Girls Basketball Class AAA Semifinal: Benilde-St. Margaret's 70, Alexandria Area 50

Last month, the Benilde-St. Margaret’s girls basketball team suffered a six-point loss to Becker. It was the only loss for the Red Knights to a Class AAA opponent during this 2022-23 season. Benilde-St. Margaret’s figured it might get an opportunity to play Becker again if both advanced to the Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Basketball State Tournament.

Both did, but between the two Class AAA powers, only Benilde-St. Margaret’s will play for a state title.

The No. 2-seeded Red Knights earned a berth in the Class AAA championship game for the first time since 2010 with a xx-xx victory over No. 3 Alexandrai Area in the semifinals on Thursday, March 16 at Williams Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. Benilde-St. Margaret’s (25-6) advanced to the title game where it will face No. 4 Stewartville, which upended Becker two hours earlier in the first semifinal.

The Red Knights are 2 for 2 in previous Class AAA championship appearances, winning in 2006 and 2010, respectively.

Junior Olivia Olson fueled the Red Knights’ latest run to a championship game with 19 of her 33 points in the second half when Benilde-St. Margaret’s built a six-point advantage. The University of Michigan recruit, who averages 22 points per game, also finished with 13 rebounds, including 12 on the defensive end. Eighth-grader Sydney Friedly chipped in 11 points in helping the Red Knights extend their recent winning streak to nine games.

Alexandria (24-7) was paced by sophomore guard MaCee Linow’s 15 point and 13 from sophomore post Hadley Thul.