"Defense is a want to."

These are Marian coach Paul Brutto's words to explain what it takes to provide effort against an opponent's offense.In the third quarter of Marian's 47-30 Schuylkill League Division 3 title-clinching victory over Shenandoah Valley, Brutto's defense displayed what "want to" is all about. The Fillies outscored the Lady Devils 22-5, causing nine turnovers, while limiting the Devils to just six shot attempts in the entire quarter."We changed up our press a bit," said Brutto. "Our goal was to shut down Abigail Snitzer from the perimeter and we did that, but Kristina Nieddu, their point guard, was getting too much penetration, so we worked on denying her the ball."Marian's defense, which is perenially one of the best in the TIMES NEWS area, proved that statement to be true once again. In the first three quarters, the Devils were only able to get off 17 shot attempts to the Fillies' 42. When Shenandoah did get attempts at the bucket, the Fillies did a good job on the defensive boards.Marian (16-1, 10-1) began the game with cold shooting from the floor and from the charity stripe, but offensive rebounds still got them a seven point half time lead. After three rebounds off missed shots, Savanna Krusinsky scored the Fillies first points of the game with a put back. Gabby Green made it 4-0 following two more rebounds from misses. The Devils didn't score a field goal until Jill Dove's lay up at the 3:30 mark. Green's driving lay up put Marian ahead 11-4, but Marcella Creasy's lay-up from a full court pass and Nieddu's free throw closed the gap to four points at the first horn.In the second, Ashley Fannick's running one hander, along with Green's put back, and last second jumper sent the Fillies into the locker room with a seven point edge.For all intents and purposes, the outcome was decided in the third. With just 30 seconds gone by, Creasy picked up her fourth foul forcing Devils' coach Chris Conroy to change his defensive strategy."With our tallest player Creasy out, we had to switch to a zone because we had to go to our bench and we're not big in size, " he said.Marian's in-your-face man to man defense then took over the game. Emily Sofranko's jump shot and Green's lay up off of one of her several steals finished a 12-0 Marian run. The Fillies improved their shooting percentage too as four different players hit three point shots to blow the game wide open."This was our best defensive effort of the season," said Brutto. "And on offense, along with our perimeter game, we were able to work the ball inside to Sofranko who scored off the glass and also gave us second and third shots with her rebounding."Although the Devils outscored the Fillies in the fourth, Marian's lead was never in jeopardy.Green's strong play at the point resulted in numerous assists on top of her game high 13 points. Her point guard counterpart, Nieddu led the Devils (11-6) in scoring with eight.SHENANDOAH VALLEYDemalis 1-0-0-2, Nieddu 2-3-4-8, Dove 2-0-0-4, Jones 2-0-0-5, Creasy 3-0-0-7, Snitzer 1-0-0-2, Buchanan 1-0-0-2, Florio 0-0-0-0, Teaschenko 0-0-0-0, Hixon 0-0-0-0, Najera 0-0-0-0, Michalik 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 12-3-4-30.MARIANGreen 6-0-2-13, Whilden 0-4-5-4, A. Fannick 1-0-0-2, Whitecavage 2-0-0-5, Sofranko 2-0-0-4, Krusinsky 3-3-7-9, Nemeth 2-1-1-6, Baranko 1-1-2-4, Holman 0-0-0-0, Karnish 0-0-0-0, Mahon 0-0-0-0, Nilsson 0-0-0-0, Raabe 0-0-0-0, Stoyer 0-0-0-0, E. Fannick 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-9-17-47.Shenandoah 7 6 5 12 - 30Marian 11 9 22 5 - 47Three-pointers: Shenandoah - Nieddu 1, Jones 1, Creasy 1; Marian - Green 1, Whitecavage 1, Nemeth 1, Baranko 1.