Right now the Marian boys’ basketball team is a bit of a killjoy.

That’s good news for Colt fans - and it’s only going to get better with more seasoning, and more time together on the court.

Panther Valley, which was unbeaten and impressive in its first two games this season, found that out Wednesday when it was on the back side of a 79-38 nonleague whipping.

Keep in mind the Panthers - who start three talented freshmen - are going to be good, but on this night they ran into a Colt team that has the material to challenge for a Schuylkill League Division III championship.

If the Panther Valley game was an early-season measuring stick, opposing teams need to beware because it appears the Colts are a team that’s improving dramatically each time out.

Against the Panthers, four-year starter Dante Agosti took center stage with his career-high 24 points. Agosti got plenty of support as Dewin Concepcion poured in 15, Brendon Lonergan muscled his way for 10 points, and Logan Fritz and Frank Valente both added eight points apiece, respectively.

Yet the big picture was Marian’s ability to get to the glass, as it swooped in for a whopping 42 rebounds. The Colts had 20 of those in the second quarter when they began to blow the game open, and it was Lonergan who was at the fore, as he pulled down eight of his game-high 11 boards in that quarter.

“We wanted to do a better job rebounding,” Patton said. “We hadn’t been doing that as well in our first couple games, but tonight we did a much better job.”

Indeed, Marian did a great job snaring 13 retrieves off the offensive side.

Marian watched the visitor snag a 7-2 lead thanks to Ben Kindt’s four points, and a trey from the hand of frosh Steven Hood, who led his team with 17 points. But the Colts answered with a 16-2 run en route to an 18-10 first quarter lead.

PV had few answers in the second quarter as Agosti stepped to the fore with a trey and a rebound deuce, while John Malarkey would add four points as Marian opened a 36-18 halftime lead.

“That’s a really good team. Their physicality worried me coming in, and you saw that play out,” said Panther Valley coach Pat Crampsie. “They destroyed us on the boards in the first half, and that allowed them to get second-chance opportunities.”

Marian kept rolling in the third period on its way to a 27-point outburst. Concepcion was on fire with two triples and three points from the foul line. Agosti was even hotter, as he drained three treys and posted 11 in the quarter as the Colts lead grew to 63-33.

The Colts opened the final quarter with Fritz and Concepcion each nailing three-pointers, eventually pushing the advantage to 71-33, before the reserves took over.

“The second half, they caught fire and we really couldn’t cut into that lead,” Crampsie said. “”By the end of the year, they’re going to be someone that is going to be rally hard to deal with, especially in the league. As for us, I thought we battled, we didn’t quit, we didn’t pout.”

THE MIGHTY QUINN … Lonergan gives Marian a big, physical, strong inside player that other teams are going to have to figure out how to control in the half-court.

HELLO THERE … Agosti can do it all on the court - shoot, drive and dish - and he demonstrated that last night.

RISING STARS … Hood has had an impressive start to his frosh season. In three games, he has scored double digits in each of them and plays like a vet. Also playing well are his classmates, Drew Kokinda and Chase Weaver. The future definitely looks bright for Panther Valley

SPLITSVILLE … The Panthers dug in for a 50-46 win in the junior varsity contest. Sophomore Brad Hood, older brother of Stephen, juiced the nets for 24 points, while freshman Mike Pascoe canned 18 in the win. Marian was led by Chris Chambers with 19 and Julius Currie with 12.

PANTHER VALLEY

S. Hood 5-3-4-17, B. Hood 3-0-0-6, Kindt 1-1-2-4, Weaver 2-0-1-4, Hadley 2-0-0-4, Pascoe 1-1-4-3. TOTALS: 15-4-11-38.

MARIAN

Agosti 8-4-5-24, Concepcion 4-3-4-15, Lonergan 3-4-4-10, Fritz 3-0-0-8, Valente 2-2-2-8, Malarkey 3-0-0-6, Car Chambers 2-0-0-4, Cerallo 2-0-2-4, Chris Chambers 0-0-0-0, Nyer 0-0-0-0, Curie 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-13-17-79.

Panther Valley 10 8 15 5 – 38

Marian 18 18 27 16 – 79

Three-pointers: PV - S. Hood 4, Kindt 1. M - Agosti 4, Fritz 2, Valente 2.