POTTSVILLE - Team Invincible became nearly mortal Monday evening at Martz Hall.

You see, no one this side of the Kittatinny Mountain Tunnel on the Pennsylvania Turnpike figures to disrupt Minersville's undefeated girls at least until late March.But for all of nearly four quarters of play in the District 11 Class 2A semifinals, the Battlin' Miners were getting battle-tested by Marian.In case you missed it, the Fillies drove Minersville bonkers in a January contest, keeping the game closer than anticipated before the end result.This time it was a little different. Head coach Paul Brutto was burning up early timeouts. The Marian mentor was grasping for a straw hoping to slow down a team that will railroad you out of a gym in a New York City heartbeat.And then the complexion turned for the better for the Fillies. Unlike the first meeting, Marian made it close to the wire. However, in the end, Minersville proved its mettle, holding off a determined foe before emerging 49-39.The winners had plenty of firepower, with Ardienne Kroznuskie leading the way with 16 points. Maggie Wigoda and Abby Schoffstall both added 11, while Emily Mealey had nine. Marian could only counter with 19 points from Brenna Karnish and 13 by Emily Shaud."They played really hard, and you've got to give Marian credit," said winning coach Jared Homa. "They're tough-nosed kids; we knew we were going to be in a battle right off the bat."Homa said the key came on the defensive side, as his team broke free from being down 32-31 with 5:55 to play. Karnish, a senior, who was trying so desperately to will her team to victory, along with freshman sensation Shaud, had given Marian its final lead of the contest.Karnish poured in a pair of fouls to start the second half before driving to the iron for another go-ahead basket.After that short-lived Fillies lead, it was all curtains in a battle of physicality."Yeah it got physical out there," said Brutto. "You know they haven't lost to anyone (in the state playoffs) since Neuman-Gorretti in 2012. Our kids laid it all on the line ... executed our game plan ... trying to be patient somewhat and looking to score."At times, bodies were all over the court in a contest that took on a no-harm, no-foul playground encounter. And neither team backed away from the contact. Brutto's club was certainly in a pickle when they fell behind 12-1 and he had to quell the nerves."I called those (timeouts) because we were not executing, and the way they can come at you I just wanted to calm our kids down," said Brutto.Marian heeded those words, rallying to close the first quarter down 19-11 thanks to a trey from Macy Alansky, baskets by Karnish and Shaud, and a putback from Emma McClafferty.The Fillies' fury kept on raging in the second frame and, believe it or not, took a 23-20 lead. Shaud and Gianna Agosti opened with buckets before Mealey answered. Karnish dropped a triple, and Shaud also hit a trey before adding another drive to the basket for the first lead by her team.By halftime, Marian was back in the storm even though Minersville poured in eight straight points. Schoffstall scored half of those, springing her team to a 29-28 advantage."We had to slow them down," said Homa. "We had to take away Karnish and Shaud from driving ... we did a pretty good job of that, and holding them to 11 points in the second half was big."Marian started to feel the lack of depth right near the close of the third quarter. After Karnish nailed her go-ahead basket, the Miners netted the final nine points for a 40-32 lead."It was pretty lopsided early," said Brutto of the bad start. "But I'm pretty proud of the kids. I think we did everything we could."UP AND AWAY ... The battle of rebounds went to the Miners, 41-31. Mealey had 13, with Wigoda getting 10. Three players had four each for Marian.SHOT DOWN ... Neither team set the house on fire, as Marian shot 14-35, and Minersville 13-45.NEXT UP ... Minersville, which has won 25 straight, will now meet Mahanoy Area Thursday for the district title. Mahanoy crushed Moravian Academy, 60-30, in the other semifinal game.MARIANKarnish 6-5-6-19, Shaud 5-1-2-13, Alansky 1-0-0-3, Agosti 1-0-0-2, McClafferty 1-0-0-2, Raabe 0-0-0-0, Schwabe 0-0-0-0, Correalle 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-6-8-39.MINERSVILLEKroznuskie 4-4-4-16, Wigoda 2-7-11-11, Schoffstall 4-3-5-11, Mealey 3-3-4-9, Kriston 1-0-0-2, Nawrocki 0-0-0-0, Bentz 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-19-27-49.Marian 11 17 4 7 - 39Minersville 19 10 11 9 - 49Three-pointers: Marian - Karnish 2, Shaud 2, Alansky. Minersville - Kroznuskie 4.