Photo by Samantha Davis. Marshall junior guard Taleigha Bigler throws a pass across the court through defenders during the Class AAA state semifinals on Thursday at Williams Arena in Minneapolis. The Tigers play for the state title today against Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Marshall girls basketball team is on the brink of its first state title since its back-to-back championships in 2001 and 2002. A pair of strong second halves brought the third-seeded Tigers to today’s Class AAA title game at Williams Arena, where they will take on No. 1 Benilde-St. Margaret’s with the hope of claiming the third state championship in program history.

Since the Tigers’ last state championship, they had been to 11 state tournaments and four state championship games before this year. Now, they’ll look to get over the hump and rise back to the mountaintop.

“It’s not easy getting to the state championship. Winning the state championship isn’t easy, and the team we’re playing is loaded with talent,” Marshall head coach Dan Westby said. “We know we’ve got a tough task ahead of us. We’re just going to try and prepare and get ready and do what we can do. It’s going to be tough, no question about it. They’ve got a lot of skilled players and it’s going to present a huge challenge for us.”

In the final poll before the postseason, Benilde-St. Margaret’s was ranked No. 4 in Class AAA while Marshall was ranked No. 2. The Red Knights were the second seed in the 6A tournament behind No. 3 Orono, but blew out the Spartans 74-53 in the section title game to vault past Marshall for the top seed in the state tournament.

Outside of basketball season, the Tigers have plenty of state tournament experience. Reese Drake, Avery Fahl, Kezlyn and Kyah Pinckney and Halle DeVos each got playing time in the Tigers’ state volleyball runner-up finish this year. Fahl, Drake and Kyah Pinckney each also played in the Tigers’ 2023 state volleyball championship win, while Schneekloth and Bigler won a state cross-country championship with Marshall in 2023.

“I think any of those state tournament experiences help,” Westby said. “This group is pretty focused and ready to go. I think they know that this is going to be a tough task but, like all year long, anything this group has had to do, they’ve done. I don’t think we’ll have to do anything special to get them going… We’ve just got to make sure that we take care of the ball.”

Westby noted rebounding and turnovers as areas that the Tigers struggled with in their quarterfinal and semifinal wins over Rock Ridge and Cretin-Derham Hall. Marshall committed 12 turnovers against Cretin-Derham Hall, though won the turnover battle by forcing 22 out of the Raiders, and tied Rock Ridge with 18 giveaways each.

The Tigers were outrebounded 12-7 on the offensive glass with a 10-5 deficit in second-chance points against Rock Ridge on Wednesday and fell 44-39 on the boards overall with an 8-7 deficit in second-chance points in Thursday’s win over the Raiders.

Marshall guards Taleigha Bigler and Reese Drake have each had big games for the Tigers in the first two rounds of the tournament. Drake scored 26 points with six rebounds and six assists on nine turnovers in the Tigers’ 67-51 win over Rock Ridge, and Bigler posted a 30-point, 11-rebound double-double in Marshall’s 57-48 win over Cretin-Derham Hall on Thursday.

While none of the current crop of Red Knights were active when Marshall defeated Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the 2023 state volleyball championship game, the team is as loaded as anyone with experience at the state level. Benilde-St. Margaret’s enters today’s game as two-time reigning state champs, beating No. 4 Stewartville 66-60 as the No. 2 seed in the 2023 state championship and besting No. 2 DeLaSalle by a score of 81-58 as the top seed in last year’s final.

While this year’s squad is largely a new group after graduating their top scorers from each of the last two finals runs, Sydney Friedly, Zahara Bishop, Kate Kaspner, Josie Nnaji and Mira Wismer each got run in both state championship games. Friedly and Bishop each scored 11 points in the 2023 finals, with Kaspner adding another 9, and Bishop also contributed 8 points in last year’s win.

In this year’s state tournament, the Red Knights’ returners have all shown an ability to spark the offense. Friedly scored a game-high 20 points in Thursday’s 60-52 semifinal win over No. 5 Alexandria, and Bishop scored 22 points in Wednesday’s 84-58 win over Stewartville. Sophomore Pressley Watkins also contributed 21 points in Wednesday’s victory.

“I think it starts with keeping people in front of you,” Westby said of limiting Benilde-St. Margaret’s offense. “They’ve got a couple of kids that are very good at getting in the paint and finishing, and we’ve got to keep those kids in front of us and not let that happen. That’s not easy to do, but nevertheless, it’s a priority heading into the game. Because offensively, they’re very, very good.”

In Marshall’s first two rounds, the Tigers had some early scares. Rock Ridge played Marshall close before a late first-half run gave the Tigers a 35-21 lead going into halftime, and Cretin Derham Hall went into the break tied with Marshall 26-26.

“We need to get off to a better start or they’re going to put us in a big hole early,” Westby said. He noted that his team shot the ball well against Rock Ridge but struggled to find a rhythm against Cretin-Derham Hall. The Tigers shot 11 of 24 from 3-point range against the Wolverines and 1 of 15 against the Raiders. “Hopefully having that first experience and wins are right behind us, so we’ll be better tomorrow.”

Tip-off for today’s championship game at Williams Arena is set for 2 p.m. Tickets must be purchased online at mshsl.org/tickets