The wait is over. Now comes a chance for redemption.

The Marian Catholic girls’ basketball team earned its way back to a District 11 championship game for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

“It’s been a long wait,” Marian coach Paul Brutto said. “One of the longer ones. Everyone in the program is excited about it.”

With a fight until the finish against Moravian Academy in the semifinals, the Fillies advanced to play in the District 11 Class 2A championship game.

Tonight, Brutto and his Fillies travel to North Schuylkill to take on Schuylkill League Division 3 foe Mahanoy Area.

“It’s a tough matchup for us,” Brutto said. “But you always want a chance of redemption. The two (regular season) games were competitive.”

In December, Mahanoy Area handed Marian a 47-28 defeat. And then, in late January, the Fillies dropped a 41-35 setback to the Bears in Hometown.

“The one in January, and they were missing a kid (who happened to be Abby McGee), was only a six-point game,” said Brutto. “It was one point at halftime. And, the one at Mahanoy Area in December was like a four-point game at half, and the game kind of got away from us because we struggled offensively against what they were doing.

“We feel like we competed for a good portion of those two games, and now we just got to take care of a few things on our end that we feel we kind of hurt ourselves with. So, we’re excited about that opportunity.”

And, Mahanoy Area head coach Tom Sheeler is not letting the sports cliché that it’s difficult to beat a team three times bother him, or his Golden Bears.

“To me, that’s not much of a thought,” said Sheeler. “You take one game at a time. This is just one of those games that you’ve just got to play the game and see what happens.

“We had two really good games with them. They’re a very talented team. Looking forward to a great game. Yet, it’s nice to have both of us moving on. We’re representing our division very well.”

Both teams have already clinched their places in the state tournament, which begins next week.

Scheeler is going to let the Golden Bears’ four-guard offensive attack — which consists of McGee (8.4 points per game), Jordan Karmonick (12.1), Emily Lawrence (10.8) and Sierra Abrachinsky (6.3) — handle things once again against the Fillies.

And, advancing to states is something that Brutto is happy to see for his seniors, starters Emma McClafferty and Alexa Murray, and reserve Isabella Schwabe, who sees plenty of time off the bench.

“This is the time of the year that is really special for seniors,” Brutto said. “Not particularly this (championship) game, but it’s always a threat to be your last game. So, it’s a great way for us to be able to send them off playing for a gold medal. And, moving onto states.

“It’s something we haven’t done since 2014, so the kids are excited about that prospect. Obviously, you want to get the gold, but just knowing you’ve got a game in states, or hopefully more than one, adds another dimension to it.”