#1 Lakeville North 57, #3 White Bear Lake 47

The Panthers capped off a perfect season with a 57-47 victory over White Bear Lake in the Class AAAA championship game at Target Center.  Guard Rachel Banham (pictured at right) led the way with 25 points, 20 in the first half when the Panthers built up a 10-point lead.  Center Cassie Rochel added 13 points and 20 rebounds.  North led by as many as 14 points midway through the second half before White Bear Lake cut it to just three points on a flurry of 3-pointers.  Carly Jensen was 6-of-11 from outside the arc and scored 19 points for the Bears.  Alexis Foley also added 12 points and eight rebounds.

#2 Benilde-St. Margaret's 41, #4 Hill-Murray 38

Benilde-St. Margaret's scored the final seven points of the game to claim the Class AAA state championship, beating Hill-Murray 41-38 at Target Center.  After Bethany Doolittle gave the Pioneers a 38-34 lead with exactly 60 seconds remaining, Josie Dillon hit back-to-back shots to propel Benilde.  Khadijah Shumpert (pictured at right) led a balanced Red Knights attack with 12 points, while Dillon and Olivia Antilla each had nine points.  Tessa Cichy powered Hill-Murray with 24 points, but missed two late free throws and a three-pointer at the buzzer.  Read the game recap here.

Steven's Sports Report has a look at the game on his blog.  Click here to view his game story.

Minnehaha Academy 64, Braham 46

Minnehaha Academy took advantage of its size inside, towering over Braham in the Class AA championship game at Target Center, 64-46.  The Redhawks were led by 6-foot-4 center Katelyn Adams with 21 points and 15 rebounds, while Rachel Hansen (pictured at right) added 22 points and nine rebounds.  Minnehaha outrebounded Braham 43-29 in the game and outscored them 30-6 in the paint.  Braham had 19 points from Kelsey Sorenson-Giffrow, but not other player scored in double figures.  Rebekah Dahlman, the hero of the semifinal victory, had just seven points on 2-of-14 shooting.  Read the game recap here.

FoxPreps.com caught up with the Redhawks after their championship victory for a video interview.

Steven's Sports Report has a look at the game on his blog, as well.  Click here to view his game story.

Barnum 43, Goodhue 31

After finishing second last season, Barnum made the most of its return trip to state, claiming the Class A championship with a 43-31 victory over Goodhue at Target Center.  The Bombers surged in the second half behind Katrina Newman (16 points, pictured at right) and Jessica Newman (19).  Goodhue was led by sophomore Erica Tipcke, who tallied 10 points.  Read the game recap here.

Steven's Sports Report has a look at the game on his blog, as well.  Click here to view his game story.

FoxPreps.com also caught up with the Bombers after their championship victory for a video interview.

Chaska 71, Wayzata 64

Chaska's Ellen Degler recovered from receiving stitches in the Hawks' semifinal loss, scoring 18 points and adding eight rebounds to lead Chaska to a 71-64 victory over Wayzata in the Class AAAA third-place game at Concordia-St. Paul.  Point guard Brooke Brown (pictured at right) was the game's high scorer with 26 points, while center Brianna Tisch added 13 points.  Three Trojans scored in double-figures, including Erin Krause (17 points), Kristi Kuhn (16 points).  Marissa Grossfeld had a double-double (16 points, 17 rebounds) for Wayzata.  Read the game recap here.

DeLaSalle 61, Sartell-St. Stephen 57

The Islanders rebounded from their first defeat of the season to beat Sartell-St. Stephen in the Class AAA third place game at Concordia-St. Paul, 61-57.  Tyseanna Johnson (pictured at right) recorded 19 points for DeLaSalle, while teammates Sarina Baker (11 points) and Allina Starr (10) also contributed in double figures.  Sartell had two big scorers in Haley Guetter (18 points) and Andrea Whitney (20), who also added 16 rebounds and four blocks.  Read the game recap here.

Rochester Lourdes 59, Pipestone 52

Laura Melquist (pictured at right) was a beast inside for Lourdes, scoring 23 points and grabbing 17 rebounds to lead the Eagles to the Class AA third place victory over Pipestone Area, 59-52.  Melquist, a 6-foot-2 senior center, was especially dominant on defense, where she recorded 14 defensive rebounds, three steals and eight blocks.  Teammate Stephanie Helt added 13 points and four steals.  Pipestone had a trio of scorers in double figures in Bree Woelber (14 points), Brooke Woelber (12) and Bailey Bouman (12).  Read the game recap here.

Parkers Prairie 72, Northern Freeze 62

Sari Noga (pictured at right) capped off her prep career in style, dumping in 31 points for Parkers Prairie in a 72-62 victory over Northern Freeze in the Class A third-place game at Concordia-St. Paul.  The University of Minnesota recruit was joined in double-figures by her sister, Michaela Noga (16 points) and Madison Dorn (16).  The Freeze were paced by Liza Hoglo, who scored 24 points on 11-of-15 shooting.  Read the game recap here.

Staff predictions
The Breakdown staff takes a stab at predicting the winners in the girls tournament.   Can you do better?  We'll update it throughout the tournament to see how close we came.

John's Journal
For those interested in former Star Tribune writer John Millea and his new gig with the MSHSL, he's blogging from the girls' state tournament this weekend.  Just go to the main MSHSL site and hit the tab for "John's Journal." 

Fox video interviews
The FoxPreps.com gang is doing a great job of getting interviews after each game.  Check out their site for video interviews with players and coaches from the winning teams.