POTTSVILLE Perhaps its only fitting that in a contest dominated by defense, the star of the game had just one field goal.

But that's exactly how many baskets Marian's Emily Sofranko made and a star is exactly what she was.Thanks in large part to her contributions, the Fillies beat powerful North Schuylkill, 31-28, in the semifinals of the Schuylkill League playoffs on Wednesday night at Martz Hall.Playing a game that a boxscore just couldn't do justice to, Sofranko harassed, hassled and tormented North Schuylkill ballhandlers from the opening tap until the final buzzer."She's the best on-ball defender in the league and probably the best on-ball defender I've ever coached," said Marian's Paul Brutto. "She's just relentless."(Tiffany) Lapotsky is a great point guard who really makes their offense go and Emily did an incredible job of pressuring her tonight."Sofranko wasn't alone when it came to outstanding defensive play, however, as the Fillies suffocated a high-powered Spartan offense that entered the contest averaging over 53 points a game."My main job is to play tough defense," said Sofranko. "I just try to stay as active as possible and use my quickness to pressure the ballhandler as much as possible."But I get so much help from my teammates. Everyone is in the right position and is there to help out when I get beat. It's a total team effort."That's exactly what was needed against a North Schuylkill team that was riding a 13-game win streak and brought a 20-2 record into the game."That's a great basketball team we beat tonight," said Brutto. "Their only losses were by three points to Allentown Central Catholic and by one-point to Burrell, who I believed is the third-ranked team in the state."This was the best defense we've played in a long time. Coach (Jeff) Onushco said since (the state championship team in) 2008 and he's probably right. It was outstanding team defense."That defense kept Marian in the game during the first half, despite the fact that the Fillies were 2-for-24 from the field.North Schuylkill couldn't take advantage of the Fillies' shooting woes because they made just 3 of 15 shots and committed eight turnovers in the half that ended with the Spartans ahead, 10-8."We were the top two defensive teams in the league," said Brutto. "When you combine that with the fact that we were playing in a place that sometimes takes a little while to get adjusted to, I don't think it's a surprise that both teams struggled shooting the ball in the first half."Marian finally found its offensive rhythm in third quarter as Lindsay Nemeth buried a couple of three-pointers and Savanna Krusinsky scored a pair of inside baskets off feeds from Abbey Whildin, By quarter's end, the Fillies had built a 22-13 lead."We knew how good Marian's defense was coming into the game," said Spartan coach John Rizzo. "Give them a lot of credit. They did a great job of keeping us from getting into our offense."They made our offense look painfully out of sync."The Marian lead was still double digits (29-19) with less than five minutes remaining before North Schuylkill made a final charge.The Spartans closed to within 30-28 on a pair of Carly Gregas free throws with 1:40 remaining. They had three late possessions with a chance to tie or take the lead but never got a clean look as Marian turned to its defense to close out the win."You know a team as talented as North Schuylkill isn't going to go down quietly," said Brutto. "They turned up their defense in the fourth quarter and made a nice run. But we found a way down the stretch to make enough plays to hold them off."Marian's Krusinsky was the game's only double figure scorer as she finished with 10 points.The Fillies (21-1) will meet Minersville for the league championship on Friday at 6 p.m. in Pottsville. The Miners edged Pottsville, 46-42, in the opener.NORTH SCHUYLKILLMarone 1-0-0-2, Lapotsky 3-3-5-9, Paul 1-1-2-3, N. Spotts 0-2-2-2, Stokes 0-0-0-0, Gregas 2-5-6-9, Snyder 0-0-0-0, Damiter 1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 8-11-15-28.MARIANGreen 0-1-3-1, Whildin 1-3-4-6, A Fannick 0-0-0-0, Whitcavage 0-0-0-0, Sofranko 1-5-8-7, Nemeth 2-1-2-7, Krusinsky 4-2-5-10, Holman 0-0-0-0.. TOTALS: 8-12-22-31.No. Schuylkill 5 5 3 15 - 28Marian 3 5 14 9 - 31Three-pointers: NS - Damiter 1. Marian - Nemeth 2, Whildin 1.