Talk about lightning in a bottle.

Trailing Pleasant Valley by double digits at halftime, Marian came out and turned things around in the second half to pick up a 74-67 non-league victory on Wednesday night.

Whatever coach John Patton said or did during the halftime intermission is something he should bottle - because the Colts struck like lightning in the second half.

Make no mistake about it, the Colts had to find a way to adapt to the quicker Bears. They did that during the final two quarters when Brendan Lonergan and Logan Fritz help Marian rally for the win.

“Logan was a warrior tonight,” Patton said. “He did some standout things, and Brendan continued to do what he has been doing all year for us.”

Lonergan turned in a monster performance with 26 points and seven rebounds. Fritz may not have light up the scoreboard like his teammate, but what he did was stifle the inside play of the Bears.

But they weren’t alone as Julius “Iceman” Currie scored 17 points, including five triples, while Frank Valente and Jose Espaillat-Tubi added 14 and 12 points respectively.

“Hey, give the Marian kids credit. They came up big. They kept battling us and they deserved the win,” said Pleasant Valley coach Bobby Hahn. “We’ve had our share of problems. With COVID, we’ve been unable to practice as much as we would have liked and that has been an issue for us this season.”

The Bears have a standout in senior guard Donald Francois. He was the engine early and often, getting help from both Jared Moore and Patrick Moore.

Francois was tearing it up early and Marian was stammering before Patton switched up defense. The Colts went into a diamond-and-one, calling on Espaillat-Turbi and Joe Walko to cool off Francois, who finished with a sizzling 23 points.

“We never practiced it,” said Patton about his team’s switch to the diamond-and-one. “But they were killing our 2-3 zone, so we just said to the kids here’s what you need to do ... and it really worked out well.”

What worked even better was Marian’s ability to speed up the game on the offensive end in the second half. The Colts trailed 24-13 after one quarter and were still down by 10 points at halftime.

Without a doubt, Francois and Patrick Moore were dynamite as they combined for 28 of PV’s 43 first half points.

But the Colts turned things around, holding the Bears scoreless over the final six minutes of the third quarter. Meanwhile, Valente, Lonergan, Currie and Espaillat-Turbi were scoring for the Colts.

When the period ended, Marian trailed by just one (53-52) - and the best was yet to come for the Colts.

Behind five points from Fritz, Marian was ahead 65-57 with less than five minutes remaining. It then sealed the game from the foul line down the stretch.

“I really we did a great job of reacting and adjusting in the second half,” Patton said. “This was a huge win for us.”

IMPRESSIVE PLAY … Both sides were relentless at times. The Bears were doing it early before Francois got saddled with some second half foul trouble and eventually fouled out.

COUNT ‘EM … Marian went 27-for-48 from the floor, while Bears shot 26-for-63. Colts had the edge on the glass, 37-26. Turnovers had Marian with 12 - nine of them in the first quarter. The Bears committed 16.

PLEASANT VALLEY

Francois 7-5-9-23, P. Moore 7-4-6-18, Ratti 3-0-0-8, J. Moore 3-1-2-7 Knudsen 1-0-0-3, Williams 1-0-2-3, Blass 1-0-0-2, Pamdolfo 1-0-0-2, Hollenbeck 0-1-2-1. TOTALS: 24-11-21-67.

MARIAN

Lonergan 10-6-7-26, Currie 6-0-0-17, Valente 4-6-8-14, Espaillat-Turbi 5--2-3-12, Fritz 2-1-1-5, Trifino 0-0-2-0, Walko 0-0-0-0, Je. Rodino 0-0-0-0, Ferrora 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-15-21-74.

Pleasant Valley 24 19 10 14 – 67

Marian 13 20 19 22 – 74

Three-pointers: Pleasant Valley - Francois 4, Ratti 2, Knudsen 1, Williams 1. Marian - Currie 5