The Minnesota high school rendition of college basketball’s March Madness played out in the Class 4A boys basketball tournament this week.

No. 7 seed Apple Valley vs. No. 5 seed Chaska in the championship game on Saturday, March 28, at Williams Arena is a bracket buster nobody saw coming. Except for the players who are making history happen.

No Class 4A final has featured a fifth seed vs. a seventh seed, but that will change Saturday.

“I wouldn’t really call it a Cinderella run,” Apple Valley senior Camare’ Young said with a smile. “We had high expectations for ourselves.”

Chaska (27-4) is arguably the best and most overlooked team in the state after stringing together a 24-game winning streak that includes beating No. 1 Tartan in the state semifinals. They were ranked ninth in the final regular-season Class 4A coaches top 10.

“I don’t see it as an upset,” junior Tyler Forrest said. “I trusted us the whole time. I know we’ve got guys. I’d take us over anybody, really.”

Meanwhile, Apple Valley (21-10) was not even the favorite to come out of its own section. The Eagles went through No. 1 seed Eagan and No. 2 seed Rosemount in Section 3 to reach the state quarterfinals. What could’ve been an early exit like last year turned into upsets of No. 2 seed and defending champion Wayzata (75-73) and No. 3 seed Maple Grove (73-63), which beat Apple Valley by 23 points in last year’s quarterfinals.

This wasn’t the Apple Valley juggernaut with five-star talents like Tyus and Tre Jones and Gary Trent Jr., who combined to win three state titles in four championship game appearances from 2013-18.

Still, the current Eagles walked by those trophy cases in the hallway outside the gym and wanted to add hardware of their own.

“We’ve been telling each other that once it gets to playoffs, it’s over for everybody else,” senior Trey Parker said. “No matter who we play.”

Not since former Gophers big man Spencer Tollackson led Chaska to the 2004 title had the Hawks reached the state championship game until this year. It’s their first trip to state since 2017.

Chaska coach Nick Hayes, who won 21 games total the previous two seasons, enjoyed talking about the past winning tradition of the program earlier in the week with Tollackson, who was on the sidelines as part of the state tournament TV broadcast crew. He praised the support of Chaska alumni and the community this year.

The Hawks faithful were probably the only people who knew how good this team was this season. Chaska went 11-17 in 2024-25 and started this season 3-4, with three straight losses to Wayzata, Eden Prairie and Prior Lake. The first loss of the season was to Lakeville South, which Chaska avenged in Tuesday’s quarterfinals at Target Center.

Sophomore Chase Maetzold and freshman Jed Keenan, two of Chaska’s top scorers in the tournament, combined to score 36 points with 10 three-pointers in victories over Lakeville South and Tartan.

“I don’t think one player on this team doubts me,” Keenan said. “Just having that belief gives me confidence to shoot the ball over and over again.”

The confidence built with players in both programs was a growth process that started in the 2022-23 season.

Hayes and Apple Valley coach David Collier were both hired in 2022. Chaska went 9-18 and Apple Valley was 4-23 that first season. Four years later, some of those same players will be playing for a state title.

“I have four seniors who are incredibly committed to the work,” Collier said. “They believed in the process.”

The start of that rough first season under Collier began with a loss at Chaska. And, of course, those Apple Valley seniors remember that moment now that the two programs are meeting for a championship.

“We have a really good bond together,” Young said. “We’ve been bringing guys along into the culture we’ve tried to build. It really helped build this year by year.”

State tournament champions in recent years include Wayzata, which won three championships in five years, and schools with Division I-bound prospects like Park Center and Minnetonka.

How does the Class 4A title come down to two programs that were in rebuilding mode not long ago?

“I think it speaks to the depth of Minnesota basketball,” Hayes said. “There’s a lot of skilled players. A lot of great athletes. You see it in March Madness. I don’t think it’s the craziest thing to see it in a high school tournament now, too.”