There was one big difference for Marian and its ability to defeat a very dangerous and upstart Weatherly club Friday.

It wasn’t talent, it wasn’t lack of hustle, nor physicality.

It all rested upon the Colts’ ability not to panic, not to come unglued, but to keep their wits about them.

In a clash of wills, Marian found a way to stay composed even when the Wreckers looked capable of pulling off a big coup and a feather in their relatively young hats. What it came down to was the Colts had more balance, placing five players in double figures during their 83-62 Schuylkill League Division 3 win.

There were moments when Weatherly had opportunities to steal the show: when it came storming back from a seven-point deficit early in the third quarter to tie the game. Or when it watched the Colts hop in front by 12 to open the final chapter, and answered with an 8-3 run.

“I thought our players just stepped up when we had to,” said Marian head coach John Patton. “They did some nice things on both sides of the floor. They’re young, they’re good, and they’re aggressive.

“But I thought we kept our heads in the game, and stayed focused when it was most important.”

Marian’s arsenal of shooters were so sweet in crunch time. There was Noah Stauffer tingling the twines for a game-high 21 points, and Jarred Maylath pouring in 18 points. How about the deft three-point shooting from reserve Chris Ritsick with three triples and 17 points? Dante Agosti matched Ritsick’s triples and chalked up 12 points, while Tyler Fritz struggled but added 13.

Weatherly got two guys in twins, led by rising freshman Scotty Zoscin with 19 and Julian Miller with 11 points. Gabe Miller finished with nine.

“That final score doesn’t show anything,” said Weatherly mentor Cory Gerhardt. “They had such good balance with five guys in double figures. They’re a tough team; you try and take away Fritz and Stauffer and the other guys light it up.”

Marian raced to a 22-14 lead to open the contest, then parlayed Stauffer and Maylath’s shooting to grab a 37-25 advantage with 1:18 to play in the first half. However, Zach Moon buried a triple and Julian Miller stroked a bucket making it 37-30.

“That was a crazy first half, we just couldn’t put them away,” said Patton. “They stuck their nose in it and kept answering.”

The late flurry to end the second quarter carried over into the third when Chris Miller drained a triple. Zoscin followed with a deuce and Julian Miller scored to forge a 37-37 tie.

Patton said he wasn’t going to call a timeout during that stretch. “I told the kids at (half) we weren’t going to call timeouts, they had to learn to play through (adversity).”

Indeed the Colts did respond, and built a 54-47 lead to open the stretch run, which quickly moved to an 11-point margin.

There was still a slight answer by the Wreckers when Zoscin lifted his team to within 65-58, but that was the closest Weatherly could manage.

ON THE LINE … Marian shot lights out at the foul line 25-of-29, while Wreckers went 9-12.

LETTING IT FLY … Marian was torrid from the field going 26-of-51, and shot 6-for-12 from beyond the arc. Weatherly was 24-of-60. Wreckers had a 31-27 edge in rebounds.

BANTERING … It was a game of chess on the defensive side. Zoscin hogtied Fritz most of the evening, while the latter stayed within his game and dished off smartly. Weatherly opened with man, used a full-court press off and on, and went zone more so in the second half.

WEATHERLY

Zoscin 7-3-3-19, J. Miler 5-1-3-11, G. Miller 4-0-0-9, Yurchak 3-2-2-8, Moon 3-0-0-8, Arthur 1-2-3-4, Brick 1-1-2-3, Gerhart 0-0-0-0, Knepper 0-0-0-0, Hinkle 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-9-12-62.

MARIAN

Stauffer 8-5-5-21, Maylath 7-4-5-18, Ritsick 4-6-6-17, Fritz 2-9-13-13, Agosti 4-1-2-12, McNelis 1-0-0-2, McLaughlin 0-0-0-0, Tate 0-0-0-0, Sobulsky 0-0-0-0, McCall 0-0-0-0, Whilden 0-0-0-0, Shiner 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 26-25-29-83.

Weatherly 14 16 17 15 - 62

Marian 22 15 17 29 - 83

Three-pointers: W - Zoscin 2, Moon 2, G. Miller 1; M - Ritsick 3, Agosti 3.