RISING TO THE OCCASION — Blue Earth Area’s Ashton Lloyd (23) fires a one-hander between Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther defenders Jakob Fischer (left) and Peyton Franzen (right) during the Bucs’ holiday invitational in December. Lloyd and the Bucs tip off Section 2AA postseason play tonight in Blue Earth, while Fischer, Franzen and the Jaguars travel to Mankato Loyola tonight for Section 2A play. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — Minnesota high school basketball madness in March continues tonight at an area hardwood court near you … or probably, less than a 45-minute drive away.

If it’s offense that gets you sitting on the edge of the bleachers, then the South sub-sections of both the Section 2A and Section 2AA boys hoops tournaments will feature plenty.

Section 2A features a minimum of six 1,000-point career scorers, while Section 2AA will have at least four more top-notch point producers snapping the nets.

Zach Anderson, a 6-foot-6 senior forward, and Mitchell Weber, a 6-1 senior guard/forward, will guide the No. 4-seeded Martin County West Mavericks (15-11) against the No. 5-seeded Springfield Tigers (13-13) at 7 p.m. tonight in Sherburn in a Section 2A, South quarterfinal.

Anderson, who’s committed to play basketball for Wayne State College next season, and Weber both have eclipsed the 1,000-point career scoring plateau.

Anderson established new school records for points in a single game (45) and career points by clearing Tony Taylor’s previous mark of 1,853 on Feb. 14, while Weber cleared a grand in total points on Jan. 31.

The high-scoring Martin County West pair and their Maverick teammates face a Springfield roster that features only one senior in 6-0 forward MaCoy Krick.

Brayden Sturm, a 6-0 sophomore guard, and 6-3 freshman forward Bryan Buerkle will be Tigers to watch in the scoring column and on the backboards.

The winner between Martin County West and Springfield advances to face either the No. 1-seeded United South Central Rebels (19-7) or the No. 9-seeded Madelia Blackhawks (4-23) in a 6 p.m. South semifinal at 6 p.m. Thursday — weather permitting — at St. Peter High School.

Jon Martinez, a 5-11 junior guard, and 6-4 senior forward/center Zale Bushlack topped USC’s scoring charts heading into the postseason.

The Rebels defeated the Blackhawks 63-38 during the teams’ regular-season finale on Feb. 28.

In the opposite half of the South bracket, the No. 7-seeded Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars (13-12) will look to avenge a pair of regular-season losses to the No. 2-seeded Mankato Loyola Crusaders (18-8) in tonight’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal in Mankato.

Loyola downed the Jaguars 72-46 on Dec. 6 and 66-42 on Feb. 7 behind a pair of 1,000-point career scorers in guard Lawson Godfrey and center/forward Simon Morgan.

Morgan, a 6-3 senior standout, has carried the offensive load for the Crusaders since Godfrey suffered a wrist injury a few weeks ago.

Morgan proves double-trouble for opposing defenses as he also has grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds during his prep basketball career.

Jakob Fischer, a 6-3 senior forward, averages 16.5 points per game to top the Jaguars, 6-4 junior Carter Fox carries an 11.5-point clip into the playoffs, while 6-2 senior forward Peyton Franzen nearly averages a double-double at about 9 points and 10 rebounds per outing.

The winner between the Jaguars and Crusaders will face either No. 3-seeded Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey (17-8) or No. 6-seeded Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (14-13) in a 7:45 South semifinal Thursday night at St. Peter High School.

Carter Olson, a 6-0 junior guard, has cleared the 1,000-point scoring plateau for the Wolverines, who will host the Bulldogs at 7 p.m. tonight in Mountain Lake.

Memphis James, a 6-0 junior guard, rounds out the Section 2A 1,000-point career scorers by hitting the hardwood for JWP tonight.

The Section 2A, South Sub-Section semifinal winners will square off at 6 p.m. Monday, March 13, at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

In the Section 2AA, South Sub-Section bracket, the No. 4-seeded Blue Earth Area Bucs (14-8) tip off the postseason by playing host to the No. 5-seeded St. Clair Cyclones (12-14) at 7 p.m. tonight in Blue Earth.

Ashton Lloyd, a 6-5 senior outside/inside player, represents one of the four 1,000-point career scorers in South divisional play.

Lloyd, who’s also a prolific rebounder, will put his double-double skills to the test against St. Clair senior sharpshooting guard Brandon Meng, who netted selection to the all-Bethany Luther College holiday invitational’s all-tournament team for his efforts in late December.

The winner between Blue Earth Area and St. Clair advances to play either Class AA No. 5-ranked and top-seeded Maple River (24-2) or No. 8-seeded Medford (2-24) in a 6 p.m. South semifinal on Thursday at Mankato East High School.

Maple River mentor Chad Ostermann, who notched the 300th win of his coaching career this season, and his Eagles play host to Medford at 7 p.m. tonight in Mapleton.

Maple River coasted to regular-season wins of 89-32 on Dec. 20 and 79-38 over Medford on Jan. 24.

Mason Schirmer, a 5-11 senior guard, represents one of the sub-section’s 1,000-point-plus career scorers for the Eagles, while 6-7 senior forward Hayden Niebuhr presents a challenge to guard for most opponents.

Will Sellers, a 6-4 senior guard/forward, joined Schirmer as a 1,000-point career scorer during Maple River’s win over Waterville-Elysian-Morristown on March 3.

In the opposite half of the Section 2AA South bracket, Class AA No. 4-ranked and No. 2-seeded Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (25-1) plays host to No. 7-seeded New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (3-23) at 7 p.m. tonight in Lake Crystal.

LCWM defeated NRHEG 65-54 during the BLC Holiday Invite on Dec. 27 in Mankato.

Zack Wells, a 6-0 senior guard who’s a 1,000-point plus career scorer, averages about 16 points per game for a balanced LCWM scoring attack.

The Knights have and can receive double-figure scoring from 6-2 junior Jack Brockmann, 5-11 junior Jamis Ulman, 6-3 senior Michael Matteson and 6-3 senior Drew Dahl on any given night.

Ironically, LCWM’s only loss came at the hands of Maple River, 62-52, during the Bethany Lutheran College Invite’s championship clash on Dec. 29. The Eagles’ Niebuhr netted a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds to pace the win.

Wells netted 14 points, including his 1,000th, and Brockmann contributed 10 more to the Knights’ 42-38 regular-season win over Maple River on Jan. 12.

The winner between LCWM and NRHEG advances to face the winner between No. 3-seeded Waseca (20-6) and No. 6-seeded Waterville-Elysian-Morristown (4-20) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night at Mankato East.

Waseca disposed of WEM by an 85-28 score on Dec. 6.

The South Sub-Section championship game will be played at the Taylor Center in Mankato at 6 p.m. Monday, March 13.