Maybe it had something to do with playing on Friday the 13th, but the Marian girls - who have set an extremely high bar for themselves during the first half of the season - didn’t seem to be their normal self.

Were the Fillies playing “spooked” or were there some “unlucky” breaks?

In the end, it didn’t really matter, because these Fillies are good enough to win even when they don’t have their “A” game.

Playing its chief league rival Minersville, Marian posted a comfortable 50-32 Schuylkill League victory before a sizeable crowd in Hometown.

Marian head coach Damian Fritz felt his team wasn’t at its peak despite the relatively large margin of victory.

“We just didn’t seem ourselves,” said Fritz. “We just didn’t have our legs tonight.”

The Miners - playing without top player Kaycee Raczka, who missed the game with an ankle sprain - fell behind 14-5 after one quarter and although they battled to stay within striking distance, could never overcome the early deficit.

“I thought our kids played lights out,” said Minersville coach Jarred Homa. “We needed to do a better job of coaching. You come in here to play in this type of atmosphere and it can be tough.”

One thing the Miners did do early was force the Fillies out of their vaunted pressing defense.

“I pulled back the press, because I didn’t want them to hit a couple of baskets, and suddenly they’ve got confidence,” Fritz explained.

Despite committing seven early turnovers, Marian sprung out to a 10-2 lead behind senior Kerrigan Digris, who had some big buckets early on.

Carly Minchoff’s two late baskets put Marian ahead 14-5 after a period, and when Ashley Pleban recycled a missed shot for a basket, zipped in a triple and hit a foul shot Marian led 20-12 midway through the second quarter.

Behind the play of Taylor Conti and Brooke Kopinetz, the Miners (10-3, 5-1) were trying to stay close, but Marian got a closing basket from Fatikha Tikhtova, which seemed to ignite a bit of momentum carrying over to the second half.

Frankie Martinelli took the cue with a pair of foul shots to open the third quarter, before Tikhtova dipped in for a basket off the glass, Minchoff drained two from the charity line, and Digris bombed away a trey to help Marian open some breathing room.

“I wasn’t overly pleased with our play, but I thought we had better concentration in the second half,” Fritz said. “But to be honest, it was a pretty disappointing performance overall.”

Marian (10-1, 6-0) continued its second-half spurt as Tikhtova scored a beauty of a bucket off an inbounds pass, Digris drove inside for a deuce, and Addie Fritz added a basket off a great post move. When Fritz hit a nifty hook shot the lead had grown to 45-30 with just over three minutes remaining.

“I thought we settled down near the near the end of the third quarter,” coach Fritz said. “Our passes were quicker, sharper. I thought our guards did a great job of getting the ball in the post for Addie, and I thought she went up strong on all of her post moves.”

Despite the loss, Homa found some positives.

“I’m very proud of our kids,” he said. “We tried to get them off their sets. We played with poise. But that’s a very good team we battled. That’s a positive we can build on.”

MISCUES … Both teams were sloppy with the ball. Minersville finished with 26 turnovers, while the Fillies had 16.

SHINING STARS … Pleban and Digris were true leaders early keeping the Fillies in the lead. Digris and Minchoff finished with 10 points each to lead Marian. Tikhtova added nine, while Fritz and Pleban tallied eight apiece.

MINERSVILLE

Conti 4-0-0-11, Brennan 0-1-2-1, Carl 0-0-0-0, Kopinetz 2-6-9-11, Burgess 1-0-0-2, Castle 2-2-3-7. TOTALS: 9-9-14-32.

MARIAN

Pleban 3-1-3-8, Digris 4-0-0-10, Martinelli 1-3-6-5, Minchhoff 4-2-2-10, F. Tikhtova 4-0-0-9, A. Tikhtova 0-0-0-0, Fritz 4-0-0-8, Thomas 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-6-11-50.

Minersville 5 9 11 7 - 32

Marian 14 8 15 13 - 50

Three-pointers: Minersville - Conti 3, Kopinetz 1, Castle 1; Marian - Digris 2, Pleban 1, F. Tikhtova 1.