New London-Spicer 76, Braham 67
The Wildcats controlled the boards and in doing so, advanced to the Class AA state final with a 76-67 victory over Braham at Target Center.  New London-Spicer (30-2) outrebounded the smaller Bombers (28-3) by a 37 to 23 margin and shot an impressive 56.9 percent from the field to cruise to victory.  Justin Zylstra (pictured at right) led the way with a double-double (22 points, 11 rebounds) while Erik Tengwall (18), Aaron Johnson (15) and Aaron Jenny (13) all scored in double figures and each shot 50 percent or better.  Tyler Vaughan paced Braham with 25 points and Ben Thiry added 17.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was a the game and caught up with the Wildcats afterwards for a video interview.

Crosby-Ironton 51, Plainview-Elgin-Millville 48
Brock Tesdahl drained a three-pointer with 1:08 remaining in overtime to give Crosby-Ironton a lead it wouldn't relinquish in the Class AA semifinals at Target Center, 51-48.  Tesdahl finished with 11 points, while Mark Hoge paced Crosby-Ironton (30-2) with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.  Cole Olstad was the lone double-figure scorer for P-E-M (29-3) with 24 points and 11 rebounds.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was a the game and caught up with the Rangers afterwards for a video interview.

Minnesota Transitions 56, Rushford-Peterson 49
Mr. Basketball finalist Kevin Noreen (pictured at right) posted a double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) as Minnesota Transitions advanced to the Class A state title game with a 56-49 victory over Rushford-Peterson at Target Center.  Rodney Owens added a team-high 18 points, seven rebounds and four steals for Transitions (29-3), which shot 60.5 percent from the field.  Rushford-Peterson (16-15) did much of its damage from outside the arc, shooting 11-of-21 from deep.  Nick Thompson was especially effective, hitting 6-of-8 from outside the arc to score a game-high 20 points.  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was a the game and caught up with the Wolves afterwards for a video interview.

Sebeka 61, Ellsworth 60
Alex Brockpahler hit a jumper with 12 seconds remaining to give Sebeka a 61-60 victory over Ellsworth in the Class A semifinals at Target Center.  Ellsworth sophomore Casey Schilling had given the Panthers a 60-59 lead just 19 seconds earlier, the last of his game-high 31 points.  He added 14 rebounds, while teammate Trevor Gruis had 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Panthers (26-6).  Sebeka had four scorers in double-figures: Brockpahler (16 points), John Clark (14), Joey Cuperus (12) and Cody Pulju (11).  Click to read the MSHSL recap here.

FoxPreps.com was a the game and caught up with the Trojans afterwards for a video interview.

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."