Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall's Sydney Towne leaps up to grab a rebound during the first half of a Section 2AAA girls basketball tournament game against Mankato West, Saturday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

ST. PETER — Nothing was going to stop the Marshall girls basketball team from reaching its eighth consecutive section final when it took on Mankato West in the Section 3A semifinals at Gustavus Adolphus College Saturday afternoon. The top-seeded Tigers built up a 25-point lead at halftime and limited the fifth-seeded Scarlets to 9 second-half points as Marshall ran away with an 81-28 win.

Marshall had six players with multiple field goals in the game, led by Reese Drake’s 28 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field with three 3-pointers. Avery Schneekloth also shot 9 of 13 for 20 points, while Danielle Nubile and Avery Fahl contributed 11 and 9 points, respectively.

“I thought the kids we were able to insert in there handled it well, and we’re going to need some of those kids down the road here,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said.

In particular, Westby noted the play of Julia Fahl, who played about as many minutes in a meaningful game as she ever has. She grabbed five rebounds and scored 5 points in just 10 minutes of work on the day.

“For her to come out and play the way she did early on, I thought that was really, really important,” Westby said. “She handled it well, but again, it’s nice to have those kids that you’re comfortable putting in.”

Drake also dished out a game-high 11 assists on two turnovers, and she helped set the tone defensively with four steals. The Tigers finished the game with 15 steals, including another three each from Schneekloth and Fahl.

While the Tigers got off to a slow offensive start in their quarterfinal win over Worthington on Tuesday, it didn’t take Marshall long to step on the gas in the semifinals. Marshall put the game away early, leading 44-19 at halftime.

Westby noted that the team had its pregame routine thrown off by the early start and the long bus ride due to winter weather conditions on the roads, but felt that the team’s experience showed in its ability to handle the situation well with a strong start.

Marshall finished with a lopsided 37-22 edge on the glass in the game, led by nine total rebounds from Taleigha Bigler and another seven each from Schneekloth and Nubile. Schneekloth’s three offensive boards and Bigler’s two were also team-highs, and Schneekloth made an impact as a rim protector with a pair of blocks.

Marshall improves to 24-4 on the season and takes on No. 2 Jordan (20-8) in the section final at Gustavus Adolphus College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., with a win sending Marshall to the Class AAA state tournament for the second consecutive season. The Tigers defeated Jordan 76-45 when the teams met in the regular season on Jan. 6, led by 17 first-half and 21 total points from Schneekloth.

Jordan went through a back-and-forth battle with New Ulm in the section semifinals on Saturday, trailing late in the second half before pulling away in the semifinals for an 82-74 win.

“Jordan’s big and physical, New Ulm’s able to put up a lot of points, so it’s a little bit of contrasting styles,” Westby said.