Marian didn’t quite look in sync when it came out of the gate against visiting Minersville on Friday night.

The Colts’ stammered, stuttered and hiccuped early, but once they found their dancing shoes there was no stopping them.

Marian rolled to an 87-67 victory over the Miners in a Schuylkill League Division II-III crossover game.

When you look at the way fast-rising sophomore gunslinger Julius Currie can let loose from behind the arc, how bruising 6-5 senior Brendan Lonergan muscles inside, and how Logan Fritz appears to have taken his game to another level, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Colts have the ability to erupt offensively.

That trio stood tall along with Jose Espaillat Turbi as they all four players finished in double digits. Lonergan was so strong inside, even his misses ended up being points, as he kept after it using his power game to finish with a game-high 25 points and 13 rebounds.

Yet the real fire came from Currie. The 6-1 swingman was draining triples from just about every spot on the floor, as he finished with an impressive 23 points He used both corners and the foul-line extended to pour in seven treys on the night - five of them in the third quarter.

“I don’t know the last time we scored 87 points,” said Marian coach John “The General” Patton. “That’s a lot of points.”

While his team’s offensive explosion had him feeling good, the Colts’ defense was another story.

“We tried playing zone, but we just can’t do that very well,” Patton said with an eye toward future opponents. “The zone obviously didn’t work, but when we went man we were able to build a big lead.”

The switch put some gas in the Marian tank. Both teams were neck-and-neck through a quarter, as Minersville was hanging its hat on the splendid play of Carson Boyle who dropped a 29-poinnt number on Marian.

With the score tied at 22-22 after one quarter, Marian stepped up the defensive side of the ledger, while continuing to fire the offensive engines. The result was a 42-31 Colt lead at the respite.

“Yeah, we were a little bit (rusty),” Patton said after the start. “COVID and snow kept us out of the gym. We haven’t played in a week.”

Frank Valente, Fritz and Lonergan were the go-to guys in the second quarter. Fritz knocked down four points, but had half dozen rebounds, Lonergan was the horse in the paint with nine points, while Valente hit a triple and a deuce along with his crisp passing that opened things up.

Marian began to shake off the rust when the third quarter unfolded. The Colts sprung out to a 47-33 lead when Currie with three triples, raced down the floor for a breakaway and Lonergan muscled inside for another basket.

When Currie popped his gun for two more triples, Marian had a commanding 66-45 lead after three quarters.

ROOTING IT OUT … Marian had a huge night on the glass with 48 rebounds, twice as many as Minersville which managed just 24.

THE NUMBERS … Marian shot 36-for-83, while the Miners were going 14-for-50. Do the math and that is a total of 133 shots and 154 points scored. Those are numbers that one rarely sees these days.

IN A GRIND … Marian will play four games over the next seven days, starting today at East Stroudsburg North. The Colts then return home Monday for a huge game with defending state Class A champ Nativity, they are at Lourdes on Tuesday, before another big game with Shenandoah Valley on Friday closes out the stretch..

OPENER … Colts won out in the JV game 48-11 as Jesse Rodino led the way with 11 points.

MINERSVILLE

Boyle 12-0-0-29, Urquiza 7-2-4 12, Yourey 2-4-9-8, Hutsko 2-3-5-7, Rizzardi 1-2-2-4, Eisenhart 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-11-20-67.

MARIAN

Lonergan 10-5-8-25, Currie 8-0-0-23, Espaillat-Turbi 6-1-2-13, Fritz 5-0-2-11, Volente 4-0-0-9, Ramierz 1-0-0-2, Rodino 1-0-0-2, Bobish 0-0-0-0, Walko 0-0-0-0, Price 0-0-0-0, Trifiro 0-0-0-0, Segedy 0-0-0-0, Viscaino 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 36-6-12-87.

Minersville 22 9 14 22 - 67

Marian 22 20 24 21 - 87

Three-pointers: Minersville - Boyle 5, Urquiza 3; Marian - Currie 5, Espaillat-Turbi 1.