Adam Papin/MDN Members of the Bottineau Stars celebrate at the buzzer of their Region 3 championship victory over the South Prairie-Max Royals on Thursday, Feb. 22.

For the first time in state history, teams are competing in state tournaments across three divisions in high school basketball, and one of the tournaments is happening right here in Minot. The 2024 Division A Girls Basketball State Tournament will take place at the Minot State University Dome from Thursday, Feb. 29 through Saturday, March 2.

Also new this year is how teams qualified for the state tournament. As the number of regions was cut from eight to four, state qualifier games were played for the first time. The four region champions qualified automatically, while the second and third place teams from each region faced off for the right to go to state. For example, the second-place team in Region 1 played the third place team in Region 2, with a state berth on the line. This format repeated itself across the four regions, and after the final horn sounded, eight teams qualified for the state tournament.

Those teams are, in order of seed, the Thompson Tommies, Bottineau Stars, Devils Lake Firebirds, Shiloh Christian Skyhawks, South Prairie-Max Royals, Northern Cass Jaguars, Valley City Hi-Liners and the Watford City Wolves.

The first game of the tournament will see No. 2 Bottineau take on No. 7 Valley City, with tip-off at 1 p.m., on Thursday, February 29. The second game pits No. 3 Devils Lake against No. 6 Northern Cass, at 2:45 p.m. The nightcaps see No. 1 Thompson take on No. 8 Watford City at 6:30 p.m. and No. 4 Shiloh Christian playing No. 5 South Prairie-Max at 8:15 p.m.

The winners will advance to the state semifinals, while the losers will move to the consolation bracket. The tournament is double elimination.