Three of the Four classes in the Minnesota High School Boys Basketball Tournament have their semifinal match ups determined.  In Class 4A top seed and ranked Cretin-Derham Hall defeated Wayzata 70-48, Eden Prairie cruised past Osseo 65-38, Apple Valley downed Forest Lake 67-60 and Lakeville North beat Maple Grove 89-71.

In Class 3A  top seed and top rated DeLaSalle dispatched Hermantown 90-63, the Columbia Heights Hylanders bested St. Thomas Academy 75-62, #2 seed and rated Austin defeated Sauk Rapids-Rice 64-55 and Delano upset #3 seed Mankato East 79-64.

In Class 2A at Williams Arena #2 seed Brooklyn Center lassoed the Breckenridge Cowboys 63-48 and Caledonia sank the Minnewaska Area Lakers 80-41.  At Target Center top seed Minnehaha Academy pulled away from Jordan 65-45 and St. Cloud Cathedral survived a three overtime 64-60 victory over Esko.

The Class A quarterfinal round games will be played at Williams Arena Thursday and Roy will have two of them at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

The first broadcast will be #4 seed Russell-Tyler-Ruthton against #5 seed Hinckley Finlayson and the next game #2 seed North Woods goes up against Heritage Christian Academy.  The actual first Class A contest is #1 Mayer Lutheran(27-3) playing Mahnomen-Waubun (18-11).  The final Williams Arena game #3 seed Cass Lake-Bena (29-1) faces Section 1 Champion Rushford-Peterson at 5:00 p.m.

In addition to those two Class 1A quarterfinal contests KDHL baseline to baseline 70th year coverage of the State Tournament will include both Class 4A semifinal games from the Target Center.

At 6:00 p.m. Top seed Cretin-Derham Hall (28-2) will play a young, talented Eden Prairie (23-7) team and the 8:00 p.m. game will be an all South Suburban Conference game between defending State Champion and #2 seed Apple Valley (26-4) and #3 seed Lakeville North (26-4).

The Panthers and Eagles split their games during the regular season with each team winning on the other's home floor.  The rubber game is in the State Semis.  Apple Valley had to come from behind to beat upset minded Forest Lake Wednesday.  The Rangers had a 34-28 lead at the half and Eagles senior Tre Jones had 4 points while taking just 5 shots.

Forest Lake had a 10 point lead with 11:13 to go and after some missed long shots and a few turnovers found themselves up by just two with 10 minutes to go.  Jones scored 18 second half points and finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in 34 minutes.  6'4 senior Luke Martens added 13 points in 31 minutes.

The difference was clearly the free throw line with the Eagles going 17 of 27 and the Rangers 6 of 7.  Apple Valley also won the battle of the boards 28-22 and turned 20 Forest Lake turnovers into 12 points.

Lakeville North had a 37-28 lead over Maple Grove at the half while shooting a blistering 62 percent from the field and 60 percent from three point range.

It's the seventh straight trip to state for the Panthers so the Target Center is like a second home and they looked very comfortable ending the game shooting 59 percent from the field and 53 percent from behind the arc.

Lakeville North had 10 three point baskets and the Crimson 6 threes.  The Panthers struggled at the free throw line where they were 15 of 26 and the game ended dead even on the glass 30-30.

Lakeville North 6'7 junior Tyler Wahl had an impressive stat line with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists in 30 minutes.  5'11 junior Tommy Jensen added four threes and 23 points in 28 minutes and 6'3 senior Collin Denk had 3 three point baskets while adding 12 points in 22 minutes.

Lakeville North Huddle During Win Against Forest Lake. Photo by Gordy Kosfeld
Lakeville North Huddle During Win Against Forest Lake. Photo by Gordy Kosfeld
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Apple Valley Shakes Hands After Win Over Forest Lake. Photo by Gordy Kosfeld
Apple Valley Shakes Hands After Win Over Forest Lake. Photo by Gordy Kosfeld
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