CASS LAKE -- A day after earning a state tournament berth, the Cass Lake-Bena girls basketball team has mapped its path to a state championship.
The Panthers were seeded No. 4 in the Class A field and will meet fifth-seeded Hayfield in the first round. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at Maturi Pavilion at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
CLB (28-2) hasn’t played the Section 1A champion Vikings this year. Hayfield enters the matchup 32-0. They’re ranked No. 3 in the Class A QRF, just a sliver ahead of Cass Lake-Bena at No. 4.
The winner will face either top-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl (27-3) or unseeded Minneota in the semifinals at noon on Friday, March 18, at Williams Arena. The loser drops to the consolation bracket for either a 10 a.m. or noon tipoff on Friday at Concordia-St. Paul.
The Class A state championship game is set for noon on Saturday, March 19.
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On the other half of the bracket, second-seeded Mayer Lutheran meets unseeded United Christian Academy in the first round, and third-seeded Hancock faces unseeded Nevis.
On Friday night, the Panthers secured the program’s fifth section championship by defeating Warren-Alvarado-Oslo 71-53 in the Section 8A title game. CLB’s win marked back-to-back section championships for the first time in program history.
