2010 BOYS' STATE HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

The coaches have selected the top seeds of the two largest school classes — St. Paul Johnson in Class AAA and Hopkins in Class AAAA.

Hopkins is the only school returning to defend its 2009 Class AAAA title. If the Royals win it would be their second consecutive and sixth overall title.

Three teams are making first appearances: Mesabi East of Aurora in Class A; Jordan in Class AA; and Orono in Class AAA.

This is the 14th year of the four-class format, and the seventh with all games being played in Minneapolis. It’s also the third year that the top four teams in Class AAA and Class AAAA were seeded and their opponents determined by blind draw. The head coaches of the 16 schools logged onto a special page of the League Web site and each coach ranked the other teams 1 through 7. The highest and lowest rankings for each team were discarded, leaving five rankings for each team. From those rankings, the top four seeds were selected. In conference calls with all eight head coaches of each class, League Associate Director Kevin Merkle announced the top four seeds. A coaches association representative then conducted a blind draw of the four remaining teams to establish the opponents for the seeded teams.

The 2010 State Boys’ Basketball Tournament starts Wednesday, March 24. Semifinals will be played at Target Center on Thursday March 25 and Friday March 26. The championship games of all four classes will be played at Target Center on Saturday March 27. Third-place games will be played on Saturday at Concordia University in St. Paul.

Class A Quarterfinal Schedule

Thursday, March 25

11:00 a.m. Rushford-Peterson vs. Springfield at Williams Arena, U of M

1:00 p.m. Minnesota Transitions Charter School vs. Cass Lake-Bena at Williams Arena, U of M

3:00 p.m. Mesabi East vs. Sebeka at Williams Arena, U of M

5:00 p.m. — Ellsworth vs. Hillcrest Academy at Williams Arena, U of M

Class AA Quarterfinal Schedule — Wednesday, March 24

6:00 p.m. — Plainview-Elgin-Milllville vs. Jordan at Target Center
8:00 p.m. — Minnehaha Academy vs. Crosby-Ironton at Target Center
6:00 p.m. — Braham vs. Sibley East at Williams Arena, U of M
8:00 p.m. — Windom Area vs. New London-Spicer at Williams Arena, U of M

The Class AAA Quarterfinals Schedule — Wednesday, March 24

10:00 a.m. — Hutchinson vs. St. Paul Johnson at Williams Arena, U of M
12:00 p.m. — Orono vs. Winona at Williams Arena, U of M
2:00 p.m. — Little Falls vs. DeLaSalle at Williams Arena, U of M
4:00 p.m. — Grand Rapids vs. Benilde-St. Margaret’s at Williams Arena, U of M

The Class AAAA Quarterfinals Schedule — Wednesday, March 24

10:00 a.m. — Forest Lake vs. Hopkins at Target Center
12:00 p.m. — Eastview vs. Henry Sibley at Target Center
2:00 p.m. — Owatonna vs. Eden Prairie at Target Center
4:00 p.m. — St. Cloud Tech vs. Champlin Park at Target Center