Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond senior starter Grant Galles drives and scores during the regular season.

DES MOINES – The St. Edmond boys basketball squad will be making an encore appearance at the Class 1A state tournament.

The top-ranked Gaels defeated Riverside on Saturday night at the Knapp Center on the campus of Drake University, 71-54, to advance to the quarterfinal round next week at the Casey’s Center.

St. Edmond (23-2 overall) will play on Tuesday, March 10, at state. The opponent and time has yet to be determined.

The Gaels punched their 11th state tournament ticket under legendary head coach Adolph Kochendorfer, who is in his final season at the helm. St. Edmond is 11-3 in substate finals, with eight straight wins dating back to 2004.

This will be the program’s 15th state appearance overall. The Gaels were champions in 2000.

Complete coverage from Saturday night’s victory will be in Monday’s Messenger.