The beat goes on for the Marian girls.

Make no mistake about it, the Fillies are a team on a mission.

They have run roughshod past Schuylkill League contenders, and look to garner a top-seed in the forthcoming league playoffs.

On Tuesday night, Marian once again looked dominating and domineering in roaring past rival Nativity, 86-24.

The victory was the fifth in a row for the Fillies, and upped their record to 9-1. It also allowed them to remain undefeated (5-0) in league play.

As has been the case this season, there was no shortage of firepower for Marian against the Golden Girls (5-5; 3-2). They excel in every aspect of the game. Especially of note is the way they apply defensive pressure, which turns into points by the bushel.

Not since the days of legendary coach Elsie Tolan - who guided the Fillies for 21 seasons and won a state championship in 1984 - has Marian’s offense been scoring at such a record clip. Under renowned mentor Paul Brutto, the program was more inclined to defend and play in the half court.

“We want that up tempo, we want to create turnovers, whether it’s with our full (court) or in the half-court, we like that style of play,” said current head coach Damian Fritz.

“We can go to any player on the floor and get points.”

Points came early and often during the first two quarters as Marian went to the break with a 56-13 lead.

“I don’t know what we shot in that first half, but we were phenomenal,” said Fritz.

The Fillies shot 18-of-36 during that stretch, including 6-for-13 from beyond the arc.

Junior Carly Minchhoff finished the game with 28 points, while her sidekick and classmate Frankie Martinelli put up 26. Senior Ashley Pleban also contributed 10. Do the math, and that’s 64 points from just three players.

Minchhoff was sensational in the post. Her moves down low were part of the game plan, Fritz would say later. Besides her presence in the paint, she can also swish it from long range.

“We worked for two hours on Sunday just on post moves,” said Fritz, explaining the preparation Minchhoff puts into her game. “I was asking her while she was playing ‘Hey, who showed you those post moves?’”

The banter on the bench was part of a fun night for the Fillies, who scored the game’s first 13 points.

Martinelli started the scoring with a three-pointer, and then hit a pair of free throws. Nativity’s Hannah Zimerofsky hit a basket to stop the Marian run, but Minchhoff continued her team’s dominance. Minchhoff would end the quarter with 15 points, including three triples.

“She had a great night.” Fritz said. “She kept her poise, she was very patient. When she plays like that, she’s very difficult to guard, and we are very difficult to beat.”

Minchhoff added six more points in the second quarter, while Martinelli tossed in eight - with six of them coming from the charity stripe.

“We’re starting to find our niche,” Fritz said. “With (our) pressure, we want to know what are we really good at and create things to get up tempo. Right now, we’re pretty exciting to watch.”

BY THE NUMBERS … The Fillies had a decided edge off the glass, 32-16, and shot a blistering 27-of-54 from the floor.

GOING GAGA … Marian’s swarming, daunting press created 14 first-quarter turnovers and 11 in the second period.

SHOOTING EM UP … Marian also had a terrific night at the free throw line, where it went 22-of-25.

QUOTABLE … “We really executed on offense. We made the extra pass, which was a thing of beauty,” said Fritz about his team’s unselfish play.

SWEEP … Marian captured the JV contest 37-20. Giana Corrado led the winners with 10 points, and Oliva Thomas finished with eight.

NATIVITY

Kramer 3-2-5-8, Borden 3-0-0-6, Zimerofsky 2-0-1-4. Butz 1-0-0-3, Welborn 1-0-0-2. Bemmett 0-1-2-1, Pinkey 0-0-0-0, Quick 0-0-0-0, Luque 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 10-0-3-24.

MARIAN

Minchhoff 10-4-4-28, Martinelli 7-9-10-26, Pleban 3-2-2-10, Fritz 2-1-2-6, Corrado 1-4-4-6, Digris 2-0-0-4, Lombardo 1-0-0-3, Cryder 1-1-1-3, Perez 0-1-2-1. Zimmerman 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-22-25-86.

Nativity 4 9 3 8 - 24

Marian 28 28 19 11 - 86

Three-pointers: Nativity - Butz 1; Marian - Minchoff 4, Martinelli 3, Pleban 2, Frtiz 1, Lombardo 1.