POTTSVILLLE – There is no secret about the love-hate relationship between Marian Catholic and Nativity BVM.

It’s well documented and it’s been decades in the making - and the rivalry shows no signs of going away.

Schuylkill County’s version of the Holy Wars will more than likely be impacting league and district championships for a long time to come.

Round 3 of this season’s version of the rivalry took place Friday night at Martz Hall. To be sure, Nativity has prospered more than the Fillies during the 2020-21 campaign, but when these programs meet anything is possible.

But last night there was no upset or surprise in the works. The Golden Girls used a terrific defense and balanced scoring to put the clamps on the Fillies and make it a season sweep of their rivals with a 43-28 victory.

The win allowed Nativity to add another piece of hardware to the trophy case - this one the District 11 Class 1A championship trophy.

“We have all the respect in the world for Marian and Paul Brutto - one of the best coaches anywhere around,” said Nativity coach Scott Forney. “It’s always a tough challenge when these two teams meet and it wasn’t any different tonight.”

Nativity flexed its muscles early, forcing Marian into a horde of miscues as it jumped out to an 11-3 lead and never looked back after the first eight minutes were in the books.

“In the first half I thought we hurt ourselves not rebounding,” Brutto said as his 39th season came to an end. “Our kids played hard. I thought our defense gave them some problems. We just couldn’t get on any type of roll (offensively) and that’s because of them, more so than us. Scott (Forney) does a great job. They are extremely well coached.”

Samantha Heenan was one of those driving forces behind the Nativity attack. Heenan dropped in a game-high 17 points and pulled down a dozen rebounds. She had an outstanding supporting cast as well in junior guard Kami Abdo and sophomore forward Madison Kramer. Both scored eight points and had strong floor games.

Marian has a deficiency finding the bucket most of the season and that was the case again last night. The Fillies managed just two field goals in the first half. Meanwhile, the Golden Girls just kept forcing the issue with their aggressive defense and going to the basket time after time.

“They have Heenan - who’s a proven warrior - as someone to go to when they need points,” said Brutto. “We just didn’t have that this year. I thought if we could hold them in the 35-40 range we’d be in pretty good shape, but we just didn’t do enough offensively.”

Marian’s lack of offensive firepower was its Achilles Heel thought the game and the season in general.

The Fillies, who trailed 22-9 at the half, found a spark to open the third quarter when senior Jacalyn Possessky sank two fouls, frosh Frankie Martinelli raced down the floor for a breakaway and sophomore Ashley Pleban added a bucket.

That put the score at a respectable 25-15, but Nativity closed the quarter with four unanswered points - all by Kramer - to open up a little more breathing room. Heenan sank five points to open the last frame which kept her team comfortably ahead at 36-22 and made the outcome evident.

“Defense has been our thing all year,” said Forney about the way his kids dug in and took away the driving lanes from Marian. “That’s what we have to do in order to be successful.”

SAME OLD SONG … For the third time this season, Nativity ruled the roost. In the two previous games, the Golden Girls won 45-42 and 53-23.

FANDOM … The spacious Martz Hall can seat up to 4,000 fans very comfortable. However, only 700 fans were allowed in because of COVID guidelines.

LET US COUNT THE WAYS … Nativity shot 11-for-36 from the floor, while the Fillies struggled going 8-for-37.

THEY’RE BACK … Brutto will return next season for his 40th year as a head coach and will bring most of this year’s squad with him. Among the returnees will be Taylor Walsh, Ashley Pleban, Kerrigan Digris, Frankie Martinelli, Carly Minchoff and Sophia Lombardo.

LAST GAME … The Fillies will lose a pair of seniors in Mia Nemeth and Jackie Possessky.

MARIAN

Degaetano 0-0-0-0, Walsh 0-1-2-1, Nemeth 1-0-0-3, Pleban 2-2-5-7, Possessky 0-4-6-4, Martinelli 2-2-4-6, Digris 0-0-0-0, Minchoff 3-1-2-7. TOTALS: 8-10-19-28.

NATIVITY

Heenan 2-13-18-17, Zemantauski 1-0-0-3, Abdo 1-6-10-8, Kramer 4-0-0-8, Quick 1-1-2-3, Zimerofsky 0-0-0-0, Brennan 1-0-0-2, Sinko 0-0-0-0, Bennett 0-0-0-0, Bernitsky 1-0-0-2, Toniollo 0-0-0-0, Zwari 0-0-0-0, Pinkey 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-20-30-43.

Marian 3 6 6 13 - 28

Nativity 11 11 7 14 - 43

Three-pointers: Marian - Nemeth 1, Pleban 1; Nativity - Zemantauski 1.