The Marian girls’ basketball team had Wednesday’s game against rival Mahanoy Area going exactly how it wanted in the first half.

The Fillies were leading a Golden Bear team that was undefeated in Schuylkill League Division 3 play.

But as keyed up as the Fillies were through the first 16 minutes, that’s how quickly things took an about face after intermission.

What originally seemed like it was going to be a hard day’s night for the visiting Bears turned around behind the terrific play of Jordan Karmonick, Emily Lawrence and Meghan McCleary.

Mahanoy Area zipped up and down the floor over the final two quarters to claim an impressive 41-25 victory, and open a commanding two-game lead over the Fillies in the division race.

Though there still is a long way off to the finish line, Marian (6-7, 4-2) must now rely on help to catch Mahanoy (10-2, 6-0).

Throughout the first half, it looked as though the Fillies had a chance to pull the upset and put themselves right in the thick of the league race. The Fillies defense was setting the tone as they built a 15-14 halftime elad.

“Well it’s Marian,” said Mahanoy Area’s coach Tom Scheeler when asked about his team’s offensive struggles in the opening half. “You know the history and the rivalry. Marian played a really good first half.

They’re a good team. They match up with us size-wise since we are both undersized teams, and also quickness wise. It was really a tough matchup for us”

Indeed that was the case as the Fillies managed to defend well, rebound better and play confident in the first half.

However, the key was the way the Bears came flying out to open the second half, riding the offensive surge of Karmonick and Lawrence and getting McCleary to set screens in the halfcourt.

Karmonick flipped in a triple to put her team up for keeps to open the third quarter and then raced the length of the court for two more points. Lawrence stepped up with a pair of fielders that propelled the Bears to a 24-15 lead. When the quarter ended, Mahanoy was riding a huge wave of momentum and had built a commanding 30-20 lead.

“We competed under the circumstances with the injuries,” said Marian coach Brutto who was shorthanded with the loss of Ashley Pleban who injured her MCL Tuesday during practice. “(Our) first half was just a great defensive effort. We did a nice job. But then they got out in transition and things started to snowball.”

HANGING AROUND … Julia Kreisl had a superb game for Marian. She kept her team afloat in the first half and finished the game with eight points and 14 rebounds.

DIFFERENCE MAKER … Mahanoy got a big punch in its lineup from McCleary, who scored nine points.

CRINGE FOR EMILY … For the second time since returning to the Fillies lineup at the beginning of the month after suffering an offseason ACL injury, the Fillies’ Emily Shaud got a scare when she twisted her knee trying to scramble for a ball near halfcourt. There was no word on the injury following the game.

BY THE NUMBERS … Mahanoy’s Karmonick knocked home 15 points, with 13 coming in the second half.

MAHANOY AREA

Karmonick 3-6-6-15, Mccleary 4-1-1-9, Clark 3-0-0-7, Lawrence 3-0-0-7, Babinsky 1-0-0-3, McGroarty 0-0-0-0, TOTALS: 15-7-8-41.

MARIAN

Kreisl 2-3-6-8, Shaud 1-2-2-5, A. Digris 2-0-0-4, Possessky 1-0-2-3, Alansky 1-0-0-3, Reinoehl 1-0-0-2, K. Digris 0-0-0-0, Nemeth 0-0-0-0, TOTALS: 8-5-10-25.

Mahanoy Area 12 2 16 9 – 41

Marian 9 6 5 5 – 25

Three-pointers: MA - Karmonick 3, Clark 1, Lawrence 1, Babinsky 1. M - Kreisl 1, Shaud 1, Possessky 1.