A second-half stretch of success was key for Benilde-St. Margaret’s in defending its Class 3A state girls’ basketball crown.

Olivia Olson scored 30 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Pressley Watkins added 18 points and the Red Knights pulled away to beat rival DeLaSalle 81-58 Saturday night at Williams Arena.

“It’s so surreal to sit here again with another state championship,” said Olson, the lone Red Knights senior. “… I’m just proud to go out with them in such a cool way.”

Aneisha Scott battled foul trouble to lead DeLaSalle (27-4) with 15 points. Madalyn Blaylark added 14 for the Islanders who won 78-65 when the teams met in December, one of seven games Olson missed with a broken hand. It was the last time Benilde-St. Margaret’s (27-5) came up short.

“Everyone has been going after us all season and rightfully so,” said Red Knights coach Tim Ellefsen. “We welcomed the challenge. … Winning is hard and we were ready.”

Scott scored on a jumper and a drive to get DeLaSalle within two early in the second half. She also scored the next Islander points, but they came more than 6 1/2 minutes later. Between those points, it was a 15-0 run for Benilde-St. Margaret’s (27-5), which got much better at attacking the basket. Zahara Bishop scored eight points and Watkins five during the stretch.

“We keep stressing do what we do, do it really well, and when we execute other teams tend to wear down either physically or mentally. We just do what we do, get some balls, some deflections and turned them into layups, hit some timely shots,” Ellefson said.

Kate Kapsner echoed her coach.

“We kept getting fast-break layups and all the steals, it kept giving us more energy, and we could kind of feel them wearing down.”

DeLaSalle coach James Fassett said a problem playing Benilde is defenders can’t just focus on Olson, who’ll play at Michigan next year.

“She makes a lot of people around her better, so you really got to play all five. When you get a little bit behind the eight-ball against Benilde you can get in trouble.”

Benilde-St. Margaret’s shot 53.6% in the second half when it outscored DeLaSalle 37-19. The Islanders were 8 of 25 from the field in the final 18 minutes and committed nine of their 16 turnovers.

Olson had 21 points, including 9 of 11 on free-throw attempts, and Watkins scored nine of her 11 first-half points from deep in leading Benilde-St. Margaret’s to a 44-39 lead at the break.

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POTSDAM, N.Y. — Earning a Women’s Frozen Four berth in four overtimes was the perfect way for Clarkson to spend its longest game in program history.

The No. 4-seeded Golden Knights downed No. 5 Minnesota 3-2 on Saturday to make its first Frozen Four appearance since 2019. The win was no easy task though as Clarkson never held a lead in the contest until scoring the game-winner in the fourth overtime.

The Gophers end their season with a 27-10-2 overall record. The Golden Knights will compete at the Women’s Frozen Four in Durham, New Hampshire, next week for the chance to win the school’s fourth national title (2014, 2017, 2018).

Gophers sophomore Josefin Bouveng opened the scoring in the first period when she scooped up a rebound and popped it past Clarkson netminder Michelle Pasiechnyk. A few minutes later, Bouveng made a pass across the crease to Ella Huber who increased the Gophers’ lead to 2-0.

Clarkson responded late in the first period with a power-play goal from Haley Winn. The Golden Knights then tied things up with an extra-attacker goal from Dominique Petrie late in regulation to push the game into overtime while deadlocked at 2-2.

Petrie finally scored the game-winner on the power play in the fourth overtime.

Goaltender Michelle Pasiechnyk made 62 saves in the win for Clarkson while Lucy Morgan made 53 saves for Minnesota.

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FORT MYERS, Fla. — The results may not have been what he was looking for, but as Charlee Soto was walking back to the minor league side of the Twins complex after pitching in front of a crowd of fans at Hammond Stadium in the Spring Breakout game, he was all smiles.

The 18-year-old, whom the Twins drafted 34th overall last year, gave up four runs while only retiring two batters in an 8-8 tie in a game featuring the Twins and Tampa Bay Rays’ top prospects Saturday.

“I didn’t have the outcome I wanted,” Soto said. “It was just fun to be out on the field with those guys and go out there and compete.”

Soto, currently the Twins’ third-ranked pitching prospect per MLB Pipeline, was amped up — he was trying to calm himself down, he said, and his body wouldn’t allow it — and it was clear.

And why wouldn’t he be?

He’s pitched some on back fields but was not sent out to an affiliate after being drafted last year, instead spending that time primarily in the weight room and building his arm up. Now, he’s finally pitching in games as a professional, and Saturday he got to do so in front of an enthusiastic cheering section made up of family members.

As he prepares for his first season as a professional, Soto is working on developing his sinker, which he’s trying to get to be the same velocity as his four-seamer, and his slider, which he said is “getting there.”

“All those pitches are coming along very well,” Soto said.

While the Spring Breakout offered each organization’s brightest prospects the chance to play together, Soto has also relished the opportunity he’s had this spring to spend time around Twins major leaguers.

“It’s just fun being around all those guys,” he said. “I was around Pablo López, (Jhoan) Duran a little bit. Just being around those big (league) guys, you learn a lot from them on the weight room side and on the baseball side, as well.”

DeSclafani sees game action

On the Lee County Sports Complex back fields, away from the main stadium, Twins starter Anthony Desclafani saw his first game action of spring, throwing (almost) two innings in a minor league game.

DeSclafani, who has been behind in his build-up for the season after experiencing some elbow soreness earlier this spring, threw 36 pitches on Saturday. He allowed a pair of singles in his first inning while striking out a pair of batters.

In the second, he issued a walk (the runner was subsequently thrown out trying to steal by Christian Vázquez), struck out a batter and then allowed another walk before the Twins opted to end the inning.

“He looked good for those two innings. Now we build up and see what comes next,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We’ll see how he comes out of his two innings and go from there.”

López goes five

The results may not have been what he was looking for — he gave up four home runs in his five innings of work against the Rays — but López stretched it out to 73 pitches on Saturday. It will likely be the longest start of the spring for López, the team’s Opening Day starter.

“The five ups, with seventh-some pitches, I feel like my body is where it should be,” López said. “I was throwing harder the last two innings and that’s a good sign.”

Briefly

Byron Buxton finished Saturday’s 6-5 win over the Rays with a single and a double, scoring from first base in the first inning on a Royce Lewis two-bagger. He also made a diving grab in center field. … The Twins will send a group up to Dunedin on Sunday to take on the Blue Jays. Reliever Jorge Alcala is listed as the starter.

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Minnesota was dominant from start to finish on Saturday at  Xcel Energy Center, beating New York 5-1 before an announced crowd of 9,006. It was a performance coach Ken Klee couldn’t have drawn up much better.

In winning its fourth straight game, Minnesota grabbed an early lead, got goals from each of its top three lines and continued the stellar defensive play that has been its calling card throughout the season.

With one more game to play before the month-long break for the Women’s World Championship, Minnesota sits alone atop the Professional Women’s Hockey League standings.

Michela Cava scored two goals, giving her three in the past two games after being moved up to the top line. Kendall Coyne Schofield continued her recent increase in offensive production with her sixth goal of the season and Grace Zumwinkle added her team-leading ninth of the season.

And just as significantly, Claire Butorac continued Minnesota’s recent trend of getting goals from secondary scorers as she picked up her first of the season. Klee sees it as a good sign that Minnesota is starting to see production throughout the lineup.

“It’s a lot of fun, and they’re all happy for each other,” he said. “With Claire Butorac getting her first goal, Michela Cava with two great goals; she kind of got going last game.

“It was Denisa (Krizova) the game before that. For me, it’s the level of excitement that the players have for each other, when they’re having success and making plays. To me, that’s what a great team is about.

“I want to be able to roll four lines. Obviously, certain players play more than others in certain situations, but my teams, everyone has a role and everyone is important.”

To that end, Sydney Brodt made her season debut after being activated from long-term injured reserve. The former University of Minnesota Duluth captain picked up an assist on Butorac’s goal.

Butorac said she hadn’t put any added pressure on herself to break through on the score sheet but was pleased to be able to contribute.

“I think every night we take the ice as a team we really are a team,” she said. “We get contributions from top to bottom. We play as a team, and we take pride in that.”

Meanwhile, Minnesota continues to be the hardest team to score against, limiting teams to an average of 1.8 goals per game. Goaltender Maddie Rooney followed Nicole Hensley’s shutout performance on Wednesday with a strong effort of her own, with New York’s only goal coming on a power play.

“You look at their goals-against average and save percentage, they’re both at the top of the league, which is just outstanding,” Klee said. “It gives us a chance every night.”

Rooney credits her teammates for buying into being solid in their own zone.

“The defense is playing great,” Rooney said. “Tonight, I feel they kept a lot of the shots to the outside, and when the rebound was there they did a great job of clearing it. And, also, I thought we were breaking out a lot easier than in the previous couple of games.”

The four-game winning streak is Minnesota’s longest this season. Minnesota appears to be playing at its highest level to date.

“These past four games have definitely given us momentum,” Rooney said, “but we aren’t gong to take any opponent lightly. It’s just step on the gas pedal from here.”

Added Butorac: “Obviously, it’s nice to win four, but I don’t think we’re satisfied what that. We are going to push through to the end of the regular season.”

A win over Montreal next Sunday at Excel would send Minnesota into the break on a real high.

“We talked about how important these points are for us at home before the break,” he said, “because we know after the break we have four of five to finish on the road.”

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