Coaches of opponents of Coach Damian Fritz’s well-balanced Marian Fillies basketball team know the challenge for their teams is to stop the inside game and the Blue and Gold’s uncanny outside shooting abilities.

The difficulty, however, is stopping both.

New Hope-Solebury Head Coach Andrew Krasna found that out on Saturday night when the Fillies turned to their three-point arc launching pad – specifically behind the launches of Deanna Pugh and Addy Fritz – to turn back the visiting Lions, 47-44, to win the Marian Christmas Tournament played on Coaches Court of the John J. ‘Jack’ Malarkey Gymnasium in Hometown.

But it wasn’t easy.

To be sure, the previously undefeated Lions, who entered the game at 7-0 and atop the District 11/1 Subregional Class 3A rankings, gave the host Fillies all they could handle, cutting their lead to two, 44-42, with just 2:14 left on the clock. A key steal by Olivia Serfass with 1:17 left to play stopped the Lions’ threat to tie the game or take the lead with a triple, temporarily saving the day, before the Fillies turned the ball over with less than a minute to play.

Serfass’ key rebound again put the Fillies in a position to win, after which a three-point play by Fritz with 37 seconds on the clock gave the Fillies the tourney title and a 10-1 record after their eighth win in a row.

Krasna’s game plan kept the Lions in striking distance throughout the night, to which the coach said, “I couldn’t be more proud of the girls. We played five girls all 32 minutes. We knew No. 1 (Serfass) is really good at the post, so our game plan was to keep the ball out of her hands. But, it was a case of picking your poison, and they beat us on the perimeter.”

Pugh, the tiniest girl on the court, was really special on the night, hitting six of 12 shots from the floor, all from beyond the arc.

“I’m so proud of her,” Fritz said afterward. “She didn’t have a good night yesterday (Friday) against Jim Thorpe (in the tourney opener), but her mindset was great post-game, and she made up her mind she was going to do better. Obviously, tonight she certainly was.”

The Fillies’ ‘mighty mite’ tallied a game-high 18 points while Addy Fritz added 15, including three triples and the crucial three-point play that sealed the deal at the game’s end. Addy Marek added seven points, and was a force on the boards with five offensive and nine defensive rebounds.

Behind three triples by Pugh, the Fillies took a 17-12 lead after one period, but a scoreless drought that lasted from the 6:24 mark to the 2:34 point before intermission enabled the Lions to score eight straight points, six on a pair of treys by Isabella Elizondo.

And when Kayla Fennel banked one off the glass at the 3:01 point, the Lions had their first lead, 20-19. Fritz’s triple broke the scoreless stretch, giving the Fillies a 22-20 lead, and she laid one up at the buzzer to make it 24-20 at the half.

Still not done, the Lions, trailing 33-25 in the third, outscored the Fillies 9-3, sandwiching a Marek triple between two buckets by Mary Tressler, a triple by Elizondo and a deuce from Fennell, making it 36-34.

Serfass, who at that point got off only two shots, nailed a three, as did Pugh, and Marian led 44-40 with 5:12 remaining. The Fillies then went the next 4-1/2 minutes without scoring before the basket by Fritz and a free throw made it 47-42, and was for all intents and purposes a Fillie win.

“They (the Lions) are well-coached, and they did a good job in taking Olivia (Serfass) out of the game offensively,” said Coach Fritz. “But her abilities on defense, and her coming up with the steal and rebound late in the game, were a big difference. And with them concentrating on her, we took full advantage of other opportunities, which makes us even harder to guard. That’s high school basketball. We also did enough defensively to disrupt their offense and came away with the win.”

As for the visitors, Krasna added, “We were concerned about their full-court pressure, but I think we handled it pretty good with two very experienced guards. Overall, we had a tremendous experience here, and the nature of the competition will help us to get ready for a tough schedule ahead. We’d like to come back if we’re invited.”

ON A ROLL ... Marian has now won eight straight games since a loss to Lake Lehman on Dec. 5.

MARIAN

O. Serfass 1-0-0-3, Fritz 5-2-3-15, Pugh 6-0-0-18, Hasara 1-1-2-4, Marek 3-0-1-7, Thomas 0-0-0-0, Carone 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-3-6-47.

NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY

E. Wilson 4-2-2-13, Elizondo 4-0-0-11, Duduck 2-0-0-4, Fennell 3-0-0-7, Tresler 3-3-3-9. TOTALS: 16-5-5-44.

Marian 17 7 14 9 – 47

New Hope 12 8 17 7 - 44

Three-pointers: Marian – Pugh 6, Fritz 3, Hasara 1, Marek 1, Serfass 1. New Hope – Wilson 3, Elizondo 3, Fennell 1.

Records: Marian (10-1); New Hope-Solebury (7-1)