The Marshall girls basketball team poses with their Class AAA runner-up trophy on Friday at Target Center.

MINNEAPOLIS — After using a second-half rally on Tuesday to advance to the Class AAA championship game, the Marshall girls basketball team had just one final roadblock standing in its way: the Becker Bulldogs. When the Tigers found themselves trailing by double digits at halftime, though, they knew they needed to piece together another strong run.

Marshall was able to get to within single digits on multiple occasions in the second half, but the Bulldogs were right there to answer each time as Becker earned a 70-58 victory Friday at Target Center to claim the Class AAA championship. Marshall finishes its season with a record of 22-1.

Marshall coach Dan Westby said despite the tough finish, he was extremely proud of the way his team competed and battled through all of the challenges they faced this season.

“We’re extremely proud of our kids. To do what they did this season wasn’t easy, they had to overcome a number of things,” Westby said. “When we look back at things, one of the biggest challenges was getting through our section and to be able to do that and win two state games, it’s difficult to find a fault with this team. We’re proud of them.”

Becker jumped out to a quick lead, going up 5-0 before Jordyn Hilgemann got Marshall on the board with a layup with 17 minutes left in the first half. The two teams traded baskets before the Bulldogs used a pair of free throws and two 3-pointers to highlight a 10-2 run and take a 16-6 lead with 13:50 left, but Marshall wouldn’t go down without a fight.

After free throws from Emily Meier and Bri Simpson stopped Becker’s run, Meier got a layup to make it a four-point game before Abby Wendorff and Hilgemann got back-to-back layups to tie things up at 16-16 with 9:30 left in the first half. The Bulldogs answered right back, though, going on a 7-0 run before a 3-pointer and a pair of layups by Becker gave them a 35-22 lead. The Bulldogs then made a couple of free throws to close the half and take a 37-24 advantage going into the locker rooms.

Both sides traded points to start the second half, with Meier getting a layup to draw Marshall to within 12 at 42-30 before another layup by Meier made it a single-digit deficit at 43-34 with 13:20 left. Marshall then got to within seven on a layup from Wendorff but Becker responded with three straight layups to take a 49-36 lead with 10:50 left.

Marshall continued to battle, however, and got to single digits again before Meier converted a 3-point play, but the Bulldogs answered with their own 3-point play to take a 56-45 advantage with 6:51 to go. MHS trimmed its deficit to single digits on a pair of occasions over the next few minutes, but Becker would have an answer each time.

Hilgemann connected on a 3-pointer and Wendorff would make two free throws to draw the deficit to just eight at 62-54 with 2:37 left, but that was the closest Marshall got, as Becker sealed the game at the free-throw line to capture its second overall championship with a 70-58 victory.

Wendorff led Marshall with 18 points while Hilgemann and Meier each added 15 and Simpson had 10. Hilgemann and Corrin Naughton led in rebounds with seven each while Naughton also led in assists with six. As a team, Marshall shot 47.2% (25 of 53) from the field, but had just one 3-pointer (1 of 10) while making 7 of 9 from the free-throw line.

“We had a difficult time hitting outside shots and Becker’s defense had a lot to do with that,” Westby said. “But our kids adjusted and did a good job, but 58 points isn’t enough to beat a team like this and on the other side, we take a lot of pride in our defense and giving up 70 points is too much.”

Defensively, Marshall allowed Becker to shoot just 42.6% (23 of 54), but the Bulldogs connected on seven 3-pointers (7 of 19) and made 17 of 20 from the free-throw line.

Saluting the seniors

Friday’s game was the final one for Marshall’s six seniors in Hilgemann, Meier, Wendorff, Naughton, Kendra Webb and Courtni Nielsen. Westby said they were extremely committed throughout the years and it’ll be tough to replace them.

“If we were to start practice tomorrow, I wouldn’t know where to start in terms of being able to replace this group of seniors,” Westby said. “They were extremely committed whether it was in summer practice or during the season and they did so much for our program and it’ll be really difficult to replace them.”

Offseason

Going into next season, Westby said they were able to gain some valuable experience for their returning players and they’ll need to be ready to go from the start.

“Whenever you can advance this far, you’re able to get extra practices you normally don’t get and it’s always beneficial, especially for the younger players,” Westby said. “The group returning next year will have to build off of this and hit the ground running when we start again.”