Slow and steady doesn't always win the race, and the Marian boys' basketball team can attest to that fact.

The Colts' slow start on Saturday night spelled certain doom in their attempt to defeat Mahanoy Area in the Panther Valley Tip Off Tournament championship game. The Golden Bears eventually outlasted the Colts to take the season-starting title, 58-48.A 14-2 first frame thrust Marian into a hole that it was never able to escape."It's definitely a good feeling to come up here and get good wins over two quality teams in Jim Thorpe and Marian," Mahanoy Area head coach Ethan Eichhorst said. "Both of them were good tests for us to start the season off so we are glad to come out with the victories."Six Marian turnovers and several missed field goals yielded plenty of opportunities for the winners to build their big first quarter lead. The Bears' Mike Joseph tallied six points in that initial frame, with teammate Mike Wronski adding four.The remainder of the contest saw Marian outscore its opponents, 46-44, but the damage was done as Mahanoy's ability to play 'front-runner' was put on display. Much like their previous win over Jim Thorpe the night before, the Bears limited any chance of a comeback, stifling their foes every time they closed the gap to under double digits."We try to preach to the guys to get on them early and try to coast to the end," Eichhorst admitted. "Our defense was executed well and it's kind of our 'bread and butter,' playing that man-to-man defense and it worked out well."The Colts closed the gap to nine points four different times, and each time, the winners responded with big play after big play."We're still learning to play with each other and it's a little bit of a struggle, but once some of those shots start to drop, we should be in good shape," Marian head coach John Patton said. "(Mahanoy) is in mid-season form and even though we were able to cut their lead from 20 down to eight, they had guys that hit big shots and put themselves into position to be successful."IN GOOD COMPANY ... The PV Tip Off Tournament's All-Tournament Team selections were announced following the final, as Jim Thorpe's Brendan Carroll, the Panther Valley tandem of Rene Figueroa and Tristan Blasko, Marian's Brandon Mohammed, along with Mahanoy's Matt Yedsena were all chosen. The MVP of the tourney was Mike Joseph of Mahanoy Area.STATS, STATS! ... Despite the loss, Marian actually out-rebounded the Bears 35-31 in the contest, as Josh Inama's 11 boards and Mohammed's 10 led the way.FANTASY TRACKER ... Joseph hit for 21 points for the winners to lead all scorers on the evening, while teammate Mike Wronski added 11 and Yedsena 10. For Marian, John Woitko led the way with 13, while Mohammed added 11.MAHANOY AREAWronski 4-0-0-11, Yedsena 5-0-0-10, M. Derr 0-0-0-0, Styka 2-3-3-8, McGee 1-0-3-2, Joseph 6-7-8-21, R. Derr 3-0-0-6. TOTALS: 21-10-14-58.MARIANCortese 1-0-1-2, Woitko 5-0-0-13, Puza 2-0-0-4, Karchner 0-0-0-0, Paisley 3-0-0-8, Kuczynski 1-0-2-2, DeAngelo 0-0-0-0, Mohammed 5-0-2-11, Plesh 0-0-0-0, Mummey 1-0-0-3, Inama 0-5-7-5, Collevechio 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-5-12-48.Mah. Area 14 13 19 12 - 58Marian 2 14 15 17 - 48Three pointers: MA - Wronski 3, Joseph 2, Styka 1; M - Woitko 3, Paisley 2, Mummey 1, Mohammed 1.