ORWIGSBURG - There’s still some dancing left for Marian.

It’s not the Twist or the Jitterbug, but a berth in high school basketball’s ‘Big Dance’ - the PIAA State Tournament.

Marian earned the invite with a 41-35 victory over familiar foe Schuylkill Haven in the Class 2A consolation game on Friday night at Blue Mountain High School.

There were no secrets between these Schuylkill League rivals. The winner was going to be determined by which team had enough game, and in the end that proved to be the Fillies.

Marian advanced despite an ugly start and some missed steps along the way. The FIllies might not have been the ‘belle” of the ball, but they flashed enough of the right moves to earn a ticket to the next round.

Marian (20-5) missed its first 11 shots, before recycling its game and gaining footing. When Addy Fritz, Carly Minchhoff and Frankie Martinelli hit for baskets - the latter a triple - the Fillies had a 7-6 first quarter lead despite going 3-for-16 from the floor.

The Hurricanes (20-6) weren’t setting the barn on fire, either, shooting 3-for-10 in the quarter.

The Canes managed an 11-9 lead with 4:30 to go in the first half before Marian settled into its old self, tearing off a 10-0 run to eventually hit the lockers with a 19-14 edge.

Freshman sparkplug Deana Pugh fired in deuce and a trey during the run, while Martinelli sizzled with a trey of her own before Fritz’s corner shot ended the rally.

“That’s been our MO the last several weeks - we’ve had a hard time getting started,” said Marian coach Damian Fritz. “Tonight, Haven did some nice things defensively that contributed to our slow start.”

After Haven’s McKenna Runkle swished home a three to open the second half and cut Marian’s lead to 19-17, the Fillies went on another run.

Martinelli started the surge with a bucket, before Minchhoff sank four points. Haven got a fielder from Karlee Fager, but Marian kept coming.

A well-timed triple from Martinelli and a bomb from Fritz highlighted a run that boosted the lead to 36-24 after three quarters.

“When we’re pressing and getting turnovers that’s when we are most effective,” said coach Fritz. “We’ve got kids that can score points.”

The Fillies went lame at the start of the fourth quarter, however, and much to the Hurricanes credit they rallied around the strong play of Olivia Dress, Audrey Hutchinson and Feger to make it a game once again.

Marian was still in front 38-28 after Fritz and Martinelli each added a foul shot, but a couple of baskets pulled the Hurricanes to within 38-32.

But the Fillies did enough from the free throw line - where it scored all five of its fourth quarter points - to prevent Haven from getting all the way back in it.

“I think we were pressing a little bit,” Fritz said about the Fillies’ lack of fourth-quarter offense.

Despite that, Marian was effective enough to earn its way into nest week’s Class 2A state tournament.

LAST TIIME OUT … Marian beat the Hurricanes back in early February, 58-46.

INCONSISTENT … The Fillies can be lethal when playing their game, but they need to find a way to avoid the funks that have plagued them for stretches the last several weeks.

THE LEADERS… Martinelli hammered home 11 points to lead the Fillies. Fritz scored 10, and Minchhoff chipped in eight. The Hurricanes had three players with seven points - Dress, Hutchinson and Anna Schaeffer.

OFF THE GLASS … The Fillies had the better of it in the rebounding department, 40-31, Martinelli had an incredible night on the glass, grabbing 20 rebounds. Aliya Tikhtova had a big night too with 11.

NEXT UP ... Marian will open state play next Friday against the District 4 runner-up.

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN

Hutchinson 2-3-6-7, Feger 3-1-5-7, Schaeffer 3-0-1-7, Dress 3-0-0-6, Runkle 2-0-0-6, Haag 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 12-9-20-35.

MARIAN

Martinelli 4-1-4-11, Fritz 3-3-6-10, Minchhoff 4-0-0-8, Pugh 3-1-2-7, Hasara 1-0-0-3, Tikhtova 1-0-0-2, Thomas 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 16-5-14-41.

Sch. Haven 6 8 10 11 – 35

Marian 7 12 17 5 – 41

Three-pointers: Schuylkill Haven - Runkle 2. Marian - Martinelli 2, Fritz 1, Hasara 1.