No matter how ugly a basketball game is offensively, defense can bail a team out of any situation.

Although Marian manufactured just 40 points in its Schuylkill League affair with Weatherly,the Colts were absolutely stout defensively over the duration of the first three periods.The Colts held the Wreckers to single digits in each of the first three quarters (3, 7, 3 respectively) on their way to a 40-29 victory.These two tams couldn't be more opposite of one another. Marian checked 10 players into the contest, as Weatherly was limited to just six. The Wreckers like to spread the ball around the perimeter due to lack of size; as the Colts like to play in the paint."I was very happy with they we battled," said Weatherly head coach Ron Cann. "We just didn't make shots. I thought everyone played well in spurts, but we play hard. We're a small team with a small margin for error. We have to improve on our fundamentals. Once we improve on them, everything will get better."Despite the slow start, Weatherly's Luke Reiner scored the Wreckers' first seven points and kept his team within striking distance at half.Unfortunately for the Wreckers, Brandon Mohammed checked into the contest for Marian and provided a huge spark during the middle of the game for Marian. The second year sophomore led Marian with 11 points. The Colts had a 16-3 spurt in the third frame to blow the game wide open, and eventually gave the Colts a 20-point advantage."He's such a talented who is only a sophomore," said Marian head coach John Patton. "He can shoot the ball and is such a defensive presence that can alter shots. He works so hard, it's hard to figure out all of these pieces have.""We got some inside looks and we were able to convert. We got some easy layups that forced the game to be up-tempo a little bit. It's hard to try and figure out who is going to be the best combination out there. Everyone does something different well, and you try and take advantage of it."Weatherly made some adjustments after halftime and they finally showed on the court during an impressive 16-point fourth quarter. Cann's squad went on a 9-0 run of their own, and cut a once 20-point deficit to just 11 points. However, it was simply too little, too late for Weatherly.Cann explained, "We played much better in the second half. We didn't make many shots early on and there the ball away, but I was very happy with the defensive intensity and the hustle. We started making shots in the third and fourth quarters, and had much better ball movement. We started to penetrate the gaps and kick it, and we were fine, but their 16-3 spurt hurt us."Patton explained that he has a large roster, with a bunch of talented kids who have specific talents. The Marian coach gave much credit to Chris Weber's tenacious defense this season."He's great defensively for us. We weren't sure what defense we wanted to play, but we know that wherever we put him that he's going to excel for us. He's a kid that works very hard and you can always count on him to make the right play at the right time.""Some kids might not play often, but they're always ready to go. We don't have a set lineup and we don't have one group of players that will play a majority of the game. They're a great bunch of kids to work with and I think they're looking forward to the rest of the season."WEATHERLYReiner 3-3-5-10, Kelly 3-0-0-8, Figas 1-1-2-4, Miller 1-0-2-2, Bizzare 0-0-0-0, Moon 2-0-0-5. TOTALS: 10-4-9-29.MARIANKarnish 0-0-0-0, Woitko 0-0-0-0, Vercusky 3-0-0-6, Puza 0-2-2-2, Paisley 0-0-0-0, Kuczynski 0-1-5-1, Cortese 0-0-0-0, DeAngelo 5-0-0-10, Mohammed 4-1-1-11, Wesner 5-0-0-10, Weber 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-4-8-40.Weatherly 3 7 3 16 - 29Marian 7 11 16 6 - 40Three-pointers: Weatherly - Reiner 1, Kelly 2, Figas 1, Moon 1; Marian - Mohammed 2