Section 6AAA title game.  The win Tuesday was their 15th straight.

DeLaSalle lost their last game of the regular season against Class AAAA state entrant Wayzata 64-61.  The Islanders opened the season against defending State AAAA Champion Park Center and lost 102-71.

In their 71-66 win Tuesday over Stewartville a DeLaSalle trademark over the years came through.  Scoring off turmnovers.

The Islanders scored 20 points off miscues and had 15 fast break points compared to 2 points on fast breaks by the Tigers.

DeLaSalle has eight seniors on their roster.  They were rated #3 in the final Minnesota Basketball News issue of the 2022-23 regular season.

One concern first year Head Coach Todd Anderson must have is rebounds.  The Islanders were outrebounded by Stewartville 27-19.

PJ Pounds II, senior, 6'6, provided 20 points to lead the way for DeLaSalle.  Nasir Whitlock, senior, 6'1, had 10 assists to go along with 18 points, 4 rebounds.

Class AAAA Semifinals could be very entertaining with two teams out of the South Suburban Conference hoping to face each other for a state title.

At 6:00 p.m. Eastview tangles with top seed and top ranked Park Center then at 8:00 p.m. it's #2 seed Lakeville North and #3 seed Wayzata.

Park Center ran by Andover 92-72 on Tuesday.  Six different Pirates had double digit points.

Casmire Chavis, junior, 6'3, had 18 points, 11 assists.  Joe Burgess, senior, 6'5, added 15 points.  JJ Ware, senior, 6'5, had 14 points, 10 rebounds,

Eastview of Apple Valley (23-7) led nearly the entire way in their 72-68 win over Minnetonka Tuesday.

The Lightning pulled away down the stretch and had a lot of dunks in the victory.

Dylan Omweno, senior, 6'1 scored 25 points in under 25 minutes,

Lakeville North (27-3) breezed by Buffalo 87-59 at Target Center Tuesday.

The Panthers are #2 seed, #2 rated, led by Nolan Winter, senior, 6'11 but they have more weapons and always get after it on defense.

Winter is a Mr. Basketball finalist.  He opened the State Tournament with 25 points, 17 rebounds in the lopsided win over Buffalo.

Lakeville North scored 48 points in the paint and out rebounded the Bison 44-15.

#3 seed Wayzata will have some size to go up against the Panthers.  The Trojans were rated #3 in final MBBN rankings.

Wayzata opened with a 81-61 win over White Bear Lake Area.  Nine different players scored.  Ten different Trojans had at least one rebound.

Wayzata dominated the glass 40-28.  That could be a key statistic against Lakeville North.

I have always enjoyed watching Lakeville North teams because Head Coach John Oxton is a master at mixing defenses and keeping opponents off balance.

Jackson McAndrew, junior, 6'9 and Isaiah Habte, senior, 6'5, might share the duties of keeping a body on Winter for the Trojans.

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