“Let’s play basketball!”

Last November, those were the chants Marshall senior Reese Drake heard from the opposing crowd inside Grand Casino Arena, when that side of the arena lost all hope in their team winning its match against Drake’s volleyball squad during the Tigers’ state title run.

Drake laughed it off. Her Tigers would probably beat any school in volleyball and basketball. She would know because she is Marshall’s star player in both sports, which are coached by legend Dan Westby.

“I’m grateful to be part of two programs that have had success in both,” said Drake, who will play volleyball next season at Southwest Minnesota State. “Not a lot of people get to do that.”

After leading Marshall to its record 10th state volleyball title in the fall, Drake enters this week’s girls basketball state tournament trying to help the Tigers pull off a rare double championship with girls basketball. Only four schools in Minnesota history have accomplished that feat — and none since Minneota did it in 2019.

In the 2024-25 school year, the Tigers finished as state runner-up in girls volleyball and girls basketball. The latter came in a loss to three-time state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the Class 3A state final at Williams Arena.

Marshall got revenge in another sport by beating BSM in the Class 3A volleyball final this past November. The two schools could meet again this week if both advance to Thursday’s 3A state semifinals at Williams Arena.

“I think, top to bottom, our Class 3A is very strong,” Westby said. “Benilde is certainly one of the favorites. If we get that opportunity to play them again, they’re pretty comfortable with us. And we’re pretty comfortable with them.”

Westby knows what it’s like to win consecutive state titles. In volleyball, his team twice three-peated, from 2011-13 and again between 2021 and 2023. His basketball teams felt the heartache of falling just short with state runner-up finishes in 2006, 2014, 2015 and 2025. Marshall’s girls basketball program last won it all in 2002, two years before Westby took over.

“We have a lot of kids who have championship experience,” Westby said. “That’s a good thing.”

Four-peat?

Benilde-St. Margaret’s girls basketball coach Tim Ellefson can relate to being part of a dynasty.

The Red Knights can become only the second girls hoops program in the state to win four consecutive state titles, joining Providence Academy, which is going for five consecutive girls basketball 2A crowns this season.

BSM’s top scorers last season — Zahara Bishop and Kendall McGee — now play at Seton Hall and Creighton. This season, Pressley Watkins, the No. 2-rated junior in the state, is the team’s leading scorer. Sophomore Zaida Jenkins led the Red Knights with 25 points in the upset of No. 1 seed Orono in the Section 6, 3A tournament championship last week.

“We’re probably a little bit more balanced in scoring this year,” Ellefson said. “A little bit more collective rebounding. And just the ability to spread the floor with a bunch of girls who can shoot it and drive it.”

Their best long-range shooter is junior Sydney Friedly, who broke BSM’s record for career three-pointers this season.

Friedly and her twin sister, Sailor, play both basketball and volleyball. Sydney, a starter on the Red Knights state title basketball team last year, has Division I offers in both sports.

“In volleyball, she’s the quarterback because she’s the setter and runs the team,” Ellefson said. “She doesn’t have to do that in basketball, but she’s reliable and trustworthy. She’s just a rock.”

MVP in two sports

Westby described Drake as the most competitive player he’s coached.

“Love watching her play,” Westby said. “Don’t even want to think about not having her in our gym next year.”

A 5-8 outside hitter, Drake had 361 kills this past volleyball season for Marshall, which Strib Varsity ranked as the No. 1 team in the state, regardless of classification, for most of the season.

Drake set a state basketball tourney single-game record last season when she made all 11 free-throw attempts in the quarterfinals. This year, she’s averaging a team-high 20 points, which included 34 points in the section final vs. Jordan and 40 points in an earlier win vs. Hill-Murray, a No. 5 seed in this state tournament.

“If I had the opportunity to play both sports [in college], I maybe would,” Drake said. “Coach Westby does a great job of coaching the fundamentals for both sports. We all believe in the Marshall program and respect everything he’s done.”

Westby’s backcourt is formidable with Drake and fellow all-state senior Taleigha Bigler, a Southwest Minnesota State basketball recruit. Avery Fahl is a starting forward on the basketball team and will join Drake at SMSU for volleyball.

Marshall doesn’t want to look ahead, but a potential rematch with BSM is one win away. The Tigers have an opportunity to be part of history as state champions in both volleyball and basketball.

“Looking back on it, we got really close,” Drake said. “We fell a little short last year, but we’re doing everything we can to hopefully not make that mistake again. I think it really pushes us each day in practice to know that we’re all in it for each other for a common goal. All year round, you work toward a state championship, so now you have to push yourself to hopefully put yourself back in that position.”