Bethlehem Academy Fourth Seed in Section 1A

The Faribault Bethlehem Academy Cardinals received the #4 seed in the Section 1A Basketball Tournament and will begin their playoff trail at home against Southland on Thursday night.  The Cardinals (14-11) and Rebels (6-16) will hook up at 7:00 p.m. in Van Orsow Auditorium.

Cardinal Head Coach Eric Hildebrandt was unsure where his team would shake out when he was on the Faribault Interiors show Saturday but he did say his team was, "Looking forward to the opportunity compete in the tournament."

He added, "The goal is not just to get to Rochester but to play as well as we can."

Section 1A has joined the Section 1AA arrangement of doing away with Subsection play and seeding every team in the Section.  That's 19 teams.  So a #4 seed is excellent.

Head to head evidently carried more weight than an overall record.  Which is probably as it should be right?

For example Randolph (19-7) received the #6 seed and lost to Bethlehem Academy 56-53 early in the season.  The Rockets have an identical record as #1 Rushford-Peterson.

#2 Spring Grove (21-5) has the best record in the Section but lost to Rushford-Peterson 64-57 in January.  The Lions are riding a 12 game winning streak into the tournament.

Play-in games Tuesday are #17 Mabel-Canton (8-17) at #16 Houston (10-16) with winner going to Rushford Thursday night.

#18 Lanesboro (2-23) at #15 Hayfield (4-22) with winner going to Spring Grove.

#19 Glenville-Emmons (1-22) at #14 Fillmore Central (7-19) with winner at Wabasha-Kellogg (15-11).

Here are the rest of the pairings Thursday night.

#9 Blooming Prairie (12-10) at #8 Leroy-Ostrander (19-7).

#12 Grand Meadow (12-13) at #5 Kingsland (14-11).

Two-time defending Section champion Goodhue (10-16) is the #10 seed and goes to #7 Schaeffer Academy (18-8) in Rochester.

#11 Lyle/Pacelli (14-10) is at #6 Randolph (19-7).

Let the do or die second season begin.