Marian head coach John Patton knows it is going to take some time for his team to gel.

Several players are coming off a grueling football season that just ended last Friday and are simply hoping to get their legs under them while also finding a place in the lineup.If the first night of the season was any indication, these new-look Colts appear to be on the right track after reaching the District 11 Class AA playoffs a year ago.Marian held off a hungry Panther Valley team to capture the second game of the PV Tip-Off Tourney, 58-46."I think we got a lot of what we expected," Patton said. "We got a lot of new guys in the lineup in different positions and guys that haven't been around; some of our football players have just been here for the last few days."So it's a matter of getting everybody acclimated. We moved people in and out of the game, everybody was willing to sacrifice their personal stuff for the team."And the Colts (1-0) proved to be more than up to the task to get the job done.Marian's biggest contributions came from Brandon Mohammed (12 points, 16 rebounds) and Josh Inama (11 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks), who teamed up to provide a dominant post presence."It was critical," Patton said of the performances. "We knew playing zone that they (Panther Valley) were going to have to take shots from the outside, and we did a good job getting the rebounds."And that's what we're looking for. Those guys played well. For the first game, they really dominated on the glass."The Panthers (0-1) were able to find space in the zone, with point guard Rene Figueroa (12 points) opening up the offense for Tristan Blasko (16 points) and Matt Hudicka (10 points).But when the shots didn't fall, Marian was able to limit any second chance opportunities."We were concerned on the boards and it obviously came back to kill us," said Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie. "It was something that we stressed all week and we knew that they had a lot of athletes that could jump; they have guys that can jump out of the gym."We knew that was going to be a concern, and we were focused on our positioning. I think at times we lost some guys. We played a lot of zone, so I understand that happens. But I just think we need to be a little more focused on our task and our job on the defensive end because at times we were getting a body on somebody too late and they already had position."The Panthers never went away, though, and trailed just 26-21 at the half.Marian surged in the third quarter, taking its biggest lead at 40-28. But Panther Valley answered, cutting the deficit to 40-32.The Colts got momentum to swing their way just before the end of the third, as Ethan Kuczynski (8 points) converted a three-point play to end the period that gave the Colts a 43-32 advantage heading into the final quarter.Marian increased its lead to as many as 14 points (50-36) in the fourth before the Panthers got it down to 54-46 late in the period. But a 4-0 run by the Colts put the game away and set the final margin."I was very pleased with our mindset and our focus," Crampsie said. "I thought we played tough, and that wasn't the case at times last year. I thought tonight we looked like a tough, scrappy team and we are absolutely going to need that on every possession of every game all year."REMATCH ... Marian will take on Mahanoy Area in tonight's championship game. The Golden Bears defeated the Colts 60-57 in last year's District 11 Class AA semifinals. "Mahanoy-Marian matchups are always fun," said Patton. "You saw what they did tonight (defeating Jim Thorpe 58-46) and it will be a lot of fun. Hopefully we get a nice crowd. It's always good when these two teams get together."MARIANCortese 0-0-0-0, Woitko 2-4-4-9, Puza 0-0-0-0, Karchner 0-0-2-0, Paisley 3-2-5-9, Kuczynski 3-2-3-8, DeAngelo 2-3-3-7, 0-0-0-0, Mohammed 3-6-11-12, Inama 4-3-4-11, Collevechio 0-2-3-2. TOTALS: 17-22-35-58.PANTHER VALLEYFigueroa 4-2-8-12, Stanko 1-0-0-2, Micholik 1-0-0-2, Miller 1-0-0-2, Hudicka 4-0-0-10, Fisher 0-0-0-0, Blasko 8-0-0-16, Emmert 1-0-0-2, Morgans 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-2-8-46.Marian 13 13 17 15 - 58Panther Vy. 10 11 11 14 - 46Three-pointers - Marian: Woitko 1, Paisley 1. Panther Valley: Figueroa 2, Hudicka 2.