Section 8A boys basketball champion Cass Lake-Bena will open the state Class A basketball tournament next week against Section 5A champion Bertha-Hewitt.
Thursday's 1 p.m. quarterfinal at Mariucci Arena in Minneapolis will be a premier matchup between the top two Class A teams in Minnesota.
Bertha-Hewitt enters the state tournament undefeated and the No. 1 ranked team in Minnesota Class A Basketball with a perfect 28-0 record.
Cass Lake-Bena enters the state tournament on a 15- game winning streak and ranked No. 2 in Class A with a 27-3 record. It is likely the Panthers would be the top-ranked team if they had an undefeated record.
The Panthers only losses came to Class 4A Hopkins, national power White Station (Tenn.) and Class 2A power Crosby-Ironton.
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The Panthers have not lost to a team in Class A play this season and are averaging 93 points per game while allowing 53 points per game to the opposition.
The winner of the game will advance to face either Section 1A champion Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (20-10) or Minnesota Transitions Charter School (26-4) in the semifinal at noon Friday at Target Center in Minneapolis.
In the bottom half of the state bracket, defending state champion and Section 3A champion Ellsworth (28-2) meets Section 2A champion Grenada-Huntley-East Chain (25-2) next Thursday at 3 p.m. Section 6A champion Norman County East (24-5) meets Section 7A champion Chisholm at 5 p.m.
The winners of those two games meet at 2 p.m. next Friday at Target Center in the semifinal.
Ellsworth, the No. 4 ranked team in Class A, defeated Cass Lake-Bena in the championship game last season.
Ellsworth, Cass Lake-Bena and Bertha-Hewitt are the only ranked teams in the top 10 list to make the state tournament this season.
The Class A championship game will be played next Saturday at 12 p.m. at Target Center.
The state basketball tournament will be televised on KSTC, but the Class A quarterfinals will not be broadcast.
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Friday's Class A semifinals and Saturday's championship game will be televised on KSTC.
