It was a special Saturday night for Marian last week as the Colts shot the lights out at Martz Hall and came away with the District 11 2A championship with a win over Tri-Valley.

Marian will look to keep that momentum going this weekend as well, as the Colts take on Linville Hill Christian in the first round of the state tournament on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in their gym in Hometown.

The Colts (13-11) hit 11 three-pointers against the Bulldogs, with freshman Greg Tirpak hitting six of them, and sophomore Yaniel Nunez coming through with three big makes from beyond the arc.

On the season, Marian is averaging almost seven three-pointers per game. Tirpak leads the team with 42 triples, followed by juniors Jacob De La Cruz (35), Justin De La Cruz (34), Yaniel Nunez (23) and Bryan Ferreira (20).

Sophomore Rocco Griguoli leads a balanced scoring attack for the Colts this season, averaging 11 points per game. Griguoli has also been strong on the boards, ripping down 9.1 rebounds per game, and has been dominant in the postseason in the rebounding department.

Jacob De La Cruz is averaging 9.25 points per game, with Tirpak (7.29 pog), Justin De La Cruz (7.25 ppg), Ferreira (6.53 ppg) and Nunez (6.0 ppg) all contributing on the offensive end of the floor.

“Our guys are playing with a ton of confidence. All of them were really on cloud nine and deservingly so, because that’s a special win,” said Marian head coach Scott Murphy. “And you definitely want to let them enjoy it. But this week has been about getting back to work. We obviously had one of our best shooting nights of the season, so we’re looking to build off that.

“And I saw the Tri-Valley head coach had some interesting comments after the championship game, that we won’t ever shoot the ball like that again anytime soon or in the next five seasons. So, apparently he is both a basketball coach and a prophet.

“But we’re focusing on getting better, and doing the little things you need to do to in order to advance against a good opponent. Set good screens, make hard cuts, play good defense. Our goal is to hang in there and give ourselves a shot in the fourth quarter. And if we can do that, I trust my guys to make the plays.”

The Colts will be taking on a Linville Hill squad (24-3) that lost a tight one to York Catholic (48-46). The Warriors also boast a strong scoring attack in which they spread the points around.

Giovanni Sejuste leads the way with 14.3 points per game. He’s followed by Stephen Smucker (14.2 ppg) and Derian Peterseim (12.2 ppg). Peterseim leads the team with 65 three-pointers. The Warriors are averaging an impressive 67 points per game.

“Linville is a very good team. They’re a senior-heavy team, so it’s a veteran group. They’re all very strong and physical. And they also have a strong balanced calling attack,” said Murphy. “At one time this season, they were ranked No. 1 in the state. They’re going to play man-to-man, and they’re going to push the ball. They like to run, so we’re going to need to do a good job getting back on defense, and also in the rebounding department. We cannot give them second and third chances.

“A key for us is going to be mixing up our defenses. Our zone was very effective last week, but I think in this one we’re going to switch it up and you’re going to see a mixed bag. We have a great coach in Paul Brutto on our bench that helps with that, and he does a great job of seeing those situations. Again, we’re just going to do our best to hang in there and give ourselves a shot. We’re excited for this opportunity and we’re ready to go.”