Tuesday afternoon the Rock Ridge girls basketball team received a big sendoff at school and a police escort to their first-ever state tournament.

“It’s just great, two years together and we finally did it so this is awesome,” senior Emma Lamppa said.

“All of our personalities meshed immediately. Day one of practice there was obviously nerves and everything, but after day one it felt like family, immediately. Let’s see how far we can go,” junior Anna Westby said.

The Rock Ridge program is new, tipping off as the Wolverines just last season, but this is a huge moment for the co-op communities. This is the first-ever state berth for Eveleth-Gilbert, and the third for Virginia who went to state in 1990 and 1992.

Rock Ridge tips off in the Class AAA quarterfinals Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Alexandria at the University of Minnesota’s Maturi Pavilion.

Also on Tuesday, the Mountain Iron-Buhl girls basketball team received a sendoff to state. The 2023 Class A champion Rangers will look to defend their state title making their fourth straight trip to the tournament. They’ll face Walker-Hackensack-Akeley in the Class A quarterfinals Thursday at 3 p.m. at Maturi Pavilion.

Click here for full brackets: Class A. Class AAA.