The Minot Majettes celebrate after winning the Class AA state championship game against Fargo Davies at the Bismarck Event Center on Saturday, March 14, 2026. Tanner Acker/The Bismarck Tribune

They waited four years for the chance to reclaim their state title, and on Saturday evening, Mar. 14, it paid off.

The Minot High Majettes have a had as close to a perfect season as they could have hoped for. With state history makers like Oklahoma-bound senior Leelee Bell on the court and senior Maggie Fricke coming off the bench after her injury leading the pack, the Majettes dominated the West Region through their regular season.

Minot went through their regular undefeated, toppling team after team until hitting the Mandan Braves in an away game in the middle of February.

The Majettes dropped their first game of the season in their contest against the Braves, but it hardly slowed them down.

Minot continued to dominate with finals scores that left their opponents double digits behind and worked their way to become the top team in the state.

Heading into the postseason, not much changed for the Majettes. The girls swept team after team to claim the WDA Championship and earned their place in the 2026 NDHSAA Division AA Girls Basketball State Tournament in Bismarck.

In the state tournament, the Majettes took out the East Region’s Grand Fork Red River in the quarterfinals and took revenge on the Mandan Braves in the semifinals, sending them to their first State Championship appearance since they won it all in 2022.

The Majettes were scheduled to take on the Fargo Davies Eagles, the first-seed and winner of the East’s Regional Tournament on the last day of competition. And unlike the majority of their previous games, the Majettes had a tough time getting going.

The Eagles took the first points of the game on a made three, and though the majesties were able to match and take charge, they were not able to earn as comfortable as a lead as they were used to in the early minutes.

As the first half of competition wore on, the Eagle were never more than a few possessions behind the Majettes. And as the seconds until half time ticked down, Minot junior Kinley Bartsch secured the Majettes’ final points on a three point shot, giving them a 10 point lead heading into halftime at 30-20.

We were able to get Leelee the touches that we want to get,” Majettes head coach Jason Schwarz said at halftime. “[The Eagles] switched to a zone and we still got to be able to do that, just in a different way.”

Leslee Bell had 13 points all to herself in the first half of play, and the rest of the Majettes were helping keep pace. At halftime, Minot showed why they had been so successful all season. The Majettes had a field goal percentage of .48 as compared to the Eagles’ .29. The Majettes had four of ten three point shots, but their 15 rebounds the Eagles’ six turnover helped keep them in charge of the court.

Heading into the second half of play, the Majettes settled into their groove.

Minot’s double digit lead stayed consistent through the second half, keeping a healthy pace above the Eagles, and as Leelee Bell recovered a defensive rebound with 17 seconds on the clock and a 72-61 lead, she and the rest of the Majettes knew that after four years, they had once again conquered North Dakota basketball.

“I’m very grateful, I’m very blessed to have done it with this team in my senior year,” Bell said. “I’m very glad to have done it with Maggie. We’ve known each other for so long and with her injury, being back she helped so much. After four years of losing, I’m glad we came back and [won] it.”

Leslee Bell ended the game with 34 points individually, and was named the NDHSAA Tournament MVP and the NDHSAA AA Girls Basketball Senior Player of the Year.

Head Coach Jason Schwarz was named the NDHSAA AA Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.

“This is the top of the milestone,” said Fricke. “I didn’t think that I was going to be able to play on this court again… With this team and with this being my last ever time in this jersey, to end on this high of a note is awesome.”