Three boys teams are making first state appearances this week as the state basketball tournament is being held Wednesday through Saturday at Target center and Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

Ellsworth in Class A and New London-Spicer in Class AA return to defend their 2008 titles. If Ellsworth wins it would be the third consecutive title for the Panthers.

New London-Spicer will work to make it two in a row. A new champion will emerge in the other two classes since the Class AAA champions from Benilde- St. Margaret's of St. Louis Park and Class AAAA champions from Minnetonka failed to qualify.

Three teams are making first appearances: Sebeka in Class A; Triton of Dodge Center in Class AA; and Rogers in Class AAA.

The 2009 State Boys' Basketball Tournament starts Wednesday, March 25. Quarterfinal games will be played at Target Center on Wednesday, March 25, and at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis on both Wednesday and Thursday, March 25 and 26.

Semifinals will be played at Target Center on Thursday March 26 and Friday March 27. The championship games of all four classes will be played at Target Center on Saturday.

Third-place games will be played on Saturday at Concordia University in St. Paul.

Class AA Preview

The Class AA schedule is as follows:

Class AA Quarterfinal Schedule — Wednesday, March 25

6 p.m. — Virginia vs. Plainview-Elgin-Millville at Target Center

8 p.m. — Triton vs. St. Bernard's at Target Center

6 p.m. — Pelican Rapids vs. New London- Spicer at Williams Arena, U of M

8 p.m. — Montevideo vs. Howard Lake-Waverly Winsted at Williams Arena, U of M (

First Round summary

Section 7) Virginia (28-2) vs. (Section 1) Plainview- Elgin-Millville (29-1): The Virginia Blue Devils are making their 12th appearance, but their first since 1965. They were ranked No. 7 in this year's final Minnesota Basketball News poll.

Plainview-Elgin-Millville returns to tournament play after a one-year absence.

The Bulldogs are making their second appearance under this name, but Plainview made two individual appearances in 1913 and 2004. This year's team averages 70.1 points and shoots 45.0 percent from the field. Sophomore Cole Olstad was the top scorer (21.0 ppg) and rebounder on this year's squad (7.1 rpg).

Plainview-Elgin-Millville was ranked No. 2 in this year's final Minnesota Basketball News poll.

(Section 2) Triton, Dodge Center (24-6) vs. (Section 4) St. Bernard's, St. Paul (26-3): The Cobras of Triton are making their first tournament appearance. The school, which encompasses the communities of Claremont, West Concord and Dodge Center, was not ranked in the final Minnesota Basketball News poll.

Triton set new school records for most wins, points, rebounds, and assists this year, and outscored its opponents by an average of 10.5 points. Senior Coleton Theimann paced this year's team with an average of 13.6 points per game. Senior Damon Andrews pulls down 7.8 rebounds per game.

The Bulldogs of St. Bernard's, who placed fourth last year, return for their third consecutive and overall appearance. They were ranked No. 3 in the fi- nal Minnesota Basketball News poll.

(Section 8) Pelican Rapids (30-0) vs. (Section 6) New London-Spicer (23-8): The top-ranked Vikings of Pelican Rapids return after a two-year hiatus. This is their sixth appearance and they won one previous title in 1984.

The defending champions from New London- Spicer are making their second consecutive and sixth overall appearance. They were not ranked in this year's final Minnesota Basketball News poll. Neither team submitted team or individual statistics.

(Section 3) Montevideo (21-7) vs. (Section 5) Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted (22-7):

The Thunder Hawks of Montevideo, who lost in the quarterfinals of the 2008 tournament, return for their second consecutive and sixth overall appearance. This year's team averages 64.1 points per game while holding its opponents to an average of 55.8.

The Thunder Hawks were led by two seniors: Eric Brandon with 18.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, and Jeff Jerve with 16.1 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.

The Lakers of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted are making their second appearance under this name. The Lakers average 67.4 points and 31.0 rebounds per game this year.

Senior Nash Faulk was the leading scorer for Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted with 20.7 points per game. Senior Zach Grangoth led the Lakers with an average of 6.9 rebounds per game. Neither team was ranked in this year's final poll.

All semifinal and championship games will be televised live by KSTC TV, Channel 45.