Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall forward Avery Schneekloth (right) fights through contact for a layup during the first half of a prep girls basketball game between the No. 1 Marshall Tigers and the No. 10 St. Peter Saints at Marshall High School on Thursday night.

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MARSHALL — In a battle of two top-10 teams, the Marshall girls basketball team showed that there’s a big gap between No. 1 and No. 10. The Tigers led St. Peter by as many as 23 points in the first half and coasted to a 77-38 win in a rematch of the last two Section 2AAA championship games.

Paige Gillingham hit a fadeaway to get the Tigers on the board first. Annika Southworth answered on the opposite end but Gillingham hit a putback to give the Tigers the lead once again.

Avery Fahl traded a 3 for a 2 with Sarah Hagenmiller and from there, it was all Marshall.

Reese Drake knocked down a tough layup and assisted a fall basket to make the score 13-4 and, after a Southworth basket, Avery Schneekloth drew in the defense to set up a dime to Taleigha Bigler for a corner 3. A Marshall steal then set up a Reese Drake layup to bring the lead to double figures, 18-7, with 10 minutes remaining in the half.

Southworth hit a layup to make the score 18-9 but Marshall pulled away with a 13-0 run to solidify all of the game’s momentum on their side.

Schneekloth started the Tiger run with a layup and then assisted a Fahl 3-pointer, and then came up with a steal to set up a Gillingham transition layup.

A trio of layups from Bigler, Gillingham and Drake made the score 31-19 before St. Peter ended the Marshall run with a pair of free throws with four minutes remaining in the half.

Drake muscled through contact for a layup with 11 seconds on the clock to send the Tigers into the locker room with a 37-13 lead.

The Tigers’ first-half lead was well-balanced, as Fahl, Gillingham and Drake each scored 10 of the Tigers’ points. Southworth, meanwhile, accounted for 7 of the Saints’ 13 points.

St. Peter scored the first points of the second half when Nora Whipps hit a 3-pointer from the wing, but a technical foul on the Saints’ bench sent Bigler to the line, where she converted one of her two attempts.

Southworth tried to snatch back some momentum for the Saints by hitting a 3 to bring her team within 20 points. Yet, another Bigler free throw brought Marshall right back above the threshold.

Schneekloth caught fire from there for Marshall. After scoring 2 points in the first half, she had a sequence of back-to-back layups, a steal and another layup to score 6 points on three possessions. She then assisted a Drake layup after a Gillingham steal on the next trip down the court, and a Drake 3 gave Marshall its first lead of more than 30 points at 51-19.

St. Peter called a timeout with four minutes remaining, trailing 68-36, when the Tigers started to work in their reserves. A Schneekloth 3-pointer two minutes later brought running clock into play, at which point the rest of the Tigers went to the bench with a 71-36 lead.

Marshall improved to a perfect 13-0 on the season with the win. Still the Tigers have some more tests on the schedule ahead, with a rematch against St. Peter and another game against No. 4 Orono looming on the schedule. For now, Marshall will focus on its next game against Redwood Valley (10-3) at Marshall High School on Friday at 6 p.m.