Chaska girls basketball runs around Benilde-St. Margaret's

The Hawks, led by Kennedy Sanders, used defense and transition to defeat the Red Knights

CHASKA, Minn. — The No. 2-4A Chaska Hawks (18-1) defeated the No.1-3A Benilde-St. Margaret’s Red Knights 86-58 Thursday night at Chaska High School.

The Hawks overwhelmed the Red Knights (14-5) early and jumped to a 31-17 lead just over halfway into the first half. The Red Knights cut the lead the nine one minutes later, but the Hawks continued to play defense that led to transition offense to build a 48-24 halftime lead.

Chaska’s Kennedy Sanders led all scorers with 28 points. Ella Keenan finished with 21. Benilde-St. Margert’s standouts Olivia Olson and Kendall McGee finished with eight and 10 points, respectively.

Here are two takeaways from the game:

Speed, speed, speed

Chaska built their early lead with stops on defense and speed in the transition attack. Benilde-St. Margaret’s is a potent team with good athletes, but Chaska was able to create shots at the rim, or open shots elsewhere, by attacking with a numbers advantage.

“We’re a good transition team,” Chaska head coach Tara Seifert said. “A team strength for sure.”

And the attack runs through Colorado commit Kennedy Sanders. The point guard attacked the Red Knights’ defense on all three levels, but she also fulfilled her point guard duties and distributed the ball to open teammates running the floor.

Sanders scored 18 points in the first half, and she topped that off with 10 in the second half for a rolling Chaska team.

“I think we’re really coming together,” Seifert said. “I think our chemistry is good. When you watch the kids they really play for each other. It was a team win. We really had to come together to get points from multiple players.”

Chaska contains Benilde-St. Margaret’s

Defense and rebounding led to offense for the Hawks. The Red Knights have two scorers, Olson and McGee, who are averaging 21 points per game.

“We’re working on our defense and trying to contain teams, and we know this is a really high powered offense,” Seifert said. “I can’t say enough about the talent they have, but I can’t say enough about the way the girls came out and contained them and rebounded really well.”

Olson and McGee struggled to get open shots and finish over Hawks defenders or earn free throws. And while the Hawks were quick to run, the Red Knights didn’t help themselves.

“I feel like we just didn’t execute well on defense,” Olson said. “We sometimes tend to dwell on our mistakes if we miss a shot on offense, so it doesn’t help us if we do that.”

The Red Knights, the top-ranked team in Class 3A, have now fallen to Chaska, No. 2 in Class 4A, twice this season, along with No. 1-4A Hopkins, No. 6-4A Minnetonka and No. 7-4A Eden Prairie. While they want to compete with everyone in the state, the Red Knights are still in good positions in their class.

“I think there is a lot to improve on as a team,” Olson said. “It starts in practice with our defense, and once we get that together I think we are good, but we have a lot of work to do.”

Here is our photo gallery from the game: