SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — The knockout punch felt like only a matter of time for the Schuylkill Haven boys, who waited patiently.

Their one-two combination of Alan Evans and Max Heim kept working around the edges on Thursday, but the shots weren’t falling. In-and-outs told the story of the first 16 minutes.

Still, it felt like something was coming from Evans and Heim, and all Marian could do was wait nervously.

Then the bubble burst. Evans stepped forward, Heim muscled inside, and their second-half surge carried the Hurricanes to a 54-47 win.

The victory kept Haven perfect at 3-0 in Schuylkill League Division 2 boys basketball. Marian fell to 1-2.

Veteran Haven coach Fran Murphy said balance made the difference, and Heim’s work on the boards swung the game.

“Two things that stuck in my mind, was Max Heim rebounding was big, and Alan (Evans) and (Heim) had a pretty big second half,” Murphy said.

Evans and Heim combined for 23 points after halftime — 14 by Evans and nine by Heim. Evans finished with a game-high 16 points, but Heim’s rebounding had the bigger impact, as he grabbed 10 boards, including eight in the second half.

Marian coach Paul Brutto didn’t miss that detail, and when told his team was outrebounded 43-22, his first words were, “That’s a lot!”

“I thought our initial defense wasn’t too bad; they’ve got some players,” Brutto said. “I would bet half of those points came off the glass … you know we miss Rocco (Griguoli).”

Griguoli, a 6-foot-3 inside presence, is out for the season with a severe ankle injury suffered against Nativity.

The first quarter was a tug-of-war, with Haven edging ahead 10-9. Jake Tom and Jake De La Cruz provided most of Marian’s offense, including five points from De La Cruz. Both teams struggled from the floor, combining to shoot 7-for-22. Shooting didn’t improve much in the second quarter (a combined 9-for-16), but Marian’s defensive tempo helped.

The Colts found late energy before halftime, turning a 19-12 deficit into a 20-19 lead. Brady Kelly scored five points, and Wachter added three during Haven’s 9-0 run. Marian answered with buckets from Tom, De La Cruz and a late shot from Yaniel Nunez to take the lead.

“I thought our defense really did a good job,” Murphy said. “We gave them (only) 20 points, but I wasn’t happy with our eight first-half turnovers.”

Marian carried momentum into the third quarter, pushing ahead 34-30 behind Greg Tirpek, Tom, Nunez and a fast-break layup from De La Cruz.

Brutto sensed the momentum wouldn’t last.

“To get (enough) momentum, you need those (3s) to go in and they weren’t going in,” he said, noting Marian missed five 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter alone.

Then Evans and Heim took over. Evans hit his first 3-pointer of the night, sparking a Haven run that carried into the final period.

Nunez tied the game with a putback with 7:41 left, but the Hurricanes dominated from there. Heim scored inside, Evans made two free throws, then Heim added two more put-back baskets. Evans hit another jumper to push the lead to 47-38 with 3:31 remaining. Marian answered only with a three-point play from James Cannon, and a basket by Tom.

Haven then spread the floor, drew fouls and scored the final five points to seal the win.

MISSING IN ACTION ... Griguoli’s absence hurt Marian on both ends, especially with little practice time to adjust.

SHOOTING STRUGGLES ... Haven shot 20-for-51; Marian went 21-for-56. The Colts were also out-muscled on the boards, but committed just eight turnovers to Haven’s 13.

UP NEXT ... Marian plays Salem Christian, before traveling to Lourdes on Monday.

MARIAN

Tirpak 2-0-0-5, Tom 4-3-4-11, Nunez 4-0-0-9, Ju. De La Cruz 0-0-0-0, Ja. De La Cruz 7-0-0-15, Cannon 3-1-2-7. TOTALS: 20-4-6-47.

SCHUYLKILL HAVEN

Kelly 3-2-4-9, Watcher 4-3-6-11, Heim 5-1-4-11, Diehl 2-0-0-5, Evans 6-5-10-18, Rossi 0-0-0-0, Lucas 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-11-24-54.

Marian 9 11 16 11 - 47

Sch. Haven 10 9 19 16 - 54

Three-pointers: Marian - Tirpak 1, Nunez 1, Ja. De La Cruz 1; Sch. Haven - Evans 2, Kelly 1, Diehl 1.

Records: Marian (2-2; 1-2); Schuylkill Haven (6-0; 3-0).