Henning took care of business early, defeating Upsala 61-45 to advance to Friday’s Class 1A quarterfinals.

Across Minneapolis at Williams Arena, Totino-Grace is leading Northfield in the Class 3A semifinals.

Here’s more of what you need to know about the tournament:

• Everything that happened on Day 1 (4A & 2A quarterfinals)
• Everything that happened on Day 2 (3A & 2A quarterfinals)

Follow along below for updates from Thursday’s games:

. . .

Eagles at the line early

Class 3A semifinals

Totino-Grace got up to double-digits before Northfield’s got its first first points, jumping out to a 10-0 lead just over three minutes into the first half. Dothan Ijadimbola got five points early, including a three-pointer to open the Eagles’ scoring. The Eagles have already been sent to the line three times, making five of its six early free throws. To note: That’s two early fouls on Northfield All-Minnesota guard Kayden Oakland (Meet all 25 members of the 2026 All-Minnesota Boys Basketball Team).

Northfield is 0-for-3 from three with two early turnovers.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

Henning comes one win closer to an undefeated season

Class 1A quarterfinals

The No. 1 seed Henning Hornets secured their ticket to the semifinals with a 61-45 win against No. 8 seed Upsala. Senior guard Kale Misegades led the team, scoring 35 of Henning’s 61 points.

The Hornets hope to extend their 31-0 season in a 1A semifinal game on Friday, March 27 at 12 p.m. against either Hills-Beaver Creek or Southland

— Olivia Hicks

The dynamic duos

Class 1A quarterfinals

Henning’s two starting senior guards, Dawson Bushman and Kale Misegades, are proving to be magic on the court. The duo continued to connect, highlight by a second-half play in which by the two worked to set up Ryan Despard for a layup that gave Henning a 20-point lead, 55-39.

Upsala has its own duo in Quinn and Caleb Guthrie. The two are leading in points for the Cardinals with 10 and eight points, respectively.

— Olivia Hicks

Eagles tested, and rewarded with tacos

Class 3A semifinals

Totino-Grace was Strib Varsity’s very first Taco Bell Team of the Week, a new weekly honor rolled out on Dec. 18, 2025. The Eagles earned that honor after picking up early-season wins over Class 4A foes Maple Grove and Hopkins.

Read more about the Eagles’ early-season success here, via Strib Varsity reporter Marcus Fuller.

“Our first seven games against Minnesota competition are against top-10 teams,” Totino-Grace head coach Nick Carroll said in December. “We’re seeing what we got in the tank right now. We tried to set it up so that [early] play would mimic state. It’s validating to be on the right side of the scoreboard, but the experience is invaluable.”

The Eagles went 5-2 in that stretch of seven games against top Class 4A teams, and haven’t lost since falling to Wayzata and East Ridge around the turn of the new year. They’re battle-tested, and ready to try and return to the top of Class 3A after three straight titles from 2022-24.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

Upsala finally finds the basket in the second half

Class 1A quarterfinals

It took four minutes for the Cardinals to score their first points of the second half. Henning leads 47-28.

Four points from Caleb Guthrie and a three-pointer from senior guard Isaiah Sobiech gave Upsala some momentum, but nothing seems to stop the Hornets.

— Olivia Hicks

Henning is on fire as second half begins

Class 1A quarterfinals

Senior guard Kale Misegades started the second half with back-to-back buckets, putting up four points within a 40 seconds for Henning. After Upsala took a timeout to regroup, Misegades put up six more points with two layups and a tip-in, giving Henning a 38-21 lead.

Meanwhile, Quinn Guthrie’s three-pointer attempts just can’t seem to connect with the net for Upsala. Guthrie scored eight of the team’s 21 first-half points, including going 2-for-3 from three-point range.

Misegades scored half of Henning’s points going in the first half, with 14 of the team’s 28 points. Playing all 18 minutes, he made nearly half of his 13 field goal attempts at 46.2%, including 2-of-4 from the three-point line.

With undefeated Henning ahead, one question is on everyone’s minds: Who will advance?

Find out who Strib Varsity predicted here: MN high school boys basketball state tournament predictions

— Olivia Hicks

Pregame: Totino-Grace vs. Northfield at Williams Arena, 12 p.m.

Class 3A semifinals

In Class 3A, the winner of the semifinal between No. 1 Totino-Grace (25-2) vs. No. 4 Northfield (26-3) will be the first of the lucky (or rather, talented) eight teams that get to compete for a state title in Saturday’s four title games at Williams Arena.

The Eagles, vying for four state championships in five years, dominated their quarterfinal with a 90-56 win over Minneapolis South, led by 22 points from All-Minnesota senior forward Dothan Ijadimbola, a Drake commit (Meet all 25 members of the 2026 All-Minnesota Boys Basketball Team). Junior guard Malachi Hill and senior guards DeAngelo Dungey and Tian Chatman are also all regulars in double-figures for the top-seeded team, giving the Eagles a pick-your-poison of scoring options.

In the Raiders’ quarterfinal, Northfield rallied in the second half to push past Mankato East 56-49, sparked by 22 points and 5-for-7 shooting from three by senior guard JT Graupmann and a big second half from All-Minnesota senior guard Kayden Oakland. Both are standout basketball players, but committed to play other sports collegiately: Oakland, football for South Dakota State; Graupmann, baseball for Minnesota State Mankato.The Raiders are making their first trip to state since 1932.

Read more about Northfield’s return to state here, from Strib Varsity reporter Marcus Fuller, before they try to pull the upset over the Eagles.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

Ryan Despard found the basket for Henning when it mattered most

Class 1A quarterfinals

Henning leads 28-21, and a timely basket helped the Hornets maintain the lead.

With two seconds left on the shot clock, senior guard Ryan Despard made a three-pointer that brought the score to 23-15.

In this tight game, the Cardinals responded immediately with Samuel Laliberte putting two points on the board for Upsala.

Henning’s Kale Misegades has a game-high 14 points, and an attempt to give him 16 fell short just before halftime.

The Hornets may be leading, but it’s not quite the dominant performance No. 1 seed Henning would have wanted in its attempt to complete an undefeated season.

— Olivia Hicks

Upsala finds a rhythm

Class 1A quarterfinals

Henning had a 18-13 lead halfway through the first half, but Upsala is gaining ground, thanks to junior guard Quinn Guthrie.

Upsala’s top scorer, Guthrie’s three-pointer narrowed the difference to five. Noah Ripplinger followed with another three-pointer.

— Olivia Hicks

Henning scores first

Class 1A quarterfinals

The Cardinals scored first in this quarterfinal game vs. Upsala. After a missed three-pointer by Upsala’s Calvin Leners, Henning top-scorer and senior guard Kale Misegades got the rebound, dribbled across the length of the court at Target Center for a swift layup.

Leners made up for the miss with a layup on the other end.

Henning leads 4-2.

— Olivia Hicks

“That’s part of sports, part of life.”

Jackson County Central made it through Section 3 to reach the Class 2A boys basketball state tournament in 2024. The Huskies ran into Albany in the quarterfinals and were defeated 87-66. There was a rematch on Tuesday, March 24, before a smallish audience at Target Center, and Jackson County brought with it a plan of action for this trip to Minneapolis:

“Let’s win that thing.”

Comparing scores always is a risky business, particularly in a competition with the nightly variables of basketball, but the Huskies could find optimism in the fact they had defeated No. 1-rated Morris Area/Chokio-Alberta 57-52 in the section final, and Albany had lost to MACA earlier in February.

This tournament also was going to be the last go-round for Roman Voss and Weston Rowe as partners in athletic success, going back to third grade. They were big parts of back-to-back Class 2A football titles in 2024 and 2025.

Football will now be the game for both, with Voss headed to the Gophers as a coveted recruit, and Rowe having committed to South Dakota State early in 2025.

Read more from columnist Patrick Reusse: For Jackson County Central football stars, state basketball tournament ends with life lesson

Who is Kale Misegades?

Few basketball players in the state can boast a 36.3 points per game average, but Henning’s Kale Misegades is no ordinary guard.

Misegades recorded a 50-point game during Henning’s regular season — a school record. Not only was he one of Strib Varsity’s All-Minnesota basketball players, but he also was named an Athlete of the Week in December for a 49-point, 13-rebound, 10-assist game against Lake Park-Audubon. His stats may be impressive, but it’s the senior’s mentality that makes him memorable on the court.

“Kale has always been the hardest worker in our gym,” head coach and father Randy Misegades said. “When your best player is your hardest worker, it sets the tone for the entire program. Kale has put up some incredible offensive numbers, but he’s even better on the defensive end of floor. Kale is a 4.0 student and a role model for all the kids in our school and youth program. It’s been a joy to be his coach and his dad.”

Get to know the standout senior: These seven students are the top performers in MN high school sports.

— Olivia Hicks

Pregame: Upsala vs. Henning

Class 1A quarterfinals

Good morning from Target Center for the Class 1A quarterfinals.

The No. 8 seed Upsala Cardinals (24-6) are warming up to take on No. 1 seed Henning. The Hornets have had a perfect season at 30-0. If the team goes all the way, it would be the first 1A basketball program to go undefeated since Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa’s 33-0 season in 2012.

The Cardinals will attempt to put up a fight in their third trip to state and first since 2013. The team is led by junior guard duo Quinn Guthrie (14.4 points per game and a 48% field goal percentage this season) and Samuel Laliberte (13.5 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game).

But it’s difficult to bet against Henning’s odds and even more difficult to underestimate the team’s leading scorer. All-Minnesota senior guard Kale Misegades has put up an average of 36.3 points per game. The 6-foot-3 Southwest Minnesota State commit and son of head coach Randy Misegades will hope to bring the Hornets all the way to state tourney glory for the second time in school history.

— Olivia Hicks

Go here to see which team Strib Varsity predicted will win the game