FOUNTAIN SPRINGS – Mahanoy Area had all the chips on the table. It held the dice, and the odds were in its favor.

The Golden Bears were too good, too dominating and too confident. It was obvious they were cashing in for a big win.

Mahanoy Area did exactly that at North Schuylkill High School in the Hope-Cesare Gymnasium Thursday evening, capturing its second straight District 11 Class 2A championship.

The Bears beat Marian, 51-37, and it really wasn’t that close.

Interesting at times ... yes.

Unsettling during stretches ... for sure.

But no matter what the Fillies (20-4) tried or how hard they battled, they couldn’t match Mahanoy Area.

“They execute on offense as a team. They share the ball. They move the ball and their bodies. They are just tough to guard,” said Marian’s highly successful coach Paul Brutto, who knows a little about winning basketball with a career winning percentage of over .700.

The Bears’ defense was the story of the opening half as they grabbed an 11-6 lead after a quarter of play, and stretched it to a 25-13 halftime advantage.

“This is a deep group, and no matter who comes in, we stress defense,” Tom Scheeler said. “From day one, the girls have bought into it.”

Marian — which struggled all game against the Bears’ fullcourt pressure defense — committed 29 turnovers. And when the Fillies “All-Everything” point guard Emily Shaud sustained an injury early in the second half that forced her off the court for several minutes, the Fillies nearly collapsed under the weight of the Mahanoy Area defense.

Marian fans held their collective breath when Shaud hit the deck with 6:21 to play in the third quarter trailing 30-15. Although things appeared to be going from bad to worse for the Fillies at that point, they managed to dodge a bullet and not lose more ground with Shaud on the bench.

When Shaud did return with a knee wrap late in the quarter, Isabella Schwabe got on track with a put back that started a 9-2 Marian run. Macey Alansky hit a bucket, before Julia Kreisl drained a triple and Shaud finished the period with two more points. The Fillies then opened the final period with another Kreisl basket to pull to within 35-26.

“We looked like we were the team losing,” said Scheeler when his team started to rush the offense with Shaud out of the game. “I thought we kind of panicked all of a sudden. There was no need for us to do that, We just needed to run our regular defense.”

The Bears quickly regained their focus and the momentum when Marian got to within single digits.

Mahanoy Area (23-2) started to put the dagger into the Fillies courtesy of the foul line where it sank 12-of-15 attempts in the fourth quarter.

“It’s an awesome feeling,” said Scheeler about the back-to-back gold medals. “I have great kids. What can I say ... I’m lucky.”

MATCHUP ISSUES … Marian had a difficult time with its bigs unable to match Mahanoy’s quickness. The Fillies did go to a small lineup during a couple of stretches with Alexa Murray, Shaud, Alansky, Abbey Digris and Schwabe, but still struggled.

THREE-FOR-THREE ... This was the third meeting between the two teams with Mahanoy winning all three.

FIGURES DON’T LIE … Shooting had Mahanoy Area 13-for-38 and Marian 17-for-44. Rebounding was much closer, with the Bears holding a 29-26 edge.

HERE AND THERE … Mahanoy Area’s Abbey McGee, Kendall Benardyn and Madison Cavenas all had strong floor games. Shaud is unbelievable as she literally carries her team with just her presence on the floor. Great crowd and the right venue was chosen by district officials.

ON THE HORIZON … Both teams enter the state 2A playoffs. The Bears will be closer to home as the No. 1 team coming out of the district. Marian gets to play a District 2 team.

MARIAN

Kreisl 4-0-0-9, Alansky 3-0-0-8, Schwabe 4-0-0-8, Shaud 2-1-2-5, Digris 1-2-2-4, McClafferty 1-1-2-3, Murray 0-0-0-0, Possessky 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-4-6-37.

MAHANOY AREA

Karmonick 3-7-8-14, Lawrence 2-7-11-12, Cavenas 2-3-5-7, McGee 3-0-0-7, Abrachinsky 04-4-4, Bernardyn 2-0-0-4, Clark 1-0-2-3, Babinsky 0-0-0-0, Quick 0-0-0-0, McCleary 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-21-30-51.

Marian 6 7 11 13 – 37

Mahanoy Area 11 14 10 16 - 51

Three-pointers: Marian - Alansky 2, Kreisl 1. MA - Lawrence 1, Karmonick 1, McGee 1, Clark 1.