No. 1 Lakeville North 52, Northfield 33

In the early game at Target Center in Class AAAA,  No. 1 Lakeville North downed Northfield 52-33 behind 17 points and nine rebounds from center Cassie Rochel (pictured at right).  Read the game recap here.

Also, FoxPreps.com has a postgame video interview with Lakeville North coach Andy Berkvam.

No. 4 Chaska 76, St. Francis 57

The Hawks rallied from an early deficit to roll past St. Francis, 76-57, in the Class AAAA quarterfinal game.  Four players finished in double-figure scoring for Chaska, led by Brooke Brown (20 points) and Ellen Degler (19 points and nine rebounds).  Read the game recap here.

FoxPreps.com caught up with Chaska coach Tara Seifert in a postgame video interview.

Wayzata 56, No. 2 Maple Grove 50

Down 14 points at halftime, Wayzata continued to play giant-killer on its playoff run, beating No. 2 Maple Grove, 56-50.  The Crimson had won 20 games in a row, while Wayzata had to upset Minneapolis South and Hopkins just to get out of the section playoffs.  Kayla Timmerman and Kristi Kuhn each had 16 points for the Trojans, who outscored the Crimson 39-19 after intermission.  Read the game recap here.

FoxPreps.com caught up with Wayzata coach Mike Schumacher in a postgame video interview.

No. 3 White Bear Lake 64, St. Michael-Albertville 51

Julia Dysthe and Alexis Foley each poured in 16 points to lead No. 3 White Bear Lake over defending Class AAA state champion St. Michael-Albertville (which moved up to Class AAAA this season).  Foley added 11 rebounds for the double-double.  Read the game recap here.

FoxPreps.com caught up with White Bear Lake coach Jeremy Post in a postgame video interview.

No. 1 DeLaSalle 66, New Prague 61

In Class AAA's early game, No. 1 DeLaSalle got past New Prague 66-61.  Carissa Wolyniec and Tyseanna Johnson (pictured at right) came up big for the Islanders, scoring 28 and 25 points, respectively.  Read the game recap here.

No. 4 Hill-Murray 66, Annandale 44

Bethany Doolittle (18 points and 10 rebounds) and Corrine McCallum (16 points) powered Hill-Murray past Annandale in a Class AAA quarterfinal matchup.  The Pioneers were clad in their St. Patrick's Day finest, wearing their green uniforms with success.  Read the game recap here.

No. 2 Benilde-St. Margaret's 53, Willmar 39

The Red Knights received good scoring balance as they overcame a five-point halftime deficit to beat Willmar, 53-39 in the Class AAA quarterfinals.  Behind Olivia Antilla (14 points), Josie Dillon (11) and Khadijah Shumpert (11), Benilde-St. Margaret's outscored the Cardinals 32-13 in the second half.  Read the game recap here.

Sartell-St. Stephen 65, No. 3 Bemidji 49

Sartell-St. Stephen may have lost to Bemidji during the regular seaosn, but the Sabres had the answer in the Class AAA quarterfinals Wednesday.  Haley Guetter had 21 points and Andrea Whitney added 19 points and 14 rebounds. Bemidji's Kayla Hirt, a University of Minnesota recruit, was just 3-of-14 from the field and scored 11 points.  Read the game recap here.

Braham 61, Watertown-Mayer 52

Braham freshman sensation Rebekah Dahlman (pictured at right) poured in 30 points as the Bombers beat Watertown-Mayer in the Class AA quarterfinals, 61-52.  Dahlman hit 11-of-19 from the field to outduel the Royals' own underclass superstar, Marissa Janning.  Janning finished with 27 points, but shot just 10-of-32 from the floor.  Read the game recap here.

Rochester Lourdes 49, St. Peter 42

St. Peter streaked out to a 12-0 lead in the game, but couldn't hold off Rochester Lourdes, as the Eagles won the Class AA quarterfinal, 49-42.  Lourdes' Laura Melquist (21 points, 12 rebounds) and Shelby Hanssen (15 points, 16 rebounds) each had a double-double in the game.  Read the game recap here.

FoxPreps.com caught up with Rochester Lourdes senior Laura Melquist in a postgame video interview.

Pipestone 52, Sauk Centre 37

Sauk Centre couldn't overcome a poor shooting night, hitting less than 20 percent (11-of-56) of its shots, and Pipestone took advantage in a 52-37 victory in the Class AA quarterfinal.  The Arrows were led by Rachel Tinklenberg (13 points) and Bree Woelber (12).  Maren Greenwaldt and Kali Peschel each had 10 points for the Mainstreeters, but combined to go 5-for-38 from the field.  Read the game recap here.

Minnehaha Academy 56, Hawley 31

Minnehaha Academy handed Hawley its first loss of the season, 56-31 in the Class AA quarterfinals.  The Nuggets had won their first 28 games of the season, but had no answer for the Redhawks' inside game.  Rachel Hansen scored 18 points for Minnehaha, while Katelyn Adams added 13.  Read the game recap here.

FoxPreps.com caught up with Minnehaha coach Josh Thurow in a postgame video interview.

Staff predictions
The Breakdown staff takes a stab at predicting the winners in the girls tournament.   Can you do better?  We'll update it throughout the tournament to see how close we came.

John's Journal
For those interested in former Star Tribune writer John Millea and his new gig with the MSHSL, he's blogging from the girls' state tournament this weekend.  Just go to the main MSHSL site and hit the tab for "John's Journal."  A few interesting tidbits early on the DeLaSalle victory.

Fox video interviews
The FoxPreps.com gang is doing a great job of getting interviews with the winning coaches for each program in Class AAAA.  Below are the first embedded video interviews.