Marian’s Jesse Rodino never had a doubt.

Despite losing to Lincoln Leadership by 33 points in early January, the senior forward was sure things would be different the next time around.

That next time came Saturday at Northern Lehigh in the quarterfinal round of the District 11 Class 2A playoffs.

And while few gave the sixth-seeded Colts a chance against the up-tempo and high-flying Lions, Rodino and his teammates came through with a 62-52 upset to keep their season alive.

“I’m so excited,” said Rodino, who registered a double-double in the contest. “I was telling (coach) all week that we’ve got it. If we stick together and execute the game plan, we’ve got it.

“We walked in, came out with energy, and we went up (big). We kept the intensity up ... All credit goes to the guys. They busted their butts every single play.”

The victory sends Marian into the quarterfinal round where it will face Schuylkill Haven on Wednesday.

“We just beat a really good team,” said Colts head coach Scott Murphy when asked how his team flipped the script against its opponent. “(The first time we played them) they were playing down in their gym, and they got rolling early like we got rolling early today.

“Basketball’s a funny game. It’s a fickle game. And I’m really glad we were able to make adjustments. I have a great coaching staff, and we definitely made a ton of adjustments and had plenty of time to work on them. So, here we are moving on.”

Rodino scored two inside buckets during the game’s first four minutes, while Julius Currie - who finished with a game-high 21 points - registered a layup and hit a three-pointer as Marian raced to a 12-0 lead.

Lincoln eventually got its offense in gear, and trimmed the margin to eight by quarter’s end.

A 7-1 spurt by the Lions late in the second frame gave them their first lead, but a trey from Marian’s Bruce Hopeck helped the two teams enter the break deadlocked at 31-31.

“The first quarter was tough,” said Lincoln head coach Pernell Hosier. “The calls didn’t go our way in the first half. We fought, and stood our ground in the second half. And we tried to play the game that we normally play, which is fast and aggressive. It just didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to.

“We played them earlier in the season. We knew what we could do with that team, but they made some great adjustments.”

One adjustment the Colts tried to instill was pace of play. And for the most part, the tempo was in Marian’s favor.

“That was part of the game plan,” said Murphy. “We knew we didn’t want to get into a track meet. And we did a good job in the half court. But even in the half court, their pressure is so intense that they speed you up anyway. But we made some good decisions, and took care of the basketball.”

“The last game we played against them we controlled the whole tempo and the flow, from pressure to rebounding and forcing turnovers,” said Hosier. “We just did everything the right way. Today, it was day and night. They were well-prepared.”

Actually, two turnovers by Lincoln resulted in four points the other way midway through the third frame to give the Colts a 38-34 advantage.

Marian kept a slim lead until a put-back by the Lions’ 6-6 center Dwight Prud’homme knotted the score at 45-45 with over five minutes left in regulation.

But a 7-0 run, thanks to two driving buckets from Jacob Miller (13 points) and a three-point play by Rodino, put the Colts up 54-47 with four minutes to play. The closest Lincoln could get the rest of the way was five points.

“We fell off in the second quarter a little bit, but we came right back in the second half,” said Rodino, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. “We just played hard. It wasn’t tough to keep up the momentum, but it was more tough to keep our composure. They went on a decent run, but we kept up our composure and came out successful.”

“It’s a great group of young men,” said Murphy. “When we break the huddle we say, ‘Family.’ And we believe it. They stuck together. We made some changes defensively, and they were effective. But there’s no substitute for guts, and our guys are tough.”

BOARD WORK ... Marian finished with an advantage in rebounding, which also helped in controlling the tempo. Hopeck added eight to Rodino’s 11.

BULLETIN BOARD ... In the Times News preview capsule that ran prior to the game, it was noted that Marian had lost to Lincoln earlier in the season by 33 points - the Colts worst loss in 10 years. That note was cut out and helped provide motivation. “That 33 was up on the bulletin board,” said Murphy.

FOUL ALERT ... Lincoln was whistled for 12 fouls in the opening half, compared to just two for Marian. For the game, the Lions committed 25 to the Colts’ 11. The difference became a bone of contention for the Lincoln following. It also resulted in 32 free throws for Marian, compared to 10 for the Lions.

MARIAN

Miller 4-4-9-13, Rosario 0-0-0-0, Je. Rodino 6-4-5-16, Tom 0-0-0-0, Currie 7-4-6-21, Ja. Rodino 1-2-6-4, Hopeck 2-2-6-8. TOTALS: 20-16-32-62.

LINCOLN LEADERSHIP

Santana 3-0-0-8, Estrella 4-1-3-11, Sabater 3-1-1-7, Rodriguez 0-0-0-0, Sebro 0-0-0-0, Pujals 0-0-0-0, Prud’homme 6-2-4-14, Scales 3-0-0-6, Ponareillo 2-1-2-6. TOTALS: 21-5-10-52.

Marian 20 11 12 19 - 62

Lincoln 12 19 10 11 - 52

Three-pointers: Marian - Currie 3, Hopeck 2, Miller 1; Lincoln Leadership - Santana 2, Estrella 2, Ponareillo 1.