The Austin boys basketball team will begin it’s quest for a state title this week when it hosts No. 8 seeded Kasson-Mantorville Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Packer Gym.

The Packers (25-0 overall) handled the Komets (4-21 overall) 88-54 earlier this season, but they’d be wise not to go into cruise control mode in this game.

I personally don’t think Austin will lose to KM, but it’s important for the Packers to hit their stride early on in this tournament. Simply waiting until the last 10 minutes to start playing won’t be enough.

You never know when an opponent is going to catch fire from the arc, or somebody is going to get in foul trouble.

When the tournament comes, every game is literally win or go home and the intensity is cranked up a few notches.

The Packers should be ready for the task at hand and it’ll be interesting to see how they start it off Wednesday.

In girls basketball, Lyle-Pacelli’s season is over, but I think they’re just getting started in the grand scheme of things.

LP came into Mayo Civic Auditorium and gave top-seeded Goodhue everything it wanted. The Athletics fell short in the end, but it wasn’t due to their lack of effort.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a game where both teams were hustling their hearts out on both ends of the court for the entire game, but I think LP and Goodhue reached that level.

The best thing about the Athletics, is they bring back their entire lineup and their middle school players will only get stronger as they grow mentally and physically in the offseason.

Next year could be a big year for LP.