Class AA State Tournament – Where I was Right and Wrong

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 2026 Class AA State Tournament concluded Saturday night after three fun days of basketball. I made some <strong><em><a href="https://prepgirlshoops.com/2026/03/class-aa-state-tournament-players-and-predictions/">predictions</a> </em></strong>last week about who was going to win and some players to keep an eye on. Keep reading to see if I made any accurate predictions!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Where I was Right</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I predicted Minot winning the title which ultimately proved to be true. Minot took care of Red River handedly in the first round, winning 87-37. The Majettes then ran into a hot [program_tooltip program_id='712656' first='Mandan' last=''] squad who had just upset #2 Seed from the East Horace 63-53. Minot's only regular season loss was to the Braves and Coach Purintun had his team ready to compete. [program_tooltip program_id='712656' first='Mandan' last=''] jumped out to an early lead, but the firepower of [player_tooltip player_id='379041' first='Leelee' last='Bell'] and [player_tooltip player_id='245114' first='Maggie' last='Fricke'] proved to be too much. Minot escaped with an 84-73 victory. Minot then met Fargo Davies in the state final. Davies may have played one of their best games of the season. They competed hard on both sides of the ball and had some stellar production from senior [player_tooltip player_id='629944' first='Carter' last='Ford']. She nearly quadrupled her average points-per-game and hit some timely three-pointers to keep Davies within striking distance. Once again, Bell and Fricke had other plans. Fricke netted 6 three-pointers and Bell was unstoppable around the basket, including an alley-oop, one-handed, shot-clock beating basket around the 2:00 minute mark. Minot came out on top 72-61.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Where I was Wrong</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I predicted Bismarck Century coming out of the other bracket and getting to the state title game. Davies came out in the semis and played incredible, building a thirty-point half-time lead after shooting nearly 70% from the field. This lead was too much for a young Patriot squad to over come. The final score in the semi-finals was 82-51.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Where I was Right</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>My correct selections for the All-Tournament Team: [player_tooltip player_id='379041' first='Leelee' last='Bell'], [player_tooltip player_id='245114' first='Maggie' last='Fricke'], [player_tooltip player_id='461314' first='Fallon' last='Passanante'], [player_tooltip player_id='629942' first='Quinn' last='Skari'], [player_tooltip player_id='1004420' first='Rylee' last='Seavert'], [player_tooltip player_id='555488' first='Lakyn' last='Donnelly'], [player_tooltip player_id='969855' first='AnnaClaire' last='Bugbee'], and [player_tooltip player_id='625626' first='Kimimila' last='McAllister']. [player_tooltip player_id='379041' first='Leelee' last='Bell'] was also selected as Tournament MVP.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Where I was Wrong</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I predicted [player_tooltip player_id='641207' first='Abby' last='Fosland'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1312749' first='Kaylie' last='Welstad'] from Century making the All-Tournament Team. I also predicted [player_tooltip player_id='555487' first='Jordan' last='Christofferson'] making the team. With Horace and Century each losing two games at state, it was hard to get girls on the All-Tournament Team. Davies [player_tooltip player_id='1050540' first='Sierra' last='Reinke'] and Legacy's [player_tooltip player_id='892385' first='Marlee' last='Falcon'] were selected after having awesome weekends.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>Final Notes</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='461314' first='Fallon' last='Passanante'] finished the weeked scoring her 2000th career point. [player_tooltip player_id='379041' first='Leelee' last='Bell'] finishes her career with 3159 points, good for second all-time in state history. She also finishes her career with 1392 rebounds, which is good for 6th all-time. This tournament says good-bye to some great players but also displayed some underclassmen who are going to be eager to get back. How different will Minot look with the graduation of Bell, Fricke, and [player_tooltip player_id='1053416' first='Eve' last='Knutson']? Will Century be able to bounce back and get their team back in championship form? Remember, they started 3 freshman! Will Mandan's duo of Bugbee and [player_tooltip player_id='1094023' first='Alli' last='Reiner'] become even more unstoppable going forward? Can Horace find a third scoring option behind Donnelly and Christofferson? These are all answers we will have to wait to see until next November. Next up is AAU season, and I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of girls making some noise on the recruiting trail this summer.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->