The Class 2A girls’ basketball tournament starts Wednesday. The first games begin at 6 p.m. at two different sites (Target Center and Williams Arena). Here are the things you should know as the tournament gets going:

1 How strong is the Class 2A field? All eight teams in the quarterfinals were ranked in the top 10 in the final regular-season poll. They were No. 1 Braham, No. 2 Sauk Centre, No. 3 Providence Academy, No. 5 Minnehaha Academy, No. 6 Caledonia, No. 7 Pequot Lakes, No. 9 Jackson County Central and No. 10 St. Peter.

2 Minnehaha Academy returns to defend its state championship with a lot of similarities to last year’s team, the biggest of which is 6-5 senior center Katelyn Adams controlling the paint. DeLaSalle transfer senior forward Sarina Baker is the Redhawks’ leading scorer.

3 St. Peter is also back, but this year the Saints will be without their best player in senior guard/forward AnnMarie Brown. The Wisconsin recruit suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a partially torn meniscus in her right knee against New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva in the championship game of the St. Peter holiday tournament. Senior guard Alyssa Kerkhoff, a transfer from NR-H-E-G, is the Saints’ leading scorer.

4 In an era of specializing in one sport, Braham players buck the trend. All five starters, including sophomore guard and Division I recruit Rebekah Dahlman, and the first two players off the bench are three-sport athletes. Dahlman already has scored over 2,700 career points.

5 If defense wins championships, keep an eye on Providence Academy. The Lions only allow 33.9 points per game. Two other teams hold their opposition below 40 points per game — Braham (37.6) and Sauk Centre (38.8).