Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall guard Reese Drake (center) shoots a layup during the second half of the Class AAA state quarterfinals against Rock Ridge at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Drake scored a game-high 26 points as the Tigers defeated the Wolverines 67-51.

MINNEAPOLIS — Despite a rough-shooting first half, the Marshall girls basketball team surged past Rock Ridge as the game progressed to claim a Class AAA state quarterfinal victory at Maturi Pavilion on Wednesday. Reese Drake scored a game-high 26 points to lead a group of four Tigers in double figures in the 67-51 win.

“[We were asked] what the strength of our team was and I just said, ‘The strength of our team is the team,'” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said of the win. “They’ve been so good all year long. It wasn’t anything we talked about, just something they decided to do, so they deserve all the credit, but they’ve been great all year long. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, they get themselves up and ready to go and it’s been a really enjoyable group to work with.”

After taking down the No. 6 Wolverines, the third-seeded Tigers will now take on No. 7 Cretin-Derham Hall in the state semifinals at Williams Arena today at 2 p.m.

Drake was one of two Tigers — alongside Taleigha Bigler — to appear in Marshall’s last state quarterfinal game, a 52-43 loss to top-seeded Becker. Bigler said that she felt that the Tiger backcourt duo were in more of a leadership role this time around.

“When they were freshmen, they just kind of wanted to fly under the radar and not get themselves in trouble and not make a mistake, but that’s not the case now. They’ve been doing great all year,” coach Westby said.

Avery Fahl knocked down three first-half 3-pointers to give the Tigers some early momentum in the first half. She was a key floor-spacer all night long, shooting 5 of 11 from beyond the arc for 15 points while also tying Drake and Paige Gillingham for second on the team with six rebounds, trailing only Avery Schneekloth’s nine.

“I feel like you’re always expecting to be ready and shoot, but when people drive to the hoop, it’s helpful for them,” Fahl said. “And they get going downhill and then I’m open on the perimeter.”

Among Fahl’s long-range shots was the game’s first bucket, coming off a drive-and-kick assist from Taleigha Bigler. Avery Schneekloth followed up with a putback layup and Drake kept the ball rolling with a pair of free throws to give Marshall a 7-2 lead.

From there, however, the Marshall offense went cold and was held scoreless for nearly five minutes. Alexis Lamppa scored all 6 of Rock Ridge’s points, but the Wolverines were still never able to rise ahead. The Tigers held Lamppa scoreless for the remainder of the half as she went into the locker room shooting 3 of 12 from the field.

Schneekloth ended the Marshall drought with a transition basket with 12:40 to play in the half. She functioned as the heart of Marshall’s offensive and defensive success in the first half, going 4 of 5 from the field for 8 points with four blocks on the defensive end. Schneekloth was the only Tiger to make more than half of her first-half shots as the rest of the team shot a combined 29% from the field.

Drake accounted for six of Marshall’s eight assists as a group, though she turned the ball over nine times as well. She was also sharp from the free-throw line, where she made each of her 11 attempts. Rock Ridge shot 10 of 14 as a team from the charity stripe.

“One of the things we always talk about is to be aggressive, and we talked about before the game that if shots don’t fall, just try and get to the hoop and get a couple of shots to go in that way,” Drake said. “Then the shots from outside will fall.”

Struggles from 3-point range plagued Rock Ridge all night. They shot 1 of 17 from beyond the arc in the first half and 5 of 33 for the game. Marshall, meanwhile, shot 11 of 24 from long range with Drake and Bigler each knocking down a trio of trifectas. 

Coach Westby said Marshall wanted to try to limit the impact of Rock Ridge’s Anna Westby and Lexi and Maija Lamppa when it was game-planning for the Wolverines. Westby scored 21 points on 7 of 22 shooting and 3 of 13 shooting from the field, Lexi Lamppa scored 13 points on 6 of 21 shooting while missing each of her eight attempts from long range, and Maija Lampa went 0 of 6 from the field for 1 point.

“In the first half, we had opportunities that, during the season, I’d say we make those,” Rock Ridge head coach Byron Negen said. “Not all the time, that’s why you play the game, but we came down and had open shots… and you’ve got to make shots.

Negen added that with the work his kids put in for these moments, he doesn’t believe the big stage got to them, just that it wasn’t their night from 3-point range. 

In addition to Drake and Fahl, Bigler and Schneekloth scored 13 and 11 points respectively, while Gillingham was the only other Tiger to score with 2 points in the game.

Bigler gave Marshall a multi-possession lead again with a 3-pointer. While Anna Westby was able to knock down one free throw on the other end, Fahl answered with her second 3 of the half to make Marshall’s lead 15-9.

Holding a narrow 19-16 lead, Marshall closed out the half on a 16-5 run to seize all momentum heading into the locker room. 

Drake scored 7 of her game-high 13 first-half points during the stretch while three of Schneekloth’s four blocks came in the same span, giving Marshall a 35-21 lead at the break. 

As the second half progressed, Marshall slowly extended its lead to 22 points, with a free throw from Schneekloth bringing the margin to its apex of 54-32 with 11 minutes to play. 

Still, Rock Ridge responded with 9 unanswered points to keep things competitive. The Wolverines continued to tighten things up until an Anna Westby 3-pointer brought the deficit to single digits, 57-48, on a 16-3 Rock Ridge run.

“I’m proud of the kids. I mean, they could have folded down by about 20, but they kept on fighting,” Negen said. “They did a nice job, they made baskets, they made shots from outside… I’m proud of my kids and the way they played. They didn’t stop playing.”

On the other end, however, Bigler answered with a clutch 3 to bring Marshall’s lead back into double figures and another long shot from Fahl allowed Marshall to salt away the clock from there.

“We thought we were getting beat on the rebounds, so we just said to do what we do. Our defense is one of our strengths as a team, so as long as we box out, we’ll be fine,” Drake said of the team’s mentality during the Rock Ridge run. 

The Wolverines outrebounded the Tigers 37-33 on the night, with Rock Ridge’s 12-7 edge on the offensive glass turning into a 10-5 advantage in second-chance points. Still, Marshall’s 11 steals — led by four from Drake and three from Fahl — turned into a 14-3 advantage in fast-break points. 

Marshall (28-1) will now take on No. 7 Cretin-Derham Hall (21-9) in the Class AAA semifinals at Williams Arena today at 2 p.m. Cretin-Derham Hall staged an upset in the first round, handing second-seeded Monticello its first loss of the season and ending the Magic’s season at 29-1. 

“We don’t know a lot about Cretin-Derham Hall. I haven’t seen them all year. We’ve seen Monticello play, but that doesn’t help us much right now,” coach Westby joked, adding that he thought Cretin-Derham Hall played disciplined in their quarterfinal win over Monticello and that the Tigers will look to find as much film as they can for the quick turnaround before today’s semifinal.