It comes in spurts for the Marian boys basketball team.

A lightning rod, if you will.

One moment, the Colts look sluggish — just a trot, nothing overwhelming. Then, in a flash, they hit you square in the kisser.

That was the case Friday night against visiting Williams Valley in the next-to-last regular-season Schuylkill Boys Basketball League Division 2 game for both teams.

The last time out in Williamstown, Marian squeezed across the finish line with a 48-44 win — nothing fancy, but the Colts came up big down the stretch.

In the rematch, Marian struggled to find a rhythm early, playing a sluggish, slow-motion first half. Then, on a bitter cold evening, the Colts turned up the heat and delivered a knockout punch late to bury the Vikings, 53-42.

The Colts needed timely contributions from junior James “The Kid” Cannon and Greg “The Dude” Tirpak. Neither led the team in scoring, but both did enough to keep Williams Valley from gaining momentum.

“I’m feeling more comfortable each game,” Cannon said after making his first start of the season.

“He’s really stepping up and getting comfortable, you’ve got to realize he was on the JVs to start the season and now he’s really come on for us,” Tirpak said.

Cannon and Tirpak combined for 18 points, with Cannon scoring 11. The spotlight belonged to Jake Tom, who twisted and turned his way to a team-high 15 points. Brothers Justin De La Cruz (11 points) and Jake De La Cruz (9) also played key roles.

The turning point came with 3:49 remaining. Williams Valley had cut a 10-point deficit. Cannon opened the final stretch with an old-fashioned three-point play for a 42-32 lead, but the Vikings responded. Gabe Rodriguez hit two free throws and Evan Kandybowski drilled a 3-pointer to spark a charge.

Marian coach Paul Brutto quickly called timeout to stop the momentum.

“You know they were killing us in our man (defense) and for as much as I hate zones, our press bothered them,” Brutto said.

That’s when the flash came.

Marian forced four straight turnovers, leading to a Jake De La Cruz foul conversion, a Tom bucket in the lane, and two points apiece from Justin and Jake De La Cruz. The run stretched the lead to 49-37 with 1:24 to play.

Checkmate came soon after when Jake De La Cruz added another conversion.

“The last time we faced them I hit five 3s,” Tirpak said. “We knew they were going to switch up their defense.”

Williams Valley did just that, making sure the 6-foot-3 sophomore didn’t get many clean looks.

“(Cannon) has a great touch, Greg can shoot it and when he gets hot, it gives us a good outside scorer,” Brutto said.

The game went back and forth through the first two quarters. Williams Valley spread the offense around, with Kandybowski, Evan Achenbach, Bryce Zilinski and Rodriguez all contributing. Rodriguez buried two 3-pointers before halftime, while Achenbach (14 points) and Kandybowski (10) consistently beat Marian’s man pressure.

The Vikings took a 23-17 lead with 2:01 left in the first half, but Cannon knocked down a 3-pointer to trim the deficit. Marian tied it at 25-25 on a Justin De La Cruz basket.

Then came the hammer.

With 3.2 seconds left before halftime, Tom launched a runner from behind halfcourt that dropped for a 3-pointer, giving Marian its first lead at 28-25.

The Colts still led after three quarters, 39-32, setting the stage for the late surge.

“It’s kind of funny the way we do things, one minute were executing, then the next we’re going crazy things out there,” Brutto said.

It was no different in this win. You can’t change the DNA — just enjoy the moment.

RELIEF HELP ... Cannon has come full circle since the start of the season. After Rocco Griguoli suffered a season-ending foot injury, Cannon worked his way into the varsity rotation and has been a plus factor.

LET IT FLY ... Tirpak, Marian’s quarterback on the football team, showed that skill late when he fired a full-court pass to Tom to break a Williams Valley press.

COUNT ’EM UP ... Marian shot 20-for-50, grabbed 33 rebounds and committed 12 turnovers. Williams Valley shot 16-for-34, committed 24 turnovers and also pulled down 33 rebounds.

WILLIAMS VALLEY

Achenbach 6-0-0-14, Kandybowski 4-2-7-10, Rodriguez 2-3-4-9, B. Zilinski 2-0-1-4, K. Zelinski 1-0-0-2, Dickerson 1-1-2-3, Rautzahn 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-6-14-42.

MARIAN

Tom 7-0-2-15, Ju. DeLaCruz 3-3-4-11, Cannon 4-1-2-11, Ja. DeLaCruz 3-3-4-9, Tirpak 3-0-0-7, Do. Rodino 0-0-0-0, Knock 0-0-0-0, Acosta 0-0-0-0, Nunez 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-7-12-53.

Williams Vy. 14 11 7 10 - 42

Marian 13 15 11 14 - 53

Three-pointers: Williams Valley - Achenbach 2, Rodriguez 2, Dickerson ; Marian - Ju.DeLaCruz 2, Tirpak 1, Tom 1.

Records: Williams Valley (8-11; 6-6); Marian (9-10; 6-7).