A year ago, Benilde-St. Margaret’s rolled through the Class AAA Girls Basketball State Tournament by defeating its three opponents by an average of 29 points en route to a successful championship repeat. 

Senior Olivia Olson, a University of Michigan recruit, was the dominant focal point of the group on both ends of the floor. A few weeks later, she was selected Minnesota’s Miss Basketball recipient. 

With Olson moving on to the Wolverines and having a standout freshman season, the Red Knights pondered how to move forward. 

“It’s different each year,” Red Knights coach Tim Ellersonsaid. “It’s about senior leadership, it’s about style of play. We went through some adversity, but the goal remained the same, to get back (to the state tournament.)”

Through balance, growth of players and learning from losses, Benilde-St. Margaret’s did indeed make it back to the state tournament and exited the same way as the previous two seasons: With a state championship in tow. 

Senior guard Kendall McGee paced a powerfully balanced attack with 17 points and senior guard Zahara Bishop chipped in 16 points to send the top-seeded Red Knights to a 73-57 victory over No. 3 Marshall in the Class AAA championship game of the Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Basketball State Tournament on Saturday, March 15 at Williams Arena. 

The third consecutive championship for the Red Knights (26-6) ties them with five other programs that have recorded a three-peat. It is the fifth championship all-time for Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

McGee is one example in the Red Knights’ ability to step in, step up, and maintain championship-level consistency. In 2023, she injured her knee in the semifinals and didn’t play in the championship game. Last year, she sat out the season. 

With her return, McGee, a Creighton University recruit, displayed leadership and a court vision that got all of her teammates involved. In 29 minutes of play, she also had four assists, a steal and three rebounds. 

Benilde-St. Margaret’s opened the season with three losses. They then lost twice to Orono in the Metro West Conference and then a setback to DeLaSalle, another Class AAA state tournament participant. 

As the No. 2 seed in Section 6AAA, Benilde-St. Margaret’s shed the memories of the two losses to Orono and won by 21 points in the section final. 

Marshall, a traditional Class AAA power out of Section 2, was a young squad with just one loss this season (to Orono) and eyes on derailing the Red Knights. 

The Tigers (29-2) hung with the Red Knights early, but deficits became large. 

Junior guard Taleigha Bigler scored 19 points and junior forward Avery Fahl added 15.