Mountain Iron-Buhl and Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s have been at the top of the Class 1A rankings all season.

Those two teams remain on top heading into last day of the season.

Top-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl had a pair of double-digit victories to reach the championship game scheduled for noon Saturday, March 14, at Williams Arena. The Rangers knocked off No. 8 Braham in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Hillcrest Lutheran Academy in the semifinals.

For No. 2-seeded Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s, it was a different story. The team had to battle until the end to defeat No. 7 Mayer Lutheran in the quarterfinals and No. 6 Central Minnesota Christian in the semis.

The Knights (31-1) rely heavily on Morgan Mathiowetz and Olivia Schieffert. Mathiowetz has over 30 points in each of her team’s first two state tournament games. Schieffert had only 18 total points in the two games combined, but she is capable of breaking out in the championship game.

“They have kids that can score 30-40 points a night. It runs through them,” Mountain Iron-Buhl coach Jeff Buffetta said. “And they’ve got talent to go with them. It’s what it should be. There’s going to be two really good basketball teams playing [in the championship game]. We’re ecstatic to be one of them.”

The Rangers will be without their second-leading scorer, Izzy Wiita. She suffered a wrist injury in the first half of Mountain-Iron Buhl’s semifinal.

Mountain-Iron Buhl leading scorer Anna Neyens picked up the slack. She sparked a rally, but the Rangers’ depth will have to be a factor. They have six players, including Wiita and Neyens, averaging at least 8.0 points per game.

“We’ve got our hands full [in the championship game] with Mountain Iron-Buhl,” Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s coach Bruce Woitas said. “They’re going to be a really tough team. They like to get out and go hard and push it. We’ve got to be ready for that.”

Mountain Iron-Buhl is looking for a second state championship after first winning it all in 2023. Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s is in the championship game for the first time in program history.