Photo by Samantha Davis: The Marshall girls basketball team celebrates a point during the Section 2AAA championship game against Jordan, Wednesday in St. Peter. The Tigers take on Totino-Grace in the state quarterfinals at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis today.

MINNEAPOLIS — For the second-year in a row, the Marshall girls basketball team is headed to Minneapolis for the Class AAA state tournament as the No. 3 seed. After falling in last year’s state championship game, the Tigers will look to get off to another strong start when they take on sixth-seeded Totino-Grace in the quarterfinals today at 4 p.m. at the University of Minnesota’s Maturi Pavilion.

Marshall enters the state tournament with a 25-4 record, riding a six-game win streak since it lost to South Dakota’s top-ranked Brandon Valley on Feb. 13. Four of those wins were decided by at least 28 points, the lone exceptions being a 77-50 win over Class 2A No. 7 Fairmont and an 84-69 over Jordan in the Section 2AAA championship game.

The section title win marked Marshall’s eighth consecutive season in the section final, and sends the team’s seniors to the state tournament for the third time in the last four years.

Marshall’s All-State backcourt duo of Reese Drake and Taleigha Bigler led the Tigers in the win. Drake scored 34 points on 60% shooting from the field, including four 3-pointers, as well as eight assists and seven steals. Bigler added another 21 points on 70% shooting with five assists and four steals.

Totino-Grace enters the state tournament at 17-12. The Eagles overcame a slow 5-7 start to the season but heated up down the stretch, winning eight of their last 10 games. Among those key wins was a 70-60 upset of Becker in the Section 5AAA championship game.

Maria Radabaugh has been at the forefront of the Eagles’ success, averaging a team-high 21.9 points per game along with 4.7 assists, 4.7 steals and 4.4 rebounds. Her performance over the course of the season earned her an All-State honorable mention. The senior guard has committed to play at Concordia-St. Paul next season.

“She can score at all three levels … She’s a very good player, but they’ve got a lot more than just her, so it’ll be a tough matchup,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said, adding that Totino-Grace’s volume of 3-pointers makes them a tough team to beat if you catch them on the wrong night.

In addition to Radabaugh, Ava Litecky has also averaged 14.5 points per game on the season, including 20 and 21-point outings in the section semifinals and championship, while Amelia Saylor and Sophia Person average 9.9 and 9.1 points, respectively.

Radabaugh and Person lead the Eagles with 69 3-pointers made on the season, while Saylor has knocked down another 54. Saylor has also grabbed six rebounds per contest on the year.

This year marks Marshall’s 15th state tournament appearance, 14 of which have come since 2000. The Tigers have gone to the state championship game in seven of their last 13 runs, including a pair of state championships in 2001 and 2002, but fell in the state championship game each of the last five times they advanced to it.

The current core has a particularly high amount of experience. Drake and Bigler both played in the state tournament as freshmen, and the two combine with seniors Avery Fahl and Bryn Webb for more than 20 state tournament appearances across all three seasons, culminating in three state volleyball championships for the group as well as a state cross country championship for Bigler.

“They’ve certainly enjoyed a lot of success, and there’s a reason for that,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “They’ve been extremely committed to everything that they’ve done, and we’re excited for them and proud of what they’ve done to this points. But I know that they want much, much more.”

Marshall has been led by Drake’s 19.3 points and six assists per game this year, but the team’s success largely has stemmed from its depth. Junior Avery Schneekloth and Bigler have averaged 14.9 and 12.4 points per game, respectively, while senior Avery Fahl has given the Tigers some extra shooting with 9.7 points per game and a team-high 68 3-pointers made on a 45% clip.

Marshall is set on a crash course for a matchup against one of its state tournament opponents from last year, taking on either reigning state champion Benilde-St. Margaret’s or the Tigers’ quarterfinal opponent from last year, Rock Ridge, in their next game on Thursday. Westby said that the seeing panned out as he expected it to.

“I think this class AAA bracket is going to be an extremely competitive tournament. We play a very good Totino-Grace team in the first round, they’re going to present some problems, and if we’re fortunate enough to advance, it’s going to be tough regardless of who the matchup is,” Westby said. “Benilde is certainly one of the tournament favorites. They’ve won three in a row, so until somebody knocks them off, they’re still the champs. That would be certainly a tough matchup if that were to happen.”

State quarterfinal tickets are available online at mshsl.org/tickets. Adult tickets cost $17.50, student tickets cost $11.50, and a daily pass for all of the games is available on-site for $22 for adults and $14 for students.