{"id":4272,"date":"2026-03-25T06:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T06:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/25\/apple-valley-pulls-off-the-shocker-against-defending-4a-champion-wayzata-in-boys-state-basketball-quarterfinals-stribvarsity\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T06:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T06:23:07","slug":"apple-valley-pulls-off-the-shocker-against-defending-4a-champion-wayzata-in-boys-state-basketball-quarterfinals-stribvarsity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/03\/25\/apple-valley-pulls-off-the-shocker-against-defending-4a-champion-wayzata-in-boys-state-basketball-quarterfinals-stribvarsity\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple Valley pulls off the shocker against defending 4A champion Wayzata in boys state basketball quarterfinals &#8211; StribVarsity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Minnesota Star Tribune<br \/>The Minnesota Star Tribune<br \/>The Trojans had been to five straight 4A championship games, but they were upset by No. 7 seed Apple Valley in Tuesday\u2019s state tournament opener at Target Center.<br \/>By <a href=\"https:\/\/startribune.com\/author\/marcus-fuller\/6370596\" class=\"hover:underline\">Marcus Fuller<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/startribune.com\/author\/alicia-tipcke\/601452754\" class=\"hover:underline\">Alicia Tipcke<\/a><br \/>The Minnesota Star Tribune<br \/><time datetime=\"Tue Mar 24 2026 23:30:57 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)\">March 24, 2026<!-- --> at <!-- -->6:30 PM<\/time><br \/>Apple Valley boys basketball coach David Collier teared up when asked what it meant to be part of one of the biggest upsets in the history of Minnesota\u2019s boys basketball state tournament.<br \/>The Eagles were once a Minnesota Class 4A power during the Tyus and Tre Jones era, but this was a different group that shocked defending champion Wayzata in a 75-73 victory in the state quarterfinals Tuesday, March 24, at Target Center.<br \/>The Trojans, who won three 4A titles in five years, were trying to continue a dynasty, but they ran into a team motivated to prove it belonged among the best programs in the state again.<br \/>\u201cIt shows the resilience and the belief,\u201d said Collier, who took the program to its first state semifinal since finishing runner-up in 2018. \u201cIn today\u2019s landscape, when in college and high school everybody\u2019s moving and chasing the next best thing, these guys believed.\u201d<br \/>It was the first time the No. 2 seed fell in the Class 4A quarterfinals since Eagan defeated Park Center at the Target Center in 2024.<br \/>None of the players on Apple Valley\u2019s current roster has a Division I basketball scholarship offer, but a top baseball prospect sealed the win down the stretch Tuesday afternoon.<br \/>Senior Ryan Christiansen, who finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, scored on the game-winning basket on a putback with 4.9 seconds left.<br \/>After Christian Wiggins\u2019 contested layup fell short at the buzzer, Apple Valley\u2019s fans and players celebrated the victory nobody saw coming.<br \/>\u201cWe had a sour taste in our mouth from last year and were going to keep fighting until the end,\u201d said Christiansen, referring to a state quarterfinal loss last season. \u201cRight place, right time. Just there to clean up the boards and put myself in the best position to score.\u201d<br \/>The Trojans (25-4) featured Wiggins, who has signed with Iowa State and who had a game-high 27 points Tuesday, and Gophers signee Nolen Anderson, who struggled with 13 points on 5-for-18 shooting from the field, including 1-for-10 from three-point range.<br \/>Wiggins and Anderson led Wayzata to a title last season at Williams Arena, but the Trojans shot just 4-for-22 from three-point range.<br \/>The Eagles (20-10), who were 11-for-27 from the arc, were led by their own formidable tandem with Trey Parker and Camare\u2019 Young, who had 31 points combined. Parker and Young, who both averaged 20 points last season, returned hungrier after helping break Apple Valley\u2019s seven-year state drought in 2024-25.<br \/>\u201cThese guys could\u2019ve gone other places,\u201d said Collier, who was hired in 2022. \u201cWe won four games our first year, so they could\u2019ve said, \u2018I\u2019m going to go to another culture that\u2019s winning.\u2019 But they stuck it out.\u201d<br \/>The Eagles were heavy underdogs entering the state tournament after squeaking past Eagan in the section finals. The talk leading into Tuesday\u2019s play at Target Center was whether Wayzata would play Tartan in the Class 4A state title game Saturday, March 28, at Williams Arena, especially after the top-seeded Titans cruised to a 72-44 opening win vs. No. 8 Blaine in the first quarterfinal.<br \/>Wayzata led 18-6 to open the game with Wiggins starting strong, but the Eagles used a 17-4 run to take the lead in the first half. The Trojans led 37-31 at halftime, but it was clear the game wouldn\u2019t be the blowout most people expected.<br \/>\u201cLast year, we came in here not knowing what to expect,\u201d Parker said. \u201cThis year, we came in here expecting to win. We got down early but stayed together and never lost our confidence.\u201d<br \/>Wiggins gave the Trojans a 59-55 lead on two free throws with just over seven minutes to play, but Tylan Ward\u2019s layup started a 14-5 Apple Valley run to take control late in the game.<br \/>Ninth-grader Gio Horton, who finished with 15 points, and Parker and Ward continued to answer with big shots and drives to the rim that kept Wayzata from pulling ahead.<br \/>Wiggins tied the score at 73 with two free throws with 26 seconds remaining, but Christiansen\u2019s clutch offensive board and basket proved this was finally Apple Valley\u2019s moment again to win on the biggest stage.<br \/>\u201cIt was tough,\u201d Wiggins said. \u201cIf that ball goes down, this would be a lot different. They\u2019re well coached. They have great players. They showed it today.\u201d<br \/>Marcus Fuller<br \/>Reporter<br \/>Marcus Fuller is Strib Varsity&#x27;s Insider reporter,  providing high school beat coverage, features, analysis and recruiting updates. He&#x27;s a former longtime Gophers and college sports writer for the Minnesota Star Tribune.<br \/>Alicia Tipcke<br \/>Strib Varsity videographer<br \/>Alicia Tipcke is a video reporter for Strib Varsity. Prior to joining the Minnesota Star Tribune in 2025, she spent seven and a half years as a multimedia journalist and sports director for WDIO-TV in Duluth. A Stillwater native, Alicia graduated from the College of St. Scholastica in 2018.<br \/>\u00a9 <!-- -->2026<!-- --> StarTribune. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/rss\/articles\/CBMirAFBVV95cUxPSTY1ekM3aWVlVF8wOHBSckRiR292UkNjclY4RkpGNzJfN24ydDlIbmFGUVFFR2JPMjVZMnh1VEgtN0xaYVZNSVZsT0x4NlZVakt2SndfZXdXVVROdU9mbTZvNUVua3dUdEVqMWVEakMzNjdaNjZaMS1DZHMxaWFLSHRTbUhTNHpaSVI0VEc2cS01NnZQZlJTRUlJc1d1RjJxbi1UV09haWsxdXRY?oc=5\">source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Minnesota Star TribuneThe Minnesota Star TribuneThe Trojans had been to five straight 4A championship games, but they were upset by No. 7 seed Apple Valley in Tuesday\u2019s state tournament opener at Target Center.By Marcus Fuller and Alicia TipckeThe Minnesota Star TribuneMarch 24, 2026 at 6:30 PMApple Valley boys basketball coach David Collier teared up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}