MSHSL Class 3A & Class 4A Championships Set

There were some terrific high school basketball games played Thursday at Target Center in downtown Minneapolis with the biggest schools classes competing for a berth into the Championship games.

In Class 4A, the final game of the day saw Wayzata take apparent control with a 20 point lead around the 13 minute mark only to see Lakeville North storm back to take the lead before crunch time.

Trojans outstanding point guard Hayden Tibbits, senior, 5'11, hit a 8 foot shot as the clock was winding down to give Wayzata the victory avenging an early season loss to the Panthers.

The free throw line was clearly the difference with Wayzata hitting 16 of 17 and Lakeville North 9 of 16.

Tibbits finished the game with 24 points, Jackson McAndrew, junior, 6'9, had 28 points, 8 rebounds and Jake Schmitt, senior, 6'1, added 10 points, 4 assists for the Trojans.

#3 seed Wayzata (26-4) led 44-31 at the half.  The #2 seed Panthers (27-4) had the lead 2:11 in the game.

The Trojans will play against Park Center in a re-match of last year's title tilt.

The top ranked Pirates had 21 offensive rebounds and scored 16 points on put backs to seal the game 61-56 against a tough Eastview Lightning team.

Neither team enjoyed a double digit lead in the hotly contested game.

Turnovers also spelled doom for Eastview with Park Center scoring 25 points off 21 Lightning miscues.

The Pirates had 9 turnovers.

Park Center (28-2) was led by Casmir Chavis, junior, 6'3, 21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists.  Jackson Fowlkes, juniior, 6'4, had 13 points.

Eastview (23-8) was paced by Jon Mekonnen, junior, 6'8, 19 points, 6 rebounds.  Chet Kloss, senior, 6'6, chipped in 10 points, 5 rebounds and Mario Adams came off the bench to add 10 points, 4 rebounds.

Class AAA title game will also be a re-match when Totino-Grace (23-8) goes up against DeLaSalle (26-5).  The Eagles defeated the Islanders last season.

Totino-Grace downed Alexandria Area 70-59 despite the Cardinals experiencing a lead for over 21 minutes of the 36 minute game.  Alex led 38-33 at the half.

The Cardinals and Eagles were 7 of 11 from the charity stripe.  Both teams shot the ball well in the NBA arena.  55% for T-G, 52% for Alex.

There were 8 lead changes in the game but no ties.

The difference came in the paint with Totino-Grace scoring 40 points to Alexandria Area's 16.

The Eagles had great balance with four players in double figures led by Tommy Humphries, senior, 6'5, with 16 points, 8 rebounds.  Isaiah Johnson, junior, 6'7, had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists. Patrick Bath, senior, 6'9, added 14 points, 8 rebounds. Point guard Taison Chatman, senior, 6'4, had 12 points, 9 assists and 3 rebounds.

Alexandria Area had 5 different players connect from long range with 10 total three pointers.  T-G tallied 7 threes.

The Cardinals were paced by Grayson Grove, junior, 6'9, with 21 points, 5 renbounds.  Chase Thompson, sophomore, 6'7, added 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists.

#3 seed DeLaSalle defeated #2 seed Orono 67-61.

22 fast break points for the Islanders were the difference.

Nasir Whitlock, senior, 6'1, led the way with 27 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists.  Israel Moses V, senior, 6'4, added 10 points, 6 rebounds.

The Spartans top scorer was Isaiah Hagen, senior, 6'4, with 23 points, 5 rebounds.  Nolan Groves, sophomore, 6'3, tallied 13 points.  Kyle Kallenbach,senior, 6'1 finished with 12 points.

Class A and Class AA games are today on KDHL, 920 AM, 97.9 FM, FREE KDHL app worldwide.

Coverage begins at Noon from Target Center.

Championship contests tomorrow start at 11:00 a.m.  ALL will be on the Mighty 920 as we continue our 75th year of covering the MSHSL Boys Basketball State Tournament.