The Russell-Tyler-Ruthton boys basketball punched its ticket to state last Thursday with a win over Central Minnesota Christian in the Section 3A championship game. As a reward for the win, the Knights now have the pleasure of playing No.1 Cherry in the first round of the Class A state tournament this Thursday.

The Knights were one of three randomly seeded teams. Heritage Christian Academy drew West Central Area and Goodhue drew Fertile-Beltrami. No. 4 Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey and No. 5 Nevis are also pitted up against each other in the quarterfinals.

RTR’s draw of Cherry marks the second year in a row the two teams met in the Class A tournament. The Knights were the No. 1 seed last year, defeating the No. 4 Tigers in the 2023 Class A semifinals.

RTR has put together a 23-7 record this season and enters the tournament on a 12-game win streak dating back to Feb. 2. Cherry enters the tournament at 28-2 and has a 21-game win streak dating back to Dec. 29 when they lost to Class 4A No. 2 Park Center,

Tip-off for Thursday’s quarterfinal matchup at the Target Center is slated for 11 a.m. The winner will play again on Friday at noon in Williams Arena while the loser will fall to the consolation bracket for a 10 a.m. game at Concordia University.