Hills-Beaver Creek to take on Southland at boys hoops tourney

The Minnesota State Class A Boys Basketball Tournament tips off Thursday, and the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots are hoping to make the most of their first opportunity at the tourney.

The Patriots, who are ranked seventh in the latest state A poll and have a record of 27-3, will play Southland, which is ranked third and has a record of 28-1. The quarterfinal matchup between the fourth-seeded Rebels and fifth-seeded H-BC is set for 1 p.m. at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

Hills-Beaver Creek had come close to qualifying for state on multiple occasions, including last year, when it lost to Dawson-Boyd 59-52 in the Section 3A championship game. The Patriots finally sealed the deal, though, by knocking off No. 2 Central Minnesota Christian 77-70 in this year's sectional title tilt.

Southland will be no slouch Thursday, as the Rebels are owners of a current 23-game winning streak and haven't lost since Dec. 22. They have compiled a record of 56-2 over the last two seasons.

The victor in the H-BC-Southland game will face whoever wins the 11 a.m. Thursday matchup between top-seeded Henning, which is undefeated at 30-0, and eighth-seeded Upsala, which is 24-6. On the other side of the bracket, it's second seed Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (28-3) meeting seventh-seeded Cherry (25-5) at 3 p.m., and No. 3 seed Red Lake County (27-2) facing No.6 Liberty Classical Academy (27-2) at 5 p.m. All quarterfinal contests are at Target Center.

The semifinal involving either the Patriots or Southland will be at noon Friday at Williams Arena, and the other semfinal will follow at 2 p.m. The championship game will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Williams Arena.