Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall forwards Avery Schneekloth (left) and Paige Gillingham react with their teammates after the final buzzer sounded in the Tigers' win over New Ulm in the Section 2AAA championship game on Wednesday at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter

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ST. PETER — After a back-and-forth first half, the top-seeded Marshall girls basketball team seized momentum to capture an 82-69 victory in its Section 2AAA championship game against No. 2 New Ulm at Gustavus Adolphus College. The Tigers, appearing in their seventh consecutive section championship game, will now make their second state tournament appearance in three years after falling just shy to St. Peter in 2024.

Leading by 3 points at halftime, the Tigers found their offensive and defensive rhythms early in the second half as their lead ballooned to as many as 20 points in the first seven minutes. New Ulm was never able to cut the deficit back to single digits as the Tigers coasted to victory.

New Ulm led by as many as 10 points in the opening half when the Tigers flipped the switch. After a Betsy Joyce 3-pointer extended New Ulm’s lead to 28-18 with eight minutes remaining, Reese Drake connected on a layup and Taleigha Bigler assisted another for Kezlyn Pinckney.

On the defensive end, Avery Schneekloth came up with a block to set Avery Fahl up with a layup in transition, and Paige Gillingham hit consecutive layups — the latter of which came after she recovered a pass that Pinckney tipped — to tie the game up at 28-28.

After a four-minute scoring drought, Brooklyn Lewis put the Eagles back on top with a layup. Schneekloth and Maggie Joyce converted through contact for their respective teams, but neither could get the ensuing free throw to go down. Still, an offensive rebound on Joyce’s miss set up Lewis with another go-ahead basket.

Lewis carried the offensive load for New Ulm early on. She scored 13 of New Ulm’s first 15 points as the Eagles built up a 15-10 advantage through the game’s first four minutes.

In the waning minutes of the half, Schneekloth hit a layup to make it a one-possession game. After Schneekloth got a piece of a New Ulm 3-point attempt, Fahl drained a go-ahead 3 to make the score 36-34 with 90 seconds remaining in the half. The bucket gave Marshall its first lead since the 11-minute mark.

New Ulm answered Fahl’s 3 on the other end, but Bigler tied it on the offensive end and Paige Gillingham hit a go-ahead and-1 with 26 seconds remaining. New Ulm had one last chance to tie it before the half, but Gillingham stuffed the Eagles in the paint as Marshall went into the locker room with a 40-37 advantage.