POTTSVILLE - There’s a difference between very good and great.

Sometimes that difference can be a fine, miniscule thread.

Other times, that difference needs more time to be totally evaluated.

How good is the unbeaten Mahanoy Area boys basketball team?

The easy answer is very good.

Are the Bears great?

That question will be answered in the next couple weeks.

But one thing for sure, this band of Golden Bears can play the game so effectively and so well that at times it can be scary.

Saturday afternoon before a near-packed house at fabled Martz Hall, Mahanoy Area continued to live up to its billing, rolling to a 73-55 victory over Marian in the District 11 Class 2A championship game.

“There’s a reason why they’ve won 27-straight games,” said Marian coach Scott Murphy after his team lost to the Bears for the third time this season.

“We know them and they know us,” said Mahanoy Area junior guard Tanner Zawada. “It can be fun when you are playing your rivals, especially them.”

Mahanoy Area roared out to a 15-5 first quarter lead and never looked back as the Colts missed their first 11 shots from the field.

Julius Currie, who led his team with a game-high 24 points, finally stopped the carnage with a trey, but by that time the Bears had clawed in front 12-0 behind eight points from jumping jack Jace Yedsena.

“We wanted to jump out early,” said Mahanoy Area coach Teddy Styka, whose team has earned the nickname of Teddy’s Bears. “Marian is a physical team, and we wanted that fast tempo.”

Mahanoy’s offensive approach is spread the wealth, and in this case wealth means points. Four players finished in double-digits. Yedsena was at the forefront zipping in 21 points. Chris Cuff added 15, Zawada followed with 13 and Kadin Styka - the coach’s son - had 12.

“They all want their points,” Styka, the coach, said when asked about the balanced scoring. “We’ve got to kind of bring them down a bit and remind them to forget about any egos.”

Meanwhile, the only Colt to hit double figures was Currie.

“They kind of take you out of your stuff,” said Murphy about the Mahanoy Area defense. “They’re handsy, and really makes things difficult. A lot of credit goes to them.”

Jabbing and annoying is the best way to describe the way the Bears harass teams with their defense. They forced Marian into nine first-half turnovers, and limited them to a stone cold 8-for-27 (30%) shooting from the floor.

“Coming in I thought our game plan was great,” said 6-5 senior Alansky. “The first two times we faced them we really didn’t know what to expect; this time we had everything ready.”

Marian struggled most of the game trying to get into an offensive flow and get the ball to the basket. When the Colts did break free, Mahanoy Area was short-circuiting the lanes and cutting off the penetration.

“They’ve got a great defense. Teams struggle trying to get into any type of rhythm against them, and I thought that happened to us today,” Murphy said.

The only lull in the Bears’ game came at the outset of the fourth quarter.

But Yedsena quickly and emphatically responded with one of his patented slam-bam-jams. It was a dunk that erupted Martz Hall.

UP, UP AND AWAY … Mahanoy shot 26-for-58 from the field (45%), picked off 32 rebounds, and committed just eight turnovers. Marian shot 21-for-49 (43%), grabbed 24 rebounds and committed 12 turnovers.

AT THE FORE … Currie had a terrific day shooting. He brought his A-game and looked zoned-in.

BAD NEWS BEARS ... The Bears were far too quick for Marian to contain. Their ability to get up and down the floor creates all kinds of chances to score.

JVs GOT IT … Coach Styka lauded his JV team for getting his squad ready during intense practices leading up to the game. “Our JVs made us work at practice,” the Mahanoy Area coach said.

ON TAP … Both teams move on to the State playoffs and will have home games on Saturday. The Bears (27-0) will host District 4 third-place team Northwest at 3 p.m. Meanwhile, the Colts (15-10) will entertain District 12 runner-up Sankofa Freedom Academy.

MARIAN’S MATCHUP ... Sankofa will come into the game against Marian will a less-than-impressive 12-13 record. But that mark is deceiving since it plays in the competitive Philadelphia Public-Independence Conference against teams like powerhouse Imhotep Charter, Constitution and Math Civics & Sciences.

MARIAN

Currie 9-3-3-24, Hopeck 3-0-0-8, Jam. Rodino 3-0-0-6, Miller 2-1-2-5, Thomas 1-2-2-5, Tom 1-0-0-3, Rosario 1-0-0-2, Jus. De La Cruz 1-0-0-2, Jes. Rodino 0-0-0-0, Ja. De La Cruz 0-0-0-0, Griguoli 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-6-7-55.

MAHANOY AREA

Yedsena 7-3-3-21, Cuff 6-1-1-15, Zawada 3-5-7-13, Styka 5-1-2-12, Alansky 3-0-0-7, McGroarty 1-0-0-3, Gallagher 1-0-0-2, Manley 0-0-0-0, Sendatch 0-0-0-0, Mayberry 0-0-0-0, Bowman 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 26-10-13-73.

Marian 5 16 12 22 - 55

Mahanoy Area 15 23 14 21 - 73

Three-pointers: Marian - Currie 3, Hopeck 2, Thomas 1, Tom 1; Mahanoy Area - Yedsena 4, Cuff 2, Zawada 2, Styka 1, Alansky 1, McGroarty 1.