BERWICK — Sixteen lead changes, clutch plays and big moments.

District 11 No. 2 seed Marian, and District 2 No. 2 seed Wyoming Seminary, played their hearts out and left everything on the floor in their PIAA Class 2A second round matchup Tuesday night at Berwick High School.

But when the dust settled, it was the Blue Knights that were able to make a few more plays in the fourth quarter to capture a 46-43 victory over the Fillies.

Marian set the tone, jumping out to a 13-5 lead.

A 9-0 run, aided by Deanna Pugh’s aggressive takes to the rim got the Fillies the early advantage. Pugh scored nine points in the opening period.

Wyoming Seminary battled back to end the first, though, going on a 7-0 run of its own to make it 13-12 going into the second. Two three-pointers from Seminary’s Ella Stambaugh, a 6-2 junior committed to play college ball at Richmond, fueled the rally.

“Deanna was really aggressive tonight,” said Marian head coach Jeff Onuscho. “She did a great job against their pressure, and their pressure was something that we were worried about. They actually had to get out of their press because of Deanna.

“We changed up our press offense a little bit to try and get Deanna in space more, and we were able to get her in some space early and she took advantage of that for sure.”

The second frame was an absolute slugfest, as the Fillies and Blue Knights exchanged the lead seven times. An Addy Marek three with 1:12 to go in the half made it 22-21 in favor of Marian, but a huge make from beyond the arc to end the second by Ellie Kersey gave Wyoming Seminary momentum and a 26-24 lead at the break.

Marek and Stambaugh went head-to-head in the second. Marek scored seven in the quarter, while Stambaugh tallied nine.

The third quarter was the best of the night for Marian, as the Fillies’ defense locked down the Blue Knights, allowing just one field goal.

A Brooke Hannis-Miskar triple to start the period put the Fillies up one, and a deuce from Pugh later in the quarter extended the lead to three — which is the advantage Marian held going into the fourth.

“We didn’t get Ella Stambaugh as many touches as we would’ve liked to in the third, but again that’s a credit to them, because they had a great defensive game plan,” said Wyoming Seminary coach C.J. Kersey. “And they have really improved. We saw them earlier in the season, and I don’t think I’ve seen a team improve more than they have from the beginning of the season to now.”

“Ella then did a great job as the game went on of realizing that she was getting doubled, and made some great passes late in the game for us. I thought her unselfishness was a key for us down the stretch.”

The Blue Knights looked like they were going to take control after back-to-back buckets from Natalina DeNaples made it 42-36 at the 2:48 mark. That’s when Stambaugh went into distribution mode late in the game running the point, getting several of her teammates good looks at the rim.

The Fillies, however, fought back. Two made free throws and a drive and finish from Marek, who went 4-for-4 from the line in the fourth, closed the gap to two with 1:04 to play.

Hannis-Miskar followed with a clutch corner three-pointer and just like that, Marian was up 43-42.

Wyoming Seminary regained the lead with a head’s-up play. The Blue Knights inbounded the ball quickly after Hannis-Miskar’s bucket, getting it down the floor to Olivia Evans for a wide open lay-in with 27.9 seconds to play.

The Fillies had a few chances to either tie or take the lead, but couldn’t get a shot to drop. After two pressure free throws from Seminary’s Stella Ruiz, Marian’s desperation three with five seconds remaining was deflected, falling short of the rim.

“I thought we did a great job in the third quarter defensively,” said Onushco. “We threw some different defenses in there to try and limit Stambaugh’s touches. Addy Marek did a great job on her and got some blocks on her. Stambaugh is a Division 1 player and the way Addy played tonight against her, I think she needs to start getting some looks there as well.”

“I’m just extremely proud of these girls. To be as young as we are and to start the season the way we started; I’ve said this multiple times that I’m just so proud of our growth. All of our girls that got in there stepped up tonight and played very well.”

LEADING SCORERS ... For Marian, Pugh led the way with 16 points. Marek added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Hannis-Miskar chipped in with nine points. For Wyoming Seminary, Stambaugh scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed nine boards.

MARIAN

Pugh 7-0-0-16, Minzola 1-1-2-3, Hannis-Miskar 3-0-0-9, Knock 0-0-0-0, DeCosmo 0-0-0-0, Marek 4-6-6-15. TOTALS: 15-7-8-43.

WYOMING SEMINARY

Ruiz 1-3-4-6, DeNaples 5-0-0-10, Evans 2-0-0-4, Dougherty 0-0-0-0, Stambaugh 7-2-3-20, Kersey 2-2-3-6, Gross 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-7-10-46.

Wyoming Sem. 12 14 2 18 - 46

Marian 13 11 7 14 - 42

Three-pointers: Marian - Hannis-Miskar 3, Pugh 2, Marek 1; Wyoming Seminary - Stambaugh 4, Ruiz 1.

Records: Marian (15-12); Wyoming Seminary (19-7).