Girls Basketball 2025: Providence Academy makes history with fourth title in a row

Providence Academy left little doubt that it would be Minnesota’s only undefeated high school girls basketball team when the 2024-2025 season concluded. It came after the Lions turned a projected showdown of undefeated teams playing for the Class AA crown into a runaway. 

And they made history in the process 

In a duel of Minnesota’s top junior players, Providence Academy guard Maddyn Greenway shoved Crosby-Ironton’s Tori Oehrlein out of the spotlight by scoring 40 points and dishing out five assists to propel the Lions to an 81-63 victory for the Class AA championship in the Minnesota State High School League’s Girls Basketball State Tournament on Saturday, March 15 at Williams Arena. 

It was a state record fourth consecutive title for the Lions (32-0) and stretched their winning streak over the past two seasons to 44 in a row. The previous mark of three championships in a row was shared by five others, including Benilde-St. Margaret’s, which captured a three-peat earlier Saturday. 

With the latest title and unblemished season, Providence Academy can lay claim to Minnesota’s best girls basketball team, regardless of enrollment classification. As part of their undefeated journey, the Lions defeated Class AAAA’s Maple Grove and Hopkins, teams that played later Saturday for the big-school championship. 

The only other time in the seeding era that two undefeated teams met for a state championship was in 2017 when Elk River defeated Hopkins for the Class AAAA title. 

Greenway, who ranks third on Minnesota’s all-time girls basketball scoring list with 4,454 career points, played with a ferocious edge that hadn’t been witnessed this season. She scored 23 points in the first half to send the Lions to a 42-32 lead at the break. Most of her points were off turnovers and in transition. 

In the early going, it was back and forth with each team taking turns nursing one-point leads and the anticipation grew that this would be a dramatic contest. But separation on the scoreboard began with just less than five minutes remaining in the first half when Greenway had a steal and made a fastbreak basket to push Providence Academy’s lead to 29-24. That gave her 15 points. 

Spotting a chance to kick up her game even more, Greenway was aggressive and tenacious for the remainder of the half on both ends of the floor. Senior forward Hope Counts was a force on the inside with 11 first-half points.  

Meanwhile, Oerhlein, No. 4 on Minnesota’s all-time scoring list, was assessed her second foul eight minutes into the game with Providence Academy holding an 11-10 edge. How she would play with two fouls so early in the game was the question swirling in fans’ minds. 

While she did have nine points, four assists and eight rebounds in the first half, the aggressive edge appeared to turn more cautious. Junior Lucy Lewandowski was the recipient of some of those assists and she ended up with 10 points in the first half.  

Greenway, a University of Kentucky commit, and the Lions didn’t wane when the second half began. They put together a dazzling 23-11 run in just more than eight minutes that built a 66-43 lead with 9:42 left. 

Counts finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

Oehrlein, a University of Minnesota commit, finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Lewandowski had 16.