Eastview, Cooper, Sauk Centre, Lyle/Pacelli All Win
March 2018

Undefeated (32-0) Eastview powered its way through the Class AAAA field at the 2018 Girls’ Basketball Tournament at Target Center March 14-17.

Hopkins was the final opponent to fall to the Lightning in a battle of Minneapolis suburban schools. The first time these rivals met was during the regular season, and Eastview won, 66-56. The rematch was played at the state tournament on Saturday, and, once again, the Lightning triumphed. This time, the final score was 68-63. Megan Walsted led Eastview with 20 points, but took a backseat to the remarkable performance of Hopkins all-star Paige Bueckers, the team’s one-woman show with 37 points. Bueckers, who has attracted the attention of college recruiters coast-to-coast, scored 14 of Hopkins’ first 16 points. In the end, it wasn’t enough, as Eastview’s balanced effort prevailed.

In the Class AAA final, Cooper, in its first girls’ state basketball tournament, won it all by defeating Northfield, 49-37. The smaller Hawks out-quicked Northfield, who previously had been awarded the top seed by high school league officials. Aja Wheeler led Cooper with 15 points.

Sauk Centre won the Class AA title, defeating Roseau, 63-52. This was a rematch of the 2017 finals in this classification. This time, the results were reversed with the Mainstreeters on top. Last year, Roseau won by the score of 75 to 64.

Lyle/Pacelli, a strange amalgamation of public and private schools, rode the coat tails of 6-5 center Kristi Fett, who scored 30 points and snatched 16 rebounds against Sleepy Eye. The Athletics stormed through the tournament with their smallest victory margin a 53-41 win over Minneota. Lyle is a town of 500 located inches from the Iowa border. Pacelli is a long-established Catholic school in urban Austin.

Results for all four classes:

Class A
Mountain Iron-Buhl 59, Stephen-Argyle 47
Sleepy Eye 53, Ada-Borup 51
Lyle/Pacelli 59, Heritage Christian 43
Minneota 74, Menaga 69
Sleepy Eye 63, Mountain Iron-Buhl 48
Lyle/Pacelli 53, Minneota 41
Lyle/Pacelli 57, Sleepy Eye 33

Class AA
Sauk Centre 67, Byron 61
Norwood-Young America 67, Minnehaha Academy 58
Maranatha 85, Mesabi Academy 49
Roseau 62, Tracy-Milroy-Belaton 56
Sauk Centre 54, Norwood-Young America 45
Roseau 76, Maranatha 66
Sauk Centre 63, Roseau 52

Class AAA
Cooper 58, Alexandria 51
Grand Rapids 75, Holy Angels 60
Northfield 45, Mankato East 44
Willmar 53, DeLaSalle 47, OT
Cooper 65, Willlmar 54
Northfield 64, Grand Rapids 54
Cooper 49, Northfield 37

Class AAAA
Eastview 78, Prior Lake 44
Lakeville North 68, Maple Grove 66, OT
Hopkins 74, Forest Lake 38
Roseville 56, Cretin-Durham Hall 48
Eastview 54, Lakeville North 47
Hopkins 60, Roseville 34
Eastview 68, Hopkins 63

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