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Girls state basketball roundup: Benilde-St. Margaret’s, DeLaSalle win in semis to set up colossal 3A title clash

pioneer press
·4 min read

CLASS 3A

Benilde-St. Margaret’s 73, Stewartville 42

Benilde-St. Margaret’s is one win away from going back to back as the Class 3A champion.

Michigan commit Olivia Olson finished with 32 points and seven rebounds for the top-seeded Red Knights (26-5), while Zahara Bishop added 18 points. It was all Benilde-St. Margaret’s from the jump, as the defending champs led 26-5 early.

Audrey Schindelar scored 16 points to lead fifth-seeded Stewartville (22-9).

DeLaSalle 82, Alexandria Area 69

DeLaSalle star guard Aneish Scott tallied 29 points, 11 assists and five rebounds to lead the second-seeded Islanders into the Class 3A game.

DeLaSalle (27-3) will meet Benilde-St. Margaret’s at 6 p.m. Saturday. The Islanders beat the Red Knights 78-65 in December.

DeLaSalle shot 55 percent from the field and 42 percent from deep on Thursday, while turning the ball over just seven times. Jordyn Johnson added 20 points for DeLaSalle, who also beat Alexandria 74-64 in early December.

Hadley Thul had 29 points — on 9-for-11 shooting from the field — five rebounds and five assists for third-seeded Alexandria (25-5).

CLASS 4A

Hopkins 84, Maple Grove 78

For the 11th time in 13 years, Hopkins has reached the state title game.

Erma Walker scored 30 points on 14-for-16 shooting from the field to go with nine rebounds to lead a Royals offense that shot 53 percent from the field. Liv McGill added 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds for the top-seeded Royals (27-3).

But Maple Grove’s offense kept the Crimson (25-5) in the contest throughout. Maple Grove shot 56 percent from the field and 53 percent from deep. The fourth-seeded Crimson had three players score 17-plus points, led by 21 points and seven rebounds from Jordan Ode. Claire Stern added 19 points and eight assists.

Hopkins led by 13 with six minutes to play, but Maple Grove pulled to within three with 63 seconds to play. But the Royals delivered a key stop with 38 seconds to play to essentially put the game on ice.

Minnetonka 67, St. Michael-Albertville 49

There will be a new Class 4A champion this season, as the Skippers took down the defending champ in Thursday’s semifinals.

The second-seeded Skippers will square off with top-seeded Hopkins in the Class 4A final at 8 p.m. Saturday. The two teams split a pair of regular season meetings.

Minnetonka star Aaliyah Crump led the Skippers (27-2) on Thursday, tallying 27 points and nine rebounds, while Victoria McKinney had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Lanelle Wright had 15 points, seven assists and five boards.

Minnetonka held St. Michael-Albertville below 30 percent shooting, and the third-seeded Knights (23-8) never led in the contest after the Skippers scored the game’s first 13 points and built a 22-4 advantage.

CLASS A

Goodhue 65, Mayer Lutheran 38

Elisabeth Gadient and Natalie Thomforde each scored 19 points to lead the top-seeded Wildcats to a quarterfinal victory.

Gadient also grabbed 15 rebounds, while Kendyl Lodermeier had 11 points and 11 boards for her own double-dobule.

Goodhue (26-5) held Mayer Lutheran to just 27-percent shooting from the floor, including 1 for 7 from distance. Danica Martin had 10 points and 15 boards for Mayer Lutheran (19-11).

Underwood 64, Southwest Minnesota Christian 52

Underwood went 11 for 23 from 3-point range as the No. 4 seed advanced to Friday’s semifinals.

Underwood (28-3) will meet top-seeded Goodhue in the Class A semis at 12 p.m. Friday.

Kallyn Grove went 3 for 3 from deep, highlighting her 16-point, 11-rebound performance. Elizabeth Lukken scored 18 points on a day where four Underwood starters scored in double figures.

Jocelyn Barron tallied 22 points and 14 boards for fifth-seeded Southwest Minnesota Christian (28-3).

Mountain Iron-Buhl 71, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 36

Jordan Zubich had 20 points and seven assists as second-seeded Mountain Iron-Buhl successfully kicked off its state title defense.

Mountain Iron-Buhl will face third-seeded Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart in the Class A semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday after Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart (28-3) downed Fosston 72-35 in the quarters.

Mountain Iron-Buhl buried 14 triples Thursday, while holding Walker-Hackensack-Akeley (24-7) to just 1 for 11 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Rangers (28-3) also forced 27 turnovers that led to 30 points.

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