Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall guard Reese Drake (center) shoots a layup during the second half of the Class AAA state quarterfinals against Rock Ridge at Maturi Pavilion in Minneapolis on Wednesday. Drake scored a game-high 26 points as the Tigers defeated the Wolverines 67-51.

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MINNEAPOLIS — Despite a rough-shooting first half, the Marshall girls basketball team surged past Rock Ridge as the game progressed to claim a Class AAA state quarterfinal victory at Maturi Pavilion. Reese Drake scored a game-high 26 points to lead a group of six Tigers in double figures in the 67-51 win.

Avery Fahl knocked down three first-half 3-pointers to give the Tigers some early momentum in the first half.

Among Fahl’s long-range shots was the game’s first bucket, coming off a drive-and-kick assist from Taleigha Bigler. Avery Schneekloth followed up with a putback layup and Drake kept the ball rolling with a pair of free throws to give Marshall a 7-2 lead.

From there, however, the Marshall offense went cold and was held scoreless for nearly five minutes. Alexis Lamppa scored all 6 of Rock Ridge’s points, but the Wolverines were still never able to rise ahead. The Tigers held Lamppa scoreless for the remainder of the half as she went into the locker room shooting 3 of 12 from the field.

Avery Schneekloth ended the Marshall drought with a transition basket with 12:40 to play in the half. She functioned as the heart of Marshall’s offensive and defensive success in the first half, going 4 of 5 from the field for 8 points with four blocks on the defensive end. Schneekloth was the only Tiger to make more than half of her first-half shots as the rest of the team shot a combined 29% from the field.

Bigler gave Marshall a multi-possession lead again with a 3-pointer. While Anna Westby was able to knock down one free throw on the other end, Fahl answered with her second 3 of the half to make Marshall’s lead 15-9.

Holding a narrow 19-16 lead, Marshall closed out the half on a 16-5 run to seize all momentum heading into the locker room.

Drake scored 7 of her game-high 13 first-half points during the stretch while three of Schneekloth’s four blocks came in the same span, giving Marshall a 35-21 lead at the break.

As the second half progressed, Marshall slowly extended its lead to 22 points, with a free throw from Schneekloth bringing the margin to its apex of 54-32 with 11 minutes to play.

Still, Rock Ridge responded with 9 unanswered points to keep things competitive. The Wolverines continued to tighten things up until a Westby 3-pointer brought the deficit to single digits, 57-48, on a 16-3 Rock Ridge run.

On the other end, however, Bigler answered with a clutch 3 to bring Marshall’s lead back into double figures and another long shot from Fahl allowed Marshall to salt away the clock from there.

Marshall (28-1) will now take on No. 7 Cretin-Derham Hall (21-9) in the Class AAA semifinals at Williams Arena today at 2 p.m. Cretin-Derham Hall staged an upset in the first round, handing second-seeded Monticello its first loss of the season and ending the Magic’s season at 29-1.