The Minnesota high school winter sports state tournament season comes to an end starting Wednesday as the high school boys state basketball tournament takes over Target Center and Williams Arena in Minneapolis, and Concordia University in St. Paul.
Wednesday begins with Class AAAA and Rogers taking on #1 Wayzata at 10 a.m. inside Target Center. Other big school games include No. 5 Cretin-Derham Hall vs No. 4 Farmington at noon, Eagan vs No. 2 Park Center at 2 p.m. and Coon Rapids vs No. 3 Minnetonka at 4 p.m.
It's a special trip for the Farmington Tigers who return to the boys state basketball tournament for the first time since 1937.
"This is huge for our program and our community," said Tigers head coach Tharen Johnson. "It's been a long time since 1937. Just to finally get over the hump in the section playoffs, our guys are just beyond excited."
Farmington beat Lakeville North in the section final to get to the 2024 state tournament.
"Everyone I've seen in the halls whether it's teachers, staff, or students are wishing us good luck," Johnson said. "We're excited and so is the community and school as well."
Farmington isn't the only one to break a state drought in AAAA. Rogers returns for the first time since 2009, Eagan's back in the tournament for the first time since 2005, and Coon Rapids ended a long state tournament drought having last appeared in the state tournament in 1983.
West Central Area is in the state tournament for the first time ever in Class A.
The Knights beat Ada-Borup 60-56 in the Section 6 championship.
"We've been really good for 28 years straight," said West Central Area head coach Kraig Hunter. "The last five years I think we've been 104 and 29. A lot of these guys have played on varsity the last two or three years on varsity and we've been close every year."
West Central Area enters the 1A tournament as the No. 2 seed. They will face Heritage Christian Academy on Thursday afternoon at Target Center.
"Everywhere we go, everyone is very excited congratulating us. We have a very active booster club with parents in the community who are getting t-shirts ready and stuff for the team," Hunter said. "The kids, they're happy and we want them to be excited, but they know we have a chance to win down there. They're pretty business-like in practice. We're trying to get a balance of both to have fun and enjoy it."
Wednesday, March 20th
Class 4A Quarterfinals at Target Center
Rogers vs No. 1 Wayzata 10 a.m.
No. 5 Cretin-Derham Hall vs No. 4 Farmington 12 p.m.
Eagan vs No. 2 Park Center 2 p.m.
Coon Rapids vs No. 3 Minnetonka 4 p.m.
Class 2A Quarterfinals at Target Center
Jackson County Central vs No. 2 Albany 6 p.m.
Pelican Rapids vs No. 3 Lake City 8 p.m.
Class 3A Quarterfinals at Williams Arena
Stewartville vs No. 1 Totino-Grace 10 a.m.
No. 5 DeLaSalle vs No. 4 Orono 12 p.m.
Chisago Lakes vs No. 2 Mankato East 2 p.m.
Minneapolis South vs No. 3 Alexandria Area 4 p.m.
Class 2A Quarterfinals at Williams Arena
Waseca vs No. 1 Breck 6 p.m.
No. 5 Minnehaha Academy vs No. 4 Pequot Lakes 8 p.m.
Thursday, March 21st
Class 1A Quarterfinals at Target Center
Russell-Tyler-Ruthton vs No. 1 Cherry 11 a.m.
No. 5 Nevis vs No. 4 Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 1 p.m.
Heritage Christian Academy vs No. 2 West Central Area 3 p.m.
Goodhue vs No. 3 Fertile-Beltrami 5 p.m.