The Chaska girls' basketball team won its first state championship in 2021, but they haven't been back since. 

For most of the way this season, it didn't seem like this was the year they would return.

"It's really special, and it's really cool because we didn't really think this could be something that we could achieve a few months ago," senior guard Alexis Schaefer said.

Chaska went on a stretch in the middle of the season where they lost 7 of 10 games, albeit against top-tier opponents.

"I think it's good to go through a little bit of a slump at that end versus towards the end of the season," Chaska head coach Samantha Canter, now in her second year at the helm, said. "We played really tough teams at the beginning before conference — kind of a gauntlet of a schedule — but I did that on purpose to have the girls prepare. This is what we need to do, and this is who we need to play in order to advance on in the postseason."

Through the tests, the Hawks got back on track, but a mountain still loomed in the section playoffs. They beat Eden Prairie in the semifinals — the fifth-ranked team in Minnesota.

"It was something that felt very out of reach a while ago," Schaefer said. "But then, especially after beating (Chanhassen), who is a big rival of ours, and then beating EP, we were like, 'We have one more game. We can do this. We got this.'"

They did — taking down defending champion and No. 7 Minnetonka in the section final.

"It was huge," junior guard Addi Schneider said. "No one really expected us to get this far, so just beating teams that I think overlooked us was a big thing for us. From the beginning of the season, I probably did not think we'd make it to state, but seeing how far we've come has been huge."

Now, they're back at state. They need another upset of powerhouse Hopkins in Wednesday's quarterfinals to keep the unexpected run going.

"It's gonna be very, very intense, very aggressive, very high pressure. They like to get all up in your grill," said Schaefer, who will play for Augustana next year.