DES MOINES — Half of the Class 1A state tournament field consists of returning teams this week, led by top-ranked and No. 1 seed St. Edmond.

Joining the Gaels from a year ago is their quarterfinal round opponent, Woodbine, Bellevue Marquette and Boyden-Hull.

St. Edmond (23-2 overall) and Woodbine (17-8) hit the Casey’s Center floor for the first quarterfinal here on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Newcomers Burlington Notre Dame (24-2) and Bellevue (22-3) meet next, with those winners playing in the semifinals on Thursday.

In the bottom half of the bracket, No. 2 seed MMCRU (25-1) meets Boyden-Hull (18-7) at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, while Bishop Garrigan (23-2) tangles with Bellevue Marquette (23-2) at 7:15 p.m.

The championship is scheduled for Friday at 5 p.m.

Woodbine, at state for a third straight season, knocked off defending state champion Madrid in a substate final, as highly-regarded football prospect Landon Blum scored 23 points. Brodyn Pryor added 11 and Jax Pryor nine for the Tigers.

Blum averages over 20 points and nine rebounds per game, while Brodyn Pryor adds 12 and Jax Pryor 11.5.

All three were key players on the Woodbine football team that reached the eight-player state title game before falling to Bishop Garrigan.

“They are a big, strong team that is very physical,” SEHS head coach Adolph Kochendorfer said of Woodbine. “They have kids that can knock shots down and get to the rim well. They look just as good — or better — than last year, and work well together.”

Burlington Notre Dame is led by Shay Stephens, a senior who has committed to play basketball at Western Illinois. He averages 24.5 points, nine rebounds and almost seven assists for the Nikes, who last made state in 2009.

A balanced attack paces Bellevue. KeShawn DeShaw, Spencer Abbott and Cameron Casel are all seniors who average over 10 points per contest. DeShaw leads the way at 13 points and almost nine rebounds a night.

MMCRU won the Class A football title this past fall, with senior Kamden Bork averaging a team-high 15.6 points. Classmates Wyatt Alesch and Michael Schmillen are both double-digit scorers.

Boyden-Hull owns four state championships all-time, with the last coming in 2020. The Comets have reached the state field 21 times overall and own 39 wins during those trips.

Jakob Pottebaum averages 15 points, while Garrett Van Es is at 12.6 points and 12.6 rebounds.

Along with owning a regular season win over St. Edmond, Garrigan claimed the eight-player state football title this past fall. The Golden Bears last made state basketball in 2020, finishing second.

Junior Michael Joyce averages 18 points per game. Senior Amaury Thomas is on a double-double pace per night, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

Bellevue Marquette has made 11 state appearances, finishing second each of the past two seasons. Senior Koen Roeder, junior Taegin Smith and senior Justin Severson all average over 11 points.

The Defenders graduated four senior starters, as Louis Gonner is the most experienced player back.