4 Southeast Minnesota Basketball Teams Punch Tickets to State

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- Four southeastern Minnesota girls basketball teams have punched their tickets to the State Tournament.

They were each crowned section champions following games played Thursday night and Friday night at the Mayo Civic Center Arena in Rochester.

Section 1A and 1AA held their title games Thursday night and Section 1AAA and 1AAAA played for a trip to state on Friday night.

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Section 1A

The Goodhue Wildcats sailed through the Section Tournament as the top seed. Their run began with a 103-15 win over Lyle-Pacelli, followed by a 75-30 victory over Kingsland in the quarterfinals and a 73-49 over Spring Grove in the semi finals.

The Wildcats punched their ticket to the State Tournament with a convincing 78-49 win over Hayfield on Thursday.

The Wildcats will play their opening round game in the State Tournament on Wednesday, March 14 at Maturi Pavilion on the University of Minnesota campus.

Section 1AA

The Rochester Lourdes Eagles soared into the State Tournament after surviving a barn burner in the section semi final round. They opened the section tournament with a 54-36 win over Albert Lea then beat Chatfield 59-23 in the quarterfinals.

The Eagles then mounted a comeback to knock off Caledonia 61-59 in a section semi final. Their run to state culminated with a strong defense performance to take down the top seed Cotter in the Section Championship 50-33.

The Eagles next game will be at the State Tournament on March 13. They'll play at either Williams Arena or Maturi Pavilion.

Section 1AAA

The Stewartville Tigers had to go on the road to defend their section title. After topping Red Wing 66-37 in Round 1, the Tigers went to Winona and upset the 2-seeded Winhawks with a 51-44 wire-to-wire victory. 

 Stewartville then faced the top-seeded Byron Bears, a team that beat them twice in the regular season. The Tigers, making their third straight appearance in the Section Championship Game, took down the Bears 64-51 to return to state. 

Stewartville will play Wednesday in the State Tournament at Maturi Pavilion.

Section 1AAAA

A crosstown rivalry had to take things out of town to determine a section champion. Lakeville North as top seed reached the Section Final with 70-30 Round 1 win over Owatonna and an 82-56 win over New Prague in the semi final.

Their crosstown foe Lakeville South was waiting for them in the Section Championship game. The Panthers outlasted their rivals and punched their ticket to state with a 62-58 victory.

Lakeville North will play on March 13 at Williams Arena.

As of Saturday morning the brackets for the Class A, AA, AAA and AAAA State Tournaments have not been released. The brackets are available by clicking here.