Marian bid adieu to its seniors - five in all - on Friday night against Weatherly.

It was Senior Appreciation Night and the Colts made sure there was plenty to celebrate.

Among those honored was Dante Agosti, who has been on the floor from day one as a freshman. Also taking curtain calls were Dewin Concepcion, Julian Cerullo, John Malarkey and Will Nyer.

In their final Schuylkill League Division 3 regular-season game against rival Weatherly, the Colts didn’t miss a beat as they galloped past the Wreckers, 50-27.

Thriving off its pressure defense, Marian put the Wreckers in a deep chasm, blitzing to an 8-0 lead three minutes into the game. Concepcion drained a deuce and a trey, while Nyer pumped in a triple of his own en route to the quick getaway.

“We talked about stepping up our defense ... we pressed, got a lot of easy baskets, and then kind of took the press off,” is the way Marian coach John Patton assessed the early knockout punch.

Weatherly was dazed for sure as all it could manage during the opening quarter was a lone bucket from senior Antonio Colecio with 4:36 to play. It didn’t get much better for Weatherly in the second quarter either as it finished the opening half with just three field goals and 11 points.

“Our defense sets it all up. We feed off it,” Patton said. “I thought we did a good job in our halfcourt defense, but I do think the more uptempo we play, the better we are.”

Indeed, Marian can intimidate you with its hounding defensive approach. It forced Weatherly into seven turnovers and 1-for-10 shooting in the opening period.

With Marian’s defense igniting the offense, the Colts blew it open early

Leading 10-2, Marian reeled off 18 straight points. John Malarkey ignited the run and Brendan Lonergan culminating the rally with the final five points that had the Colts ahead 28-2 early in the second quarter.

It was a start that the Wreckers would never recover from.

“I thought we did some good things,” Patton said. “We sputtered somewhat on the offensive end when we took off the press. But all in all I thought we did a pretty good job. I was pleased with the way we played.”

After the initial shock wore off, the Wreckers stayed even the rest of the way, thanks in part to Trevor Lowman, Ian McLaurin and Colecio. But the Marian lead proved insurmountable as the Wreckers could never get out from underneath the first quarter avalanche.

HIGH SCORERS ... The Colts were paced by Lonergan and Conception with 15 points each.

FIGURES DON’T LIE … Marian had a strong night on the boards, outrebounding Weatherly, 33-23. Cerullo led the Colts with seven rebounds and was also dynamite shutting down traffic in the lane.

SHOOTING STARS … The Colts were steaming at the onset, shooting 10-for-14 from the floor. Overall, Marian shot 21-for-44. The Wreckers struggled at 9-for-45.

RECORDS ... Marian improves to 13-2 overall and 11-2 in league play. Weatherly falls to 12-6 overall and 7-6 in the league.

BROOMS OUT … Marian made it a sweep with a 50-43 win in the opener. The Colt JVs were led by Chris Chambers with 20 points and Jacob Bobish with 12. Weatherly was paced by Ricky Ray with 12 points and Frank Willis 10.

WEATHERLY

Colecio 2-3-3-8, McLaurin 2-2-2-6, Lowman 2-1-2-5, Zoscin 0-2-3-2, Willis 1-0-2-2, Ray 1-0-0-2, Solonski 1-0-0-2, Derr 0-0-0-0, Ramirez 0-0-0-0.TOTALS: 9-8-12-27.

MARIAN

Concepcion 7-0-0-15, Lonergan 6-3-3-15, Valente 1-2-2-5, Agosti 2-0-2-4, Malarkey 2-0-0-4, Cerullo 2-0-0-4, Nyer 1-0-0-3, Fritz 0-0-0-0, Currie 0-0-0-0, Bobish 0-0-0-0.TOTALS: 21-5-7-50.

Weatherly 2 9 7 8 - 27

Marian 24 8 8 10 – 50

Three-pointers: W-Colecio 1. M- Concepcion 1, Nyer 1, Valente 1.