Photo by Jake Przytarski Marshall’s Corrin Naughton (5) prepares to shoot during their game against Redwood Valley on Tuesday. The Tigers defeated the Cardinals 62-37.

MARSHALL — Despite climbing all the way up to No. 4 in the latest Class AAA rankings and standing alone as the only undefeated team left in the crowded field of 63, the Marshall girls basketball team has not let the unparalleled success of this season lull them into complacency.

With even bigger milestones left to achieve, the Tigers remained locked in for Tuesday’s Big South Conference matchup at home against Redwood Valley where they notched their 17th straight win in a 62-37 final.

Marshall coach Dan Westby came away pleased with his team’s performance, and went on to tip his cap to Redwood Valley for preventing the Tigers from busting the game wide open through their patience shown on offense.

“We did some good things. We felt like we had some stretches there where we just didn’t put the ball in the basket and I thought Redwood Valley did a nice job offensively. They were really patient and worked and waited until they got open looks,” said Westby. “I thought they came in with a good game plan here. It was one of those games that it felt like we were never able to bust it open and again I think a lot of that credit goes to Redwood Valley.”

Reflecting on their ongoing run, Westby credited his team for remaining laser-focused for each game on their schedule rather than looking too far ahead.

“These kids have done a nice job, and hopefully it’ll continue, of takings things one game at a time,” said Westby “If you look at our schedule, I think that’s really important that we continue to do that.”

A key factor in Marshall’s success throughout the season has been the work of leading-scorer Jordyn Hilgemann, who continued her dynamic junior campaign on Tuesday by providing a much-needed scoring boost for the Tigers in the opening minutes of the first half. With a pair of made three-pointers and another two layups, Hilgemann scored all 10 of the team’s early points to push Marshall to a 10-2 lead that it never relinquished.

The offensive success enjoyed by Hilgemann boiled down to strong ball movement and continually finding ways to get open, according to Westby.

“I thought our kids did a nice job of finding her and Jordyn did a good job of getting open,” said Westby. “I think we’ve got other kids that can put the ball in the basket, but when she’s open it’s pretty difficult to not give her the green light.”

The Cardinals–using their distinct height advantage– pushed back after the lopsided start with a 9-2 scoring run that brought to within four points of tying the score at 15-11. Knowing the challenge the team would face in guarding their two bigs, Westby made it a point of emphasis to limit their impact by devoting two defenders to try to stop them.

“They’ve got two big kids and you certainly need to concern yourself with them when you’re going to play them,” said Westby. “That was one of the things we focused on was making sure we always have somebody to help with somebody behind. We tried to put somebody in front of the big kid and then somebody behind and I thought we did a good job of that.”

Following the brief momentum shift, Marshall closed out the half on a high note by outscoring Redwood Valley 14-5 to take a 29-16 advantage into halftime.

Mirroring the start of the first half, Hilgemann opened the second half scoring for the Tigers with five unanswered points before a basket by Emily Meier gave Marshall its largest lead of the game to that point at 36-16. The Cardinals managed to temporarily stall the Tigers’ offensive surge with a made three-pointer, but Natalee Sample’s back-to-back baskets opened the floodgates once more and pushed Marshall’s lead to 23 at 44-21.

Before the final buzzer, Marshall’s lead grew to as high as 30 before a back and forth stretch in the final minutes of play brought the Cardinals back to within 25 in a 62-37 final.

The Tigers (17-0, 8-0 Big South) will be back on the road on Thursday to take on Worthington for a 7:30 p.m. matchup before returning home to take on Watertown (SD) on Saturday at 7:15 p.m.

Marshall 29 33 — 62

Redwood Valley 16 21 — 37

Overall FG percentage: Marshall 43% (23-53); Redwood Valley 42% (15-36)

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

SCORING: Marshall (Hilgemann 25, Meier 16, Andries 7, Sample 6).

REBOUNDING: Marshall (Meier 6, Hilgemann 4, Wegner, Estrada 3).

ASSISTS: Marshall (Estrada 5, Wendorff 2, Andries, Naughton, Simpson 1).

BLOCKS: Marshall (Sample 1).

STEALS: Marshall (Hilgemann, Meier 3, Estrada 2, Andries, Wendorff 1).