HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS March 12, 2026 SECTION 1AA BOYS BASKETBALL TITLE PRIMER!

What: Boys Basketball Section 1AA Championship Preview: Goodhue vs. Caledonia

Where: Rochester Mayo Civic Auditorium

When: Thursday, March 12th 7:40pm pre-game 8pm tip off on KWNG 106 and www.kwng.com with Race Roth and Shannon Harrell.

By the numbers:

Records: Goodhue 28-1 Caledonia 18-10

Points Per Game: Goodhue 82.9 Caledonia 73.0

Points Allowed Per Game: Goodhue 65.2 Caledonia 67.0

Current winning streak: Goodhue 21 Caledonia 3

The teams did not meet during the regular season

Goodhue State Tournament Appearances: 2004, 2011, 2016 (2nd), 2017, 2024, 2025

Caledonia State Tournament Appearances: 1995, 1996, 1997 (AA Champs), 2014, 2015 (2nd), 2016, 2018 (2nd), 2021 (2nd), 2022, 2025

Keys for Goodhue:

*Defend well against Caledonia sharpshooter Grant King

*Rebound, limit second chance points

*Get Luke Roschen and Alex Loos going early on offense

Keys For Caledonia:

*Grant King needs to come up big in the scoring column

*Slow down Goodhue, make it a low scoring game somewhere in the 50's

*Create turnovers and empty possessions against the Wildcats offense

Outlook:

The move up to Class AA hasn't slowed down the Wildcats whatsoever. Thursday's game will be Goodhue's 20th playoff game in the last four years. They made it to the section final in 2023 and punched up their ticket to state the last two season in 2024 and 2025.

A number of these same student-athletes played in the State Class AA Prep Bowl football title game November 21st vs. Jackson County Central. Coach Matt Halverson (defensive guru) has coached all of them in football and basketball their entire high school careers.

Caledonia has that same football-basketball pedigree as Goodhue. The Warriors are in the unusual position of being underdogs in this game which will fuel their motivation.

Prediction:

Goodhue punches up a third straight trip to state. I picked Goodhue to beat Triton by 10 and they won 83-71. I'll take the Wildcats by eight in this one. Just sayin'...