Marian cruises

Sporting a pair of dress shoes instead of sneakers, Marian head coach John Patton admitted it was a nice night to go for a run.

So his Colts decided to go on two one in each half, as they posted a 45-22 Schuylkill League Division 3 victory over Weatherly.

After dropping its first two games of the season in the Panther Valley Tip-Off Tournament, Marian is now 2-2, after winning back-to-back games.

"After the way we lost to Panther Valley, coming back and getting two wins in a row is huge," stated Patton. "We're still a young and inexperienced team, but I think we're starting to grow up a little."

The Colts missed 10 of their first 11 shots to start the game, but with Weatherly clinging to a 7-6 lead late in the first quarter, a Marian steal and a Jordan Weber layup at the buzzer gave the Colts an 8-7 lead.

Weber's bucket sparked an 11-0 Colts run, with two field goals apiece by Alden Whah and Damian Richards, that gave Marian a 17-7 advantage midway through the second quarter.

"We missed a lot of layups in the first quarter and I think that cost us a chance to gain a little separation," added Patton. "But the nice thing about that run was it was a little bit of everything and not just one thing. It was a little bit of fast break points, a little bit of three point plays and a little bit of rebounding and putbacks."

After taking a 21-12 lead into the break, Weatherly's Samson Walton's bucket with 6:55 remaining in the third quarter trimmed the deficit to 21-14. However, it was the last point the Wreckers would see for the next ten and a half minutes.

"We came out as flat as could be in the third quarter, and that's going to happen sometimes with a young team," stated Weatherly head coach Ron Cann. "We're a work in progress. Marian took us out of the game and forced us to do things we shouldn't do."

During that stretch, Marian's Anthony Agosti ignited a 19-0 run, which saw the Colts extend their lead to 40-14.

Agosti and Ryan Karnish accounted for 17 of those 19 points, with Agosti draining back-to-back three-pointers followed by a Karnish trey.

"We said early on that we would need to play good defense in order to stay in games because we knew it would take some time for us to get in a situation where we could be successful shooting the ball," said Patton. "Tonight, we had some guys step up and hit some shots and Alden Whah was a force, especially in the first half."

Whah, who played in just four games last year and scored a total of two points, led the Colts will 11 points and 15 rebounds. In four games this year, Whah has 52 points and three double-doubles.

Anthony Agosti also scored 10 points for the Colts.

For Weatherly (0-3), Samson Walton tallied seven points in the loss.

"They anihalted us on the boards and we couldn't shoot the ball, it's that simple," added Cann. "We're not executing on offense and we're not setting screens. And when you don't set screens against a tough man-to-man defense like Marian, you're not going to get open shots."

WEATHERLY

Coll 0-0-0-0, Sipler 1-2-2-4, L. Reiner 0-0-0-0, N. Miller 1-0-0-2, Stallone 2-1-2-5, J. Reiner 0-0-0-0, Haganey 0-0-0-0, Walton 3-1-2-7, Wallish 1-2-2-4. TOTALS: 8-6-8-22.

MARIAN

Whah 4-3-4-11, Kweder 1-0-0-2, Karnish 3-1-2-8, Pilla 0-0-0-0, Motil 1-0-0-2, Julian 1-0-0-2, Richards 2-0-0-4, Swankoski 1-0-2-2, Bilka 0-0-0-0, Weber 1-0-1-2, Damian 0-0-0-0, Agosti 3-2-2-10, Brown 1-0-0-2, Latham 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-6-11-45.

Weatherly 7 5 2 8 - 22

Marian 8 13 15 9 - 45

Three-Pointers: Weatherly - None; Marian - Agosti 2, Karnish 1.