This one was hard to handicap.

Shenandoah Valley thrust into the lion’s den - unsure of how to defend a Marian team that fires missiles from every angle, and missing their second-leading scorer.

The Colts figured to saddle the visitors with a second loss in the Schuylkill League Division 3 play and douse any hopes the Devils had of keeping pace with the front-runner, Nativity.

But strange things do happen - and they did Friday when shorthanded Shenandoah pulled out a 72-63 victory.

The win keeps the Devils hopes of catching a Nativity team that is still unbeaten in league play alive, as they improved to 7-1 in the league and 14-3 overall.

Marian on the other hand drops to 4-3 in the league and 8-5 overall.

A season series sweep didn’t seem likely for the Blue Devils, who outlasted the Colts 49-41 back in December, when they lost heady power forward Luke Matta earlier in the week with a knee injury.

But good teams find ways to rise to the occasion.

“I’ll tell you; Luke did a great job of getting Brian Rivera ready to play,” is the way Shenandoah coach Robbie Miller assessed things. “He came to practice, and worked with Brian and showed him how to defend Brendan (Lonergan). Luke was the reason we won this game, he got him ready.”

Indeed, that was the case. Rivera was junk yard tough. He poured in 10 points in his first varsity start and snagged 16 rebounds, while keeping Lonergan - a relentless inside player - at bay the entire game.

“I was impressed with (Rivera),” said Marian coach John “The General” Patton. “You just don’t lose a talented player like Luke and expect to get someone to step in and play the way (Rivera) did.”

Meanwhile, Kaleb Maksimik and Owen Kosar combined to lead the Devils offensively.

Maksimik, a junior, played his best game of his career, leading the way with 22 points, while the usual, steady Kosar dropped in 18 points, going 14-18 from the charity line.

Marian was led by Lonergan’s 15 points, 13 from Frankie Valente, 10 from Jose Espaillat-Turbi and eight points and a team-leading 10 rebounds from Logan Fritz.

The Blue Devils sailed off with an early 11-6 lead, then used the threeball from Nick Mikita, and five points by Kosar to maintain a lead (31-25) at halftime.

Marian made its best run of the evening early in the third quarter. Trailing 33-27, the Coltsrode the play of Joe Walko, Fritz and Lonergan for its first lead of the game at 36-34.

Undaunted, Shenandoah Valley quickly turned the tables whizzing in front 50-40.

The Colts never did get another breath of fresh air. Though there was a slight spark thanks to Valente and Isaac Ferrara who combined to the the lead to 60-55 with 3:16 to play. But the Devils kept answering at the charity stripe, sinking 10-straight fouls - including four each from Maksimik and Kosar - to stay in front.

“What an effort we got from everybody,” Miller said. “To come here and beat a quality team like Marian on their floor says a lot about our kids responded.”

ONE REFEREE … What a great job of officiating by Stephen Serensits was forced to work solo after Frank Molchan went down with a possible hamstring injury with 2:16 to play in the second quarter. Serensits did a super job considering the intensity of the big game.

NUMBERS STORY … SV had the better of it rebounding with 39-34 edge. Shots found Marian going 23-for-63 and Shenandoah making 17 of 51.

BIG LOSS … Matta, who committed to play baseball next year for Villanova as a pitcher, could be gone for the season.

SHENANDOAH

Maksimik 4-11-12-22, Kosar 2-14-18-18, Rivera 4-0-0-10, Alvarez 2-3-4-8, Mikita 3-0-1-8, Boris 2-0-0-6, Hernandez 0-0-0-0. Totals 17-29-34-72.

MARIAN

Lonergan 6-3-6-15, Valente 5-1-3-13, Espaillat-Turbi 3-4-4-13, Fritz 2-2-2-/, Ferrara 2-0-2-6, Je. Rodino 2-0-0-4, Walko 2-0-0-4, Currie 1-0-0-3, Bobish 0-0-0-0. Totals 23-10-17-63

Shenandoah 11 20 19 22 – 72

Marian 6 19 17 21 - 63

Three-pointers: SV - Maksimik 3, Boris 2, Alvarez 1. M - Fritz 2, Valente 2, Ferrara 2, Curie 1.