“Everything was really, really happy,” senior Bryn Webb said of senior night. “We just looked at all of our younger teammates that we are leaving almost, and that started to get a little sad, but we were really excited and happy.”

The Tigers came out firing on all cylinders on both ends of the court between its efficient shooting in all areas along with their tenacious full-court press and defense. The Saints were held to just 14 first-half points with Marshall up by 40 heading into the break.

Senior’s last hurrah

Marshall honored its talented group of seniors, who have played pivotal roles in the programs’ success in recent years including state tournament appearances in 2023 and last season, where the Tigers finished as state runners-up.

Marshall senior guard Taleigha Bigler drives towards the basket in the first half against St. Peter Friday on Senior Night.

“It’s really cool with high school sports that you get to play with your best friends all the way through,” Taleigha Bigler said.

The graduating group includes Bigler, Webb, Reese Drake and Avery Fahl, along with student manager Makia Radtke.

“It means everything to us. We all love this group of girls,” Fahl said.

“We’ve all been growing up and playing with each other since we were little,” Drake added to the emotions of the night.

With five regular season games remaining after Friday night, the senior group will again look to lead the team in another deep postseason run in hopes to become back-to-back section champions and work to get back to the state tournament.

Marshall senior guard Bryn Webb runs to get set on offense in the first half against St. Peter Friday on Senior Night.

Bigler said the group of seniors will look to guide their team through the playoffs with the power of one another, noting that the team’s biggest strength is playing together as one.

Bigler, Drake and Fahl will all be transitioning into Mustangs come the fall, staying in town and continuing their athletic careers at Southwest Minnesota State University. Bigler will join the womens basketball team under head coach Tom Webb, while Drake and Fahl will stick with volleyball and play for coach Tyler Boddy.

Handling the Saints

The Tigers have been righting the ship this week after suffering just their third loss of the season to No. 2 Stewartville 80-70 on the road last weekend. Marshall defeated New Ulm 85-45 on Thursday to get back in the win column.

“I think [we learned] that just when everything starts to get crazy, and their [Stewartville] gym was really loud, and also when we are playing away from home, to just slow down and be together,” Bigler said regarding what the team took away from the competition against Stewartville.

Marshall senior forward Avery Fahl gets set to shoot a corner 3-pointer in the first half against St. Peter Friday on Senior Night.

As a common theme amongst many of Marshall’s opponents, St. Peter struggled to find an answer to the Tiger’s press.

Marshall forced several turnovers and had a handful of steals and fastbreak layups, while shots continued to fall as well. St. Peter finished with 19 turnovers to the Tigers’ 12.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” Bigler said. “[We work on] just creating offense from our defense.”

Avery Schneekloth got the scoring started on Marshall’s first offensive possession down low with a feed from Fahl in the corner.

Drake had the hot hand in the first half, leading all scorers with 26 at the break, and made back-to-back baskets coming from cleaning up an offensive rebound followed with a steal and fastbreak.

Schneekloth did just the same as Drake directly after to get Marshall started on a 10-0 run, which continued to grow larger followed with another Drake 3-pointer and layup.

St. Peter had called two timeouts in the first three and a half minutes of the game in an attempt to get the Tigers under control.

Yet, Marshall ultimately continued on a 24-0 start to the night, continuing to capitalize on turnovers and didn’t allow the Saints many possessions of setting up an offense.

“I feel like we all came out ready to play tonight,” Drake said. “It’s good that we can rely on anyone that got the ball, and that they would make an impact.”

St. Peter got on the board at the 10:30 mark of the half with back-to-back 3s, but Marshall quickly earned back the 6 points with two straight 3s from Drake and Madilyn Panka in response.

Baskets kept coming for the Tigers, ending the half with 3-pointers from Bigler and Webb to excite the crowd.

Marshall continued to rain 3s in the second half and several players got in on the action.

Bigler opened the half with an immediate 3-pointer, with more coming from Fahl, Schneekloth, Panka and Jennifer Lee as time went on.

Drake led the Tigers with four steals, five assists and 29 points on 73% shooting and went 5 of 8 from deep, while Schneekloth followed with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Panka went a perfect 3 for 3 from the perimeter for 9 points, and Bigler finished with six rebounds and three steals along with 6 points.

Marshall also had 22 assists on its 32 made field goals.

Up next

Marshall moves to 18-3, and will next host Belle Plaine (10-9) on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. tip off. The Tigers final home game of the regular season is slated for next Saturday against Tri-City United (8-12) at 1:30 p.m.