Tap here for coverage of Thursday's Class 4A and 3A semifinals and 1A quarterfinals

Tap here for coverage of Wednesday's quarterfinals

Semifinals

Tap on the game for a postgame summary or live scoring if the game is in progress

FRIDAY

At Williams Arena

Class 1A

[1] Cherry 76, [5] Nevis 58

[3] Fertile-Beltrami (26-6) vs. [2] West Central Area (28-3), IN PROGRESS

Class 2A

[1] Breck (29-1) vs. [5] Minnehaha Academy (15-14), 6 p.m.

[2] Albany (29-2) vs. [3] Lake City (25-5), 8 p.m.

. . .

1:38 p.m.

Sharp-shooting Cherry nips Nevis in rematch

Nevis coach Scott Kramer was concerned about Cherry's explosiveness. He had seen it firsthand. It was even better the second time around.

No. 1-ranked Cherry connected on its first seven shots, running out to a quick double-digit lead en route to a 76-58 victory in the Class 1A boys basketball state semifinals Friday at Williams Arena. Nevis lost to Cherry 73-57 in the regular season, a game it led by one point at halftime.

"What we didn't want to happen did," Kramer said. "They knocked down about everything. They were a lot better this time."

All five Cherry starters scored in the opening five minutes, four of which finished in double figures. When Cherry finally missed a shot, sophomore Noah Asuma grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it out to his older brother, senior Isaac Asuma, for a three-pointer. It left Kramer shaking his head.

"I was happy with the way we started," said Isaac, a 6-3 Gophers recruit who finished with a game-high 20 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and three blocked shots. "We came out really hot. We rode that momentum throughout the game."

Cherry assisted on 14 of its 17 first-half baskets, building a 38-23 lead. Noah and Isaac each had 13 points at the intermission. Noah also finished with 20 points, while Isaiah Asuma scored 14 points and Carson Brown had 13 for top-seeded Cherry (30-2).

"We try to gas our opponents out," Cherry coach Jordan Christianson said. "We've been rolling for a while. We are getting better every day."

Fifth-seeded Nevis (24-8) was paced by 6-7 junior center Alex Lester's 18 points.

"We got in a hole early," Kramer said. "They are playing with an edge. This is their year."

RON HAGGSTROM

. . .

TV and tickets

Ch. 45 will televise the semifinals and championship games. All consolation games are available for a fee on NSPN. Tickets to the event range from $11 to $22 and are available at mshsl.org/tickets.

. . .

Championship games

SATURDAY

At Williams Arena

Class 1A: 11 a.m.

Class 3A: [2] Mankato East (28-2) vs. [1] Totino-Grace (26-5), 1 p.m.

Class 2A: 5 p.m.

Class 4A: [3] Minnetonka (24-6)vs. [1] Wayzata (29-1), 8 p.m.

. . .

Tournament brackets

Class 4A | Class 3A | Class 2A | Class 1A

. . .

Star Tribune coverage

The Star Tribune will be publishing stories and other content related to these state championship games and more this week. Keep up by checking startribune.com/preps each day. Thank you for reading and subscribing.

. . .

Tournament information

* Download and print the tournament program

* Star Tribune high school sports page