#1 Hopkins 75, Forest Lake 51
Hopkins appeared primed to defend its Class AAAA title in the opener of the boys' state basketball tournament Wednesday morning at Target Center, beating Forest Lake 75-51.  Junior Joe Coleman led the way with 24 points and 12 rebounds, earning a double-double for the Royals (28-2).  Hopkins also picked up double-figure scoring efforts from Marvin Singleton (15 points) and Dustin Peterson (13).  The Rangers (24-5) had just one player in double-figure scoring, senior Zach Riedeman (23 points).  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was at the game and filmed this video interview with Hopkins coach Ken Novak Jr.

#4 Henry Sibley 50, Eastview 47
Jake Goldberg drained a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaing to lift No. 4 Henry Sibley past Eastview, 50-47 in a thrilling Class AAAA quarterfinal at Target Center.  Goldberg's trey erased the 10th tie of the game, coming just seconds after Eastview's Joey King had tied the game on a three-pointer of his own.  Jordan Jackson (pictured at right) led Henry Sibley (24-6) with 16 points, while Jake Kreuser and Jimmy Ryan each added nine.  Frank Veldman (17 points) and King (13) both scored in double-figures for Eastview (18-11), which was outrebounded 36-17 by the big Warriors' front court.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was at the game and filmed this video interview with Henry Sibley coach Tom Dasovich.

#2 Eden Prairie 61, Owatonna 46
The Eagles broke open a tight defensive struggle with a big 40-point second half, giving Eden Prairie a 61-46 victory over Owatonna in the Class AAAA quarterfinals at Target Center.  Leading just 21-18 at halftime, Eden Prairie (26-3) got its offense on track after intermission.  Grant Soderberg led the way with 15 points, while Brett Ervin added 14.  In all, nine different Eagles scored in the game.  Owatonna (21-8) was paced by Paul Satterlund's 10 points.  Brian Wagner, Tyler Supalla and Vaughn Thada all added eight points.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was at the game and filmed this video interview with Eden Prairie's Brett Ervin.

St. Cloud Tech 55, #3 Champlin Park 51
Alex Hanks and Scott Nystrom combined to score 37 points as St. Cloud Tech upset #3 Champlin Park in the Class AAAA quarterfinals at Target Center, 55-51.  Hanks was especially proficient at the free throw line, making 11-of-13 free throws.  Nystrom added 11 rebounds for Tech (26-4), which shot 46.3 percent from the field and held Champlin Park (24-6) to just 30.8 percent (including 19.2 percent in the second half).  Kyle Zimmermann (16 points), Dillon Hager (12) and Josh Pella (12) all scored in double figures for the Rebels.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was at the game and filmed this video interview with St. Cloud Tech's Alex Hanks.

#1 St. Paul Johnson 80, Hutchinson 37
Powerful St. Paul Johnson remained unbeaten and moved into the Class AAA semifinals with a resounding 80-37 victory over Hutchinson at Williams Arena Wednesday morning.  The Governers (30-0) scored 40 points in each half to cruise to the win.  Marcus Marshall led Johnson in scoring with 17 points in just 16 minutes, while Estan Tyler (pictured at right) added 16 points and four steals.  Hutchinson (24-5) was led by Adam Hjelter's nine points.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

#4 Winona 70, Orono 57
Winona jumped out to an early 18-4 lead and cruised to a 70-57 victory over Orono in the Class AAA quarterfinals at Williams Arena.  Orono (24-6) had no answer for Winhawks big man Alec Brown, who managed 35 points on 16-of-23 shooting, or Mark Blacklock, who added 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting.  The pair scored 60 of the 70 points for Winona (28-1).  Spartans' sharpshooter Jordan Smith tried to answer back, scoring 30 points, including six three-pointers, but it was not enough.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

#2 DeLaSalle 66, Little Falls 61
Jalen Jaspers and Jonah Travis hit their first 11 shots from the field and the Islanders held off a late Little Falls rally to win the Class AAA quarterfinal at Williams Arena, 66-61.  Jaspers finished with 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting and Travis added 13 on a perfect 6-for-6 effort from the field.  Bretson McNeal chipped in with 12 points for the Islanders (25-4).  Dan Kornbaum had a double-double for Little Falls (20-9) with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Ethan Mustonen had 14 points and Grant Bell 10.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

Grand Rapids 70, #3 Benilde-St. Margaret's 61
The Thunderhawks shot 58.5 percent from the field to upset No. 3 Benilde-St. Margaret's in the Class AAA quarterfinals at Williams Arena, 70-61.  Eric Stark paced Grand Rapids (27-2) with 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting, while Austin Pohlen had 12 points on 4-of-4 from the field.  Michael Johnson chipped in with 18 points and eight rebounds, but was just 6-of-16 from the field.  Isaiah Zierden (14 points) and Myles Barnes (11) were the only scorers in double figures for Benilde (24-5).  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

Braham 60, Sibley East 59 OT
Tyler Vaughan (pictured at right) scored all six points of overtime for Braham as part of his 29-point game, leading the Bombers past Sibley East, 60-59 in the Class AA quarterfinals at Williams Arena.  Braham (27-3) which trailed by 20 points with less than six minutes remaining, came storming back to force overtime.  Ben Thiry kicked off the rally with eight straight points and later hit a trey with 17 seconds left to force overtime.  He finished with 16 points.  Sibley East (23-4) received a monster game from power forward Marshall Bjorklund, who dominated inside to 33 points on 14-of-16 shooting and 23 rebounds.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

Plainview-Elgin-Millville 45, Jordan 42
The Bulldogs rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to edge Jordan, 45-42 in the Class AA quarterfinals at Target Center.  Cole Olstad hit two free throws at the 15:43 mark of the second half to give P-E-M a lead it didn't relinquish.  Olstad and Chris Corad each scored 11 points to lead the Bulldogs (28-2), while Landon Flies had 11 rebounds.  Jordan (23-5) was paced by Yuriy Malashenko, who recorded a big double-double (16 points, 19 rebounds).  Tanner Oakes added 13 points.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was at the game and filmed this video interview with P-E-M coach Kirk Thompson.

Crosby-Ironton 72, Minnehaha Academy 67
Mark Hoge dumped in 35 points to power the Rangers (28-2) to a 72-67 victory over Minnehaha Academy in the Class AA quarterfinals at Target Center.  Teammates Sam Baker (12 points) and Tyler Dickie (11) added support for Hoge, who also hit 10 free throws.  Minnehaha Academy (23-4) was paced by four scorers in double-figures: Taylor Hanson (18), Parker Hines (14), Erick Forson (12) and Joel Reinhardt (10).  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was at the game and filmed this video interview with Crosby-Ironton's Matthew Hudrlik.

New London-Spicer 78, Windom 60
The Wildcats' Aaron Jenny was on his game, hitting 12-of-16 shots for a game-high 27 points to lead New London-Spicer (30-2) past Windom in the Class AA quarterfinals at Williams Arena, 78-60.  Jenny had plenty of help from teammates Aaron Johnson (19 points) and Justin Zylstra (11 points, 11 rebounds). Windom (19-8) was led by three scorers in double-figures: Travis Mattson (16), Jake Holt (15) and Lee Holt (13).  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

Staff predictions
The Breakdown staff takes a stab at predicting the winners in the boys' 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 boys' state tournament this weekend.  Just go to the main MSHSL site and hit the tab for "John's Journal."