On Wednesday the Minnesota state boys basketball tournament tipped off in Minneapolis. Cherry opens the Class A quarterfinals Thursday morning coming off their third straight Section 7A title. According to the Tigers, they’re big threats on both sides of the court.

“Defensively we’ve really picked it up. The beginning of the season we were kinda lacking, we were playing good defense just not the way that we wanted to. So it’s a big step up from the beginning of the season to now,” senior Isaac Asuma said.

“Our shooting, that’s been phenomenal. Noah has been shooting lights out, Isaac has been hitting really big shots at big times, and we’re just playing as one,” junior Noah Sundquist said.

Cherry beat Mountain Iron-Buhl 99-55 to win their section last Friday and string together their 21st win in a row. The Tigers now enter their third straight state tournament with a 28-2 overall record.

In their 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 state runs the Tigers took fourth place. Entering as the number one seed this year, with Minnesota Gopher commit and Mr. Basketball finalist Isaac Asuma, Cherry has their sights set on a championship.

“We came into the season pre-ranked number one. We kind of had a target on our back all year, and I feel like we got almost every team’s best shot. Our guys were resilient all year, and they welcomed it, and they wanted it. We told them pressure is a privilege, we want to be in these situations, we want to be the top dogs. We’ve been the underdogs before, and it’s way funner being the top dog,” head coach Jordan Christianson said.

Cherry tips off their state quarterfinal Thursday at 11 a.m. battling defending Class A champions Russell-Tyler-Ruthton at Target Center. The Knights beat Cherry in last year’s state semifinal 61-57.

For the full Class A bracket, Click here.

How to watch:

• Quarterfinal games are streamed Pay Per View on NSPN. TV.
• Semifinal and championship games will be televised on WDIO2 MeTV. For other ways to watch, Click here.