The Class 1A girls’ basketball tournament starts Thursday at Williams Arena. Top-ranked Goodhue and Hancock will kick off the quarterfinals at 11 a.m. Here are the things you should know as the tournament gets going:

1 The eight-team field provides an intriguing contest right off the bat. Only one school, Hancock, has ever won the state championship and that was back in 1997. No. 1-rated Goodhue was last year’s state runner-up, while Hancock was also the runner-up in 2007. One of the two will be eliminated following their quarterfinal matchup.

2 Hancock senior guard Illissa Koehl, because of hearing loss, has a unique way of receiving the offensive and defensive sets. Coach Jodi Holleman holds up color-coded objects to indicate different plays. She is the youngest of nine kids who were named in alphabetical order. They are: Annette, Brenda, Connie, Dawn, Emily, Fonda, Gwen, Harlan and Illissa.

3 If you’re trying to figure out which schools make up Northern Freeze, it’s a co-op for girls’ basketball between Marshall County Central and Tri-County. They also were in last year’s field. Senior guard Liza Hoglo is the program’s career leading scorer.

4 Sebeka’s trip to the state tournament will be the first in school history for any of the girls’ teams. The boys’ basketball program has been to the state tournament each of the previous two years — their only trips to the state tournament. The Trojans’ top two scorers are New York Mills transfer Alicia Boe and Jessica Lillquist, the daughter of boys’ coach Jon Lillquist.

5 Cyndi Raymond coached St. Peter in the Class 2A tournament last season. She is now an assistant coach at Nicollet. Her daughter, Tailor , is the leading scorer and rebounder for the Raiders. Nicollet’s Kevin Christenson has never coached in the state tournament.