Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Jordyn Hilgemann puts up a shot during their game against Waseca on Friday. The Tigers fell to the Bluejays 54-37.

MARSHALL – After winning their respective divisions last week, the Marshall and Waseca girls basketball teams squared off for the second time this season, this time competing for the Big South Conference Championship. The Tigers and Bluejays were locked in a tight battle to start, but a pair of scoreless streaks for Marshall proved to be the difference as Waseca defeated the Tigers 54-37 on Friday night.

The Bluejays jumped out of the starting gates with a quick 5-0 run, but Marshall answered right back with a 7-0 run of its own to take a 7-5 lead. Both teams would then trade points back and forth throughout the next few minutes, with the Tigers holding a 12-9 lead with 9:51 left in the first half.

Both sides made careless mistakes on the offensive end as the game quickly shifted to a defensive battle, which kept the score low for the majority of the half. A 7-0 run by Waseca gave the Bluejays a 16-12 advantage with 6:45 left as Marshall couldn’t find an open lane to the basket. A 3-pointer from the Bluejays made it 19-12 with a few minutes to go before the break, and Marshall’s offensive struggles would continue for the remainder of the half. A Paige Andries free throw with 39 seconds left ended an eight-plus minute scoreless streak for the Tigers, but despite all of Marshall’s missed opportunities on offense, it still remained within striking distance. A Jordyn Hilgemann basket to end the half brought the Tigers to just a six-point deficit as Waseca took a 21-15 lead into the locker rooms.

In the second half, it was the Tigers who came out with an aggressive start, as Marshall got a 3-pointer from Kaia Sueker and a layup from Hannah Meier to cut it to just one at 21-20 with 16:30 left.

The two teams then traded points throughout the next several possessions with the Bluejays holding a slim four-point lead. Waseca would then go on another run that included a pair of 3-pointers to help the Bluejays see their first double-digit lead of the night at 43-32 with nine minutes to go.

Waseca continued to add to its lead over the next few minutes, with the Bluejays going up by as many as 16 at 48-32. That would be the closest the Tigers would get as Waseca kept Marshall at bay the remainder of the game en route to the 54-37 victory.

Marshall coach Dan Westby said he was pleased with the defensive effort especially in the first half from his team, but the red-hot second half for the Bluejays became too much at times for the Tiger defense.

“We felt especially with our defensive effort in the first half, we felt pretty good. We held their two leading scorers to three and four points respectively in the first half and you really can’t ask for much more,” Westby said. “Waseca really shot it well in the second half. They had time to size things up and then there were too many times where we gave them easy baskets on top of the fact that they shot it well. But it was a good effort by our kids we just ran into a very good team.”

Hilgemann led the way for the Tigers with 17 points while Sueker and Hannah Meier each added six. Meier led in rebounds with 11 while Hilgemann led in assists with three.

Westby said offensively he thought they came out of the halftime break with some good execution but couldn’t sustain it when they needed to.

“I thought to start the second half our kids executed well offensively and get some open looks and knock some shots down,” Westby said. “Then I thought it got to be where they beat us down the floor and then you couple that with them shooting the ball well made it difficult for us.”

Marshall (17-7) will face Sioux Falls Lincoln today at 5 p.m. Westby said they’re entering a challenging stretch as they wind up the regular season.

“We’ve got a tough stretch here to end the season. We’ve got some tough games and we go to Sioux Falls Lincoln next and that’ll be another tough ballgame,” Westby said. “They a big, physical team and we’ve just got to keep battling and hopefully find a win.”

Waseca 21 33 — 54

Marshall 15 22 — 37

MARSHALL: Sueker 2-5 0-0 6, Estrada 1-4 0-0 3, Hilgemann 6-20 3-3 17, H. Meier 3-8 0-0 6, E. Meier 1-3 0-0 2, Andries 1-1 1-2 3. TOTALS: 14-47 4-5 37.

3-POINTERS: 5-20 (Sueker 2-5, Hilgemann 2-8, Estrada 1-2). REBOUNDS: 24 (H. Meier 11). ASSISTS: 7 (Hilgemann 3). STEALS: 3 (Estrada 2). BLOCKS: 0. FOULS: 14. TURNOVERS: 11.