Thirty-two teams enter the state tournament this week. Only four will leave as state champions.

We’ll provide updates and photos from quarterfinal games happening today for the opening of the 2026 Minnesota girls basketball state tournament at Williams Arena and Maturi Pavilion.

Go here for today’s schedule, and you already know our Girls Basketball Hub is where you can find everything else. View the complete brackets for 4A, 3A, 2A and 1A.

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3A: Stewartville seniors enjoying last state trip

Four straight strips to the girls state basketball tournament for Stewartville’s three seniors meant a lot of memories at Williams Arena and Maturi Pavlion during their career.

The Tigers, who won Wednesday’s quarterfinal 73-54 against Willmar, finished Class 3A runner-up in the program’s first ever state tourney appearance in 2023.

Seniors Audrey Shindelar, Jayci Rath and Addison Ruffridge, who combined for 47 points on Wednesday, are trying to appreciate the journey during their last time at state this year, which will continue in Thursday’s semifinals.

“It’s a pretty fun place to play,” said Shindelar, who scored a game-high 26 points at Maturi Pavilion in the opening game. “It’s a really cool facility and it was just really packed on both sides.”

Rath, who had 15 points, has confidence that this Stewartville squad has what it takes to make a state championship run like the first time around. The key will be on the defensive side, which led to forcing 23 turnovers and recording 18 steals Wednesday.

“We have five people on the court at all times who can score,” Rath said. “If I’m not hitting my shots, I really try to take pride on my defense.”

— Marcus Fuller

4A, halftime: Maple Grove 36, East Ridge 27

Maple Grove has put its state tournament experience to good use — no nerves here for the reigning runnersup, it seems, getting an early jump on state debutante East Ridge. The Crimson are 7-for-10 from three-point range, nearly doubling their overall field goal percentage (40.0%). Kate Holmquist, Sophia Anderson and Lydia Gilbert are all 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Holmquist and Anderson both have 11.

The Raptors haven’t let the Crimson pull away to a lead larger than the current 10-point difference, with eight points each from senior Vienna Murray and sophomore Amelia Ecker.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

3A: Pioneers’ Wilson duo find their form

The Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders are on fire, leading Hill-Murray 26-19, with 13 of those points coming from freshman Madeleine Hamiel alone. But Hill-Murray’s Wilson sisters have seemed to find their form — even if the team leads in fouls 10-4. Junior guard Mya Wilson put up eight of the team’s 19 points and Ashlee Wilson had a stellar shot that brought her game total to four.

— Olivia Hicks

3A: Poepard offers Pioneers their best shot

Cretin-Derham Hall may be leading 19-15, but sophomore Sarah Poepard is controlling the game. She’s made one of her two three-point attempts and both of her free-throw attempts. Eighth-grader Ashlee Wilson is putting in the minutes and attempts for Hill-Murray but nothing seems to stick. The guard has made one of her nine field-goal attempts and sits at an 11.1 shot percentage. Her sister, junior guard Mya Wilson, has made three of her six field-goal attempts.

— Olivia Hicks

4A: Maple Grove has slight lead on East Ridge

Halfway through the first half, and No. 4 seed Maple Grove has the early edge on No. 5 East Ridge. The Crimson’s All-Minnesota guards Kate Holmquist and Sophia Anderson are playing like it, with eight and five points scored, respectively, so far, while East Ridge’s All-Minnesota senior guard Vienna Murray and sophomore forward Amelia Ecker each have four points for the Raptors. Both teams already have five players with points.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

4A: 8th grader shines in opening round

As top-seeded Hopkins dominated in the paint against Blaine, one name repeatedly announced over the Williams Arena public address system was familiar: Erma Walker, the Royals’ junior forward, who scored 28 points in the Royals’ 2025 title game win, who junior guard Inarah Nesbitt praised after saying “No one can really guard Erma.”

But one name was new: Eighth-grade forward Marianna Davis. Davis put up a season-high and game-high 22 points while grabbing a game-high six rebounds and three steals.

Davis said she was “nervous, at first” to make her debut at state, but her teammates “hyped me up.” Slotting into a starting role for the team that holds Minnesota girls basketball’s all-time state title record, as an eighth-grader, is a big spot to fill, but at 6-1, Davis does just that — literally and figuratively — adding length to the Hopkins defense while she adds physicality to her own game.

“It’s honestly been great,” Davis said of her adjustment. “I know I have to continue to play the role that I was supposed to, especially as an eighth grader, I have to try to get on board with everybody else and do what I’m supposed to do.”

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

3A: Hamiel blazes across court

School spirit is in no short supply. A Raiders fan is sporting a Hawaiian shirt with a player’s face ironed on to it and both student sections shake pom-poms from the stands. But all eyes were fixed on the court as the Raiders’ Madeleine Hamiel opened up back-to-back scores for Cretin-Derham Hall. Hill-Murray has yet to put a point on the board.

Hamiel has made six of the Raiders’ first nine points for the 9-0 lead and the crowd is loving it: “She’s our freshman!”

— Olivia Hicks

4A: Blaine players relish being on big stage

After heading into halftime trailing by 36 points to the defending 4A champ Hopkins, the No. 8-seeded Bengals came out looser to start the second half, having shaken off some early-game nerves after returning to state for the first time since 2009, matched up against a perennial title contender.

The Bengals, under first-year head coach Alex Walz, held Hopkins to a closer edge in the second half, 22-18.

“We were just so insanely proud to bring something as exciting as this to Blaine,” said senior guard Marlie Janssen, who led the Bengals with 11 points. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had an opportunity to do something like this.”

A 10-2 run out of halftime, strung together by scores from from Janssen and Alyssa Schlomann, helped set a different tone, and the Bengals were able to hold Hopkins 0-for-5 from deep.

“We were waiting for the pin to drop almost, and coming into the locker room, we’re like, are we having fun?” senior forward Narry Barry said. “No, so let’s go out and have fun. I mean, what do we have to lose? So I think just telling each other that there’s no weight on your shoulders … just go out, play our game, shoot the shots.”

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

3A, pregame: Hill-Murray vs. Cretin-Derham Hall

It’s No. 4 seed Cretin-Derham Hall (21-8) against No. 5 seed Hill-Murray (26-3) in a quarterfinal match-up at Maturi Pavilion. The Pioneers made state for the first time since 2023 and are determined to make it as far as they can, led by junior guard and All-Minnesota player Mya Wilson’s 25.1-points per game.

The Raiders have recent experience with last year’s state tourney visit. Freshman phenom Madeleine Hamiel will aim to make all the difference. When Cretin-Derham Hall played Hill-Murray in November, the freshman guard played a 27-point game.

It’s the first time the two schools have faced each other on court since the Raiders beat the Pioneers 74-69 in the first game of the regular season.

Stick around for updates as both teams warm-up.

— Olivia Hicks

Next up: No. 4 Maple Grove (24-5) vs. No. 5 East Ridge (23-5) in 4A quarterfinals

Maple Grove reached its first state championship game last season but graduated four starters from that runner-up roster, including 2025 Ms. Basketball Jordan Ode, to Michigan State. Other players have stepped up for the Crimson this season, including senior guards Kate Holmquist (Montana), Sophia Anderson (Augustana), and Sienna Mayer, plus junior forward Mariah Sexton, a transfer from St. Michael-Albertville.

The Crimson have played this postseason without head coach Mark Cook, who is on leave from the program for an undisclosed reason not related to the team.

East Ridge is making its state tournament debut after battling for years to make it out of Section 4. Oklahoma-bound senior guard Vienna Murray averages 22.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for the Raptors, while five teammates average seven or more points per game. These teams haven’t met yet this year.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

3A: Stewartville extends win streak to 27 straight behind Shindelar sisters

Audrey and Danika Shindelar combined for 37 points and 11 steals to lead No. 1 Stewartville its 27th straight win with a 73-54 victory over No. 8 seed Willmar in first Class 3A quarterfinal at Maturi Pavilion.

Audrey, a senior guard and South Dakota State recruit, scored 13 of her 26 points in the first half to lead the Tigers to a 35-26 halftime advantage. She also shot 10-for-18 from the field, including 4-for-8 from three-point range and recorded five steals (all in the first half).

A 6-foot sophomore guard, Danika nearly finished with a triple-double with 11 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.

The Tigers had four players in double figures, including St. Thomas recruit Jayci Rath with points and Leah Hebl with 10 points. They pulled away with an 11-0 run to start the second half.

The Cardinals (18-12) won 11 of its last 13 games entering the state tournament, but their season ended Wednesday with Madison Molacek and Telilie Lange both leading with 17 points each.

— Marcus Fuller

4A, final: Hopkins 63, Blaine 28

The Royals are queens of the paint in this one, with junior forward Erma Walker, eighth-grade forward Marianna Davis and sophomore forward Ava Smith combining for 51 points while helping the Royals outrebound Blaine 29-18.

Hopkins built a comfortable lead without making a three-pointer until the final buzzer, by Avery Weber.

The defending 4A champs forced the Bengals into 24 turnovers while turning the ball over eight times. Senior guard Marlie Janssen led Blaine with 11 points in the program’s first trip to state since 2009.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

4A: Hopkins finds success in the paint

The Royals, up 62-23, haven’t found themselves having to shoot much from three-point range today, going 0-for-5 from beyond the arc while Blaine is 5-for-12. Erma Walker and Marianna Davis have combined for 40 points, most coming in the post, as Davis hits a new season-high with 22 points. Hopkins is out-rebounding Blaine 28-15.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

3A: Tigers make a statement

Fans at Maturi Pavilion could sense that Stewartville had another gear. Willmar tried to keep it competitive for as long as it could as the lower seed. The rout was on in the second half, though.

The Tigers opened with an 11-0 run after St. Thomas recruit and senior Jayci Rath’s layup made it 46-26. The Cardinals didn’t score their first basket of the second half until more than five minutes into the second half. Sophomore Leah Hebl and Rath joined leading scorer Audrey Shindelar in double figures.

Stewartville opened the second half shooting 9-for-16 from the field.

— Marcus Fuller

4A: Blaine gets burst to start second half

In just three minutes to start the second half, Blaine matched its entire first-half scoring total, starting the half on a 10-2 run to make it 50-20. Blaine’s Alyssa Scholmann and Marlie Janssen open the half for Blaine with back-to-back-to-back buckets, then Janssen sunk a three to get the Bengals student section buzzing.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

4A, halftime: Hopkins 46, Blaine 10

Junior forward Erma Walker is all over the Hopkins paint on defense, grabbing four tough defensive rebounds and forcing the Bengals to opt for looks from deep instead. Three Royals finish the half scoring in double figures: Walker (16), eighth-grade forward Marianna Davis (12) and sophomore forward Ava Smith (11) as, offensively, the Royals have been quick in transition. Hopkins has forced Blaine into 15 turnovers, led by three steals from Davis. The Bengals have baskets from four different players.

Here’s this for a fact: Hopkins is the defending state champ, and none of its players that took the court in this dominant half are seniors.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

3A: Turnovers were the story in first half

Stewartville and Willmar combined for 19 turnovers and scored 22 total points off those turnovers in the first half of Wednesday’s opening Class 3A quarterfinal at Maturi Pavilion.

The big difference? The Tigers took better care of the ball to end the first half to lead 35-26 at halftime. South Dakota State recruit Audrey Shindelar had a team-high 13 points and five steals in the first half, but she also committed five of her team’s nine turnovers.

The Cardinals were in danger of facing an insurmountable deficit in the first half trailing 32-18, but they ended the half on a 8-3 run. Maddison Molacek led Willmar with 13 points in the first half.

— Marcus Fuller

4A: Diggs has yet to check in

With Hopkins ahead 31-5 and just under six minutes to play in the first half, the Bengals were still looking for that breakthrough in the Royals paint. Hopkins was creating turnovers down low, forcing up to 13, so Blaine sophomore Alyssa Schlomann sank a three. Erma Walker leads the Royals with 11 points.

To note: We haven’t seen junior guard Jaliyah Diggs, one of the Royals’ top playmakers, check in yet. She’s first on the bench, cheering on her teammates. However, she did get more of a run in the second half of the Royals’ section championship game against Wayzata, and the Royals have built a comfortable lead without her, so we’ll see if she gets some floor time late.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

3A: Stewartville takes control behind star senior

Senior Audrey Shindelar during one stretch scored 13 of her team’s 25 points when Stewartville pulled away from Willmar in the first half of Wednesday’s quarterfinal.

The Tigers had three straight baskets from Shindelar to take an 11-point lead. The Cardinals rallied to pull within 20-14, but Shindelar sparked another 12-4 run. The South Dakota State recruit had five steals in the first half. Stewartville scored 10 points off 10 turnovers.

— Marcus Fuller

More private schools qualify for tournament

This year’s tournament will include teams from 12 private schools (four in Class 1A, four in Class 2A and four in Class 3A).

That is the highest number of private schools in a tournament in the 30 years since the tournament went to four classes (first season of four classes was 96-97 season).

The previous high was eight — in 2021, 2024 and 2025

The averaged number of private teams over the 30 years is 5.5 per year.

Here are this year’s teams:

Class 1A: Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s, Central Minnesota Christian of Prinsburg, Mayer Lutheran, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy of Fergus Falls.

Class 2A: Rochester Lourdes, Minnehaha Academy, Providence Academy, Marshall School of Duluth.

Class 3A: Cretin-Derham Hall, Hill-Murray, Totino-Grace, Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

— Joel Rippel

4A: Hopkins off to fast start

Six minutes in and this Hopkins defense is tough to beat, quick to swarm in the paint and lock down on the perimeter, giving them a 17-2 lead over Blaine. The Royals, on average, conceded just over 53 points per game through a tough regular-season schedule, and today, they’ve already forced Blaine into a shot clock violation and a total of seven turnovers just a third of the way through the first half. Eighth-grade forward Marianna Davis leads the Royals with seven points, earning chants of “She’s a baby!” (a compliment, from her own student section) after drawing an and-one.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

3A: Willmar keeps it close early vs. No. 1

It would be an understatement to say Willmar was an underdog entering Wednesday’s quarterfinal against No. 1 seed Stewartville, which hadn’t lost a game since late November.

The Cardinals were used to being doubted, though. They played with a chip on their shoulder opening with a 9-7 lead. The Tigers finally responded with a 7-0 run to take control, but they went 3-for-13 shooting from the field to start.

— Marcus Fuller

4A: Welcome back, Royals!

We’ve tipped off here for the start of our class 4A tournament. On media row, I’m camped out in front of the Hopkins student section, and while the neon-clad Royals fans gave a hearty cheer to each of their classmates, junior forward Erma Walker got a particularly raucous reception. She had 28 points in last year’s championship win, and seems like Hopkins is excited to see her make an impact in post again this year. She gets the first bucket in this game, too.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer

3A, pregame: Stewartville vs. Willmar

No. 1 Stewartville (27-1) enters this year’s state basketball tournament as one of the most experienced teams on this stage in all classes. It has four straight trips to the state tournament, including finishing Class 3A runner-up to Benilde-St. Margaret’s in 2023

The top-seeded Tigers enter Wednesday’s quarterfinal against No. 8 seed Willmar (18-11) with a 26-game winning streak. Their only loss this season was 73-65 against Lakeville South on Nov. 22.

The Cardinals are making their first trip to the state tournament since back-to-back appearances in 2017 and 2018. They dropped seven of nine games in December and January, including a five-game losing streak. Willmar managed to turnaround its season at the right time to win 11 of 13 to qualify for state.

— Marcus Fuller

4A, pregame: Hopkins vs. Blaine

Good morning from Williams Arena, where in the Class 4A girls basketball tournament, we pick up right where we left off last year: with Hopkins looking for a state title. Last year’s tournament ended with the No. 3 seeded Royals taking down top-seeded Maple Grove in the championship. This season, it’s No. 1 Hopkins (25-2) squaring off against No. 8 Blaine (21-8) in the first of four 4A quarterfinals.

Hopkins may have a record nine state titles, including four since 2015, but the Royals haven’t gone back to back since 2011-2013 (though the coronavirus pandemic cut short their chance to defend 2019’s title in 2020, Paige Bueckers’ senior season).

The Royals have All-Minnesota junior guard Jaliyah Diggs and junior forward Erma Walker among the players returning from last year’s title game, as well as sharpshooting junior guard Ava Cupito.

Blaine, meanwhile, returns to state for the first time since 2009 and were runners up, once, in 2002. The Bengals were the No. 3 seed in Section 8, taking down Centennial and Forest Lake en route to their state return in their first season under head coach Alex Walz.

Sophomore guard Amelia Ritchie and senior guard Marlie Janssen lead the well-rounded Bengals in scoring, each averaging over 11 points per game.

— Cassidy Hettesheimer