BELLEFONTE - Marian’s players and coaches walked out of the locker room to a warm reception and round of applause.

The fans, friends and family on the court at Bald Eagle Area High School were eager to show their appreciation for the Fillies’ effort - and their achievements.

Despite Marian’s 53-42 loss to Marion Center Friday in the PIAA Class 2A quarterfinals, the characteristics of the program’s culture remained.

“These girls have been with me all three years, and they accomplished quite a bit,” said Fillies’ coach Damian Fritz. “Three (Schuylkill League) division titles, two district titles, a 1,000-point scorer, I believe we’ve played nine games in states. Most programs would take that. I’m just proud and fortunate to have them when I took the program over and just to see them mature and both on and off the floor, I’m very happy.

“I’m obviously not happy with the result, but I’m very proud of the work they put in. And the fanbase, the students, the administration. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

The Stingers (23-5) - champions of District 6 - rallied from a first-half deficit to punch their ticket to the final four.

An 8-0 run that started in the final two minutes of the second quarter carried into the third period, as Marion Center opened the third on a 9-0 run to build a 31-26 lead.

Senior Lydia Miller scored 18 of her game-high 23 points in the second and third quarters.

The Stingers kept the pressure on through the third period to push their advantage to 42-31.

“It’s huge,” Marion Center coach Amy Trimble said of Miller. “She’s a senior and we’re definitely going to miss her next year. But man she’s killing it her senior year. And what an experience to be able to go out her senior year by making this run and doing this.”

The Fillies (22-6) were able to trim the deficit to 46-40 with just under two minutes left on a basket by Carley Hasara after a steal. But Marion Center quickly answered with a run to push the lead back to double digits,

The Stingers outscored Marian 31-16 in the second half - including 20-5 in the third - and allowed just five field goals in the final two quarters.

“We didn’t get the ball out of the post quick enough to find the open girl,” said Fritz. “And we knew that they were going to double. It was just a matter of finding that open girl, and at times we did. But we struggled to put the ball in the basket.

“They played hard, some of their shots went in. We didn’t get a favorable whistle, and our shots didn’t go in. And the crowd got into it. Combined, it was their quarter, and we just couldn’t recover.”

Marian generated momentum near the end of the first quarter.

Addy Fritz hit three treys in a little over a minute - including one at the buzzer - to help the Fillies build a 16-7 lead at the end of the first period.

The teams traded baskets through the first four and a half minutes of the second quarter. A three by Fritz gave Marian a 26-14 advantage.

Marion Center withstood the early surge to close with an 8-0 run to close the second period, including six points by Lydia Miller, who had a steal to set up a basket with just over a minute left in the half.

The Stingers forced five turnovers in the period, including one by Macie Miller, who was able to slap the ball away to set up Lydia Miller’s final points of the period.

It was a scrappy effort by the Stingers, one that has them in the semifinals for the first time since 1993.

“They’ve never made it to the championship, so that’s our goal,” said Trimble. “We’ll see.”

STATS … Fritz finished with 15 points and five rebounds for the Fillies, while Minchhoff - who scored her 1,000th point this season - scored eight points with six boards. Fellow senior Frankie Martinelli added seven points. Mya Lipsie added 11 points and 10 rebounds for Marion Center.

BIG SHOES TO FILL … The Fillies will lose Minchhoff, Martinelli, Aliya Tikhtova and Gianna Corrado to graduation. “We have a bright future,” said Fritz. “I think the girls coming back are thinking we’ll be back here next year. That’s the confidence we have as a program, and that’s the confidence we have in the girls that are coming back and the work that they are going to put in. They were upset right now, but the underclassmen made it clear they’re getting back here, and that’s what they talked about, together.”

MOVING ON … Marion Center will face District 11 champion Minersville Monday in the semifinals. The Miners beat District 4 champion Muncy 28-21 in the quarters on Friday.

MARION CENTER

L. Miller 9-4-8-23, Lipsie 5-1-3-11, M. Miller 0-2-2-2, Haggerty 0-0-0-0, Black 0-0-0-0, Al. Ruddock 1-0-0-2, Shadle 1-4-6-6, Av. Ruddock 3-1-2-9. TOTALS: 19-12-21-53.

MARIAN

Tikhtova 2-0-0-4, Fritz 5-1-2-15, Minchhoff 3-2-4-8, Pugh 0-0-0-0, Hasara 3-0-0-6, Hannis-Miskar 0-2-2-2, Thomas 0-0-0-0, Martinelli 2-1-2-7, Corrado 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-6-10-42.

Marion Center 7 15 20 11 - 53

Marian 16 10 5 11 - 42

Three-pointers: Marion Center - Av. Ruddock 2, L. Miller 1; Marian - Fritz 4, Martinelli 2.