Class 3A State Tourney: All-Tournament Teams

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite losing current Michigan star Olivia Olson to graduation after last season, folks still felt pretty good about Benilde-St. Margaret's chances of winning a third consecutive Class 3A state championship. With senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='296523' first='Kendall' last='McGee'] expected to return to a pretty loaded lineup, the only question was how good would McGee be after an absence of 20 months. At first McGee was tentative. Then she was good. And by the time the Red Knights' took home all of the 3A hardware Saturday night at Williams Arena, Kendall was great. Just like always.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ranked among the top three prospects in Minnesota's Class of 2025, McGee is an exceptional talent whose game has evolved since coming back from multiple knee surgeries that resulted from a severe injury suffered on the same Williams Arena court at the 2023 State Tournament. She's more cerebral, more patient, more calculating – but the ability to explode to the basket and score remains in her arsenal. On Saturday we saw a little bit of everything as McGee led BSM to a 73-57 win over Marshall.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>BSM had no shortage of offensive output. Seton Hall commit [player_tooltip player_id='208184' first='Zahara' last='Bishop'] had 14 points. Sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='498661' first='Pressley' last='Watkins'] and [player_tooltip player_id='567389' first='Sydney' last='Friedly'] had 13 points apiece. And McGee scored 17. As good as Benilde's offense was, it is the Red Knights' defense that really made the difference in their title run. “We put our chips in on defense,” BSM coach Tim Ellefson said in the post-game press conference. “We said, ‘Let's make that our identity. We can score off of that.' That's kind of what we did.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":338529,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/10/138-Kendall-McGee-scaled.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-338529" /></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MOST VALUABLE PLAYER</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='296523' first='Kendall' last='McGee'] <strong>– Benilde-St. Margaret's, 2025 Guard (Creighton)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McGee has been the X-factor for the Red Knights all season long. That fact proved itself to be true at this year's State Tournament, where the Creighton University commit led her team to the championship for the third year in a row. In Saturday's championship game against Marshall, McGee was at peak performance. She demonstrated her athleticism, high skill level, and innate feel for the game. Any time Benilde needed a bucket, Kendall was there to deliver. She finished the contest with 17 points, shooting 8-for-15 from the field. In the previous two games she was also essential, totaling 8 points and 7 boards against Alexandria, and 12 points, 8 boards, and 7 assists against Stewartville. In the process, she no doubt exorcised a few demons. McGee had a long, hard road to get back to her former level of play. Seeing her end her high school career with a win on the biggest stage was as much of a full-circle moment as you could ask for.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:image {"id":1218362,"sizeSlug":"large","linkDestination":"none"} --> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://prepgirlshoops.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2025/03/Taleigha-Bigler.jpg?w=1024" alt="" class="wp-image-1218362" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: <a href="https://x.com/TaleighaBigler" target="_blank">X.com</a></figcaption></figure> <!-- /wp:image --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>BREAKOUT PERFORMER</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='589276' first='Taleigha' last='Bigler'] <strong>– Marshall, 2026 Guard (Southwest Minnesota State)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Marshall Tigers dominated their region of the state this season, going undefeated until Feb. 1. Leading the way was Bigler, a junior who put up big numbers all year long. The story was no different at the State Tournament. While the Tigers sailed past Rock Ridge in the quarterfinal, it was Bigler's massive 30-point performance in the semifinal matchup against Cretin-Derham Hall that sealed her position as the Tournament's breakout performer in Class 3A. The young CDH team kept the game close for much of the contest, but it was Taleigha's ability to get downhill and draw fouls that kept the Tigers in control. She took 15 shots from the charity stripe, making 13 of them. Add on her 11 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 blocks and it became a dominating game for the 5'9 guard.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Taleigha brought more of the same in the championship game against Benilde-St. Margaret's, finishing with 19 points. It wasn't enough to take down the two-time reigning champions. Bigler is a top-25 prospect in the Class of 2026. After one more year of high school, Taleigha will stay close to home for college playing for Division 2 Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall where her dad Brad Bigler is the men's head coach.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAMS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>First Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='296523' first='Kendall' last='McGee'] – Benilde-St. Margaret's, 2025 Guard (Creighton)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='567389' first='Sydney' last='Friedly'] – Benilde-St. Margaret's, 2027 Guard</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='498661' first='Pressley' last='Watkins'] – Benilde-St. Margaret's, 2027 Guard</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='589276' first='Taleigha' last='Bigler'] – Marshall, 2026 Guard (SW Minnesota State)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1194474' first='Reese' last='Drake'] – Marshall, 2026 Guard</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Second Team</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='208184' first='Zahara' last='Bishop'] – Benilde-St. Margaret's, 2025 Guard (Seton Hall)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='346165' first='Hadley' last='Thul'] – Alexandria, 2025 Forward (South Dakota State)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='296527' first='Aneisha' last='Scott'] – DeLaSalle, 2025 Guard (Richmond)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='346183' first='Chloe' last='Scholl'] – Alexandria, 2025 Guard (Gustavus)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='897060' first='Madeleine' last='Hamiel'] – Cretin-Derham Hall, 2029 Guard</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Honorable Mentions</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Avery Fahl</strong> – Marshall, 2026 Forward</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='396428' first='Allie' last='Haabala'] – Alexandria, 2025 Guard (SW Minnesota State)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1164957' first='Sage' last='Gilbert'] – Cretin-Derham Hall, 2026 Guard</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='458305' first='Audrey' last='Shindelar'] – Stewartville, 2026 Guard (South Dakota State)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='918767' first='Anna' last='Westby'] – Rock Ridge, 2025 Forward (UM-Crookston)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PGH scout Ally McGinnis contributed to this article.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->