A special six minutes made Benilde-St. Margaret’s a state champion Saturday.
The Red Knights made a 15-point run early in the second half and sprinted away from DeLaSalle, claiming the Class 3A girls basketball championship 81-58 at Williams Arena.
The top-seeded Red Knights spread those 15 points over a 6-minute, 2-second span.
Olivia Olson dominated the first half with 21 points, helping the Red Knights take a 44-39 lead into halftime. But Olson wasn’t the one driving that 15-point burst. That was Zahara Bishop, who scored six of her 11 points in that stretch despite other concerns.
“I knew coming into the second half I was in foul trouble. So I wasn’t really focused on points,” Bishop said. “I was more focused on defense and getting the ball to [teammates] the best I can.”
Olson, an All-Metro first-team pick who is committed to Michigan for college, did not score her first basket of the second half until the 11:08 mark. She finished the game with 30 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s was the top seed and ranked second in Class 3A by Minnesota Basketball News. DeLaSalle was seeded first but ranked second.
The Islanders (27-4) got off to a hot start, shooting well over 60% through most of the first half. It took five missed shots in a row starting with 4:18 left in the first half to get the Islanders down to 50% at halftime. Things continued that way, and they finished the game making only 39.2%.
