Ron Haggstrom, David La Vaque, Jim Paulsen, Joe Gunther and Theo Franz will see 28 games over four days at two sites, and they’ll interview players and coaches, fans and administrators for stories beyond the games. Find out what they learn here, and come back often to see their latest.
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9:40 a.m.
It’s game time, and it’s Teddies time, too
The doors are open, fans are starting to make their way into Williams Arena and the Maturi Pavilion for the girls basketball tournament.
Surprisingly, the majority aren’t coming to root on the top seeds, Hopkins in Class 4A and Benilde-St. Margaret’s in Class 3A. A solid contingent is rolling in from Minneapolis.
They are hopeful the Teddies from Roosevelt in their initial state tournament appearance can pull off a colossal upset of defending state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s. The Red Knights (24-5) are on a 21-game winning streak, and their average margin of victory is 20.9 points per game. It will be a tall order for the Teddies (23-7).
“It’s an unbelievable and remarkable memory that these girls will always have a spot with their names here at Minneapolis Roosevelt,” Teddies coach Tyesha Wright said before the tournament.
Wright’s squad isn’t alone in facing a tough task on a day when 12 teams — the Class 2A quarterfinals will follow in the night session — will have their bubble burst and another 12 will begin preparing for the semifinals.
There are two very intriguing 4-5 matchups today, Maple Grove (24-4) vs. Lakeville North (24-5) in Class 4A and New London-Spicer (28-2) vs. Crosby-Ironton (24-6) in Class 2A.
Maple Grove has an excellent Division I tandem in senior Claire Stern (North Dakota State) and junior Jordan Ode (Michigan State) going against Lakeville North coaching great Andy Berkvam and 6-4 senior center Trinity Wilson (Vanderbilt).
The 2A matchup has similarities. New London-Spicer’s legendary coach, Mike Dreier, is going against one of best sophomores in the state in Crosby-Ironton’s Tori Oehrlein. Dreier is the state’s all-time winningest coach (boys or girls) with a career record of 1,067-191 over 46 seasons at the helm of the Wildcats. He is making his state-record 21st appearance in the state tournament.
Teams are getting ready to take to the courts for warmups. Tipoff is about 30 minutes away. Enjoy the ride!
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Ron Haggstrom, Jim Paulsen, David La Vaque, , Joseph Gunther, Theo Franz
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