Round 2 goes to the Bulldogs.

It was another tightly contested matchup between a pair of Schuylkill League rivals as the Marian and Tri-Valley boys basketball teams met for a rematch in Hometown after playing each other in December.

Their first encounter saw the Colts gain a one-point win, and Tuesday’s contest was looking like more of the same until the final frame when the Bulldogs pulled away and took home a 71-59 victory.

After Tri-Valley opened the scoring, the Colts quickly responded with the next seven points and a 14-4 run overall in the first quarter. Marian’s defensive pressure forced the Bulldogs into committing 10 first-half turnovers, but the visitors responded with a 12-5 spurt in the second quarter that saw Tri-Valley take a 30-27 halftime lead.

“I felt we handled their pressure a little bit better than we did before,” said Tri-Valley head coach Mike Masser about his team’s response to Marian’s defense. “That got to us a little bit at the loss at home, and we didn’t play real well at home. I knew the pressure was going to come, and I thought we did a pretty good job.”

Matt Roulston led the way for Tri-Valley with nine second-quarter points, and garnered a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

The second half kicked off with a 6-0 Colts’ run that was immediately answered by an 8-0 stretch by the Bulldogs that proved to turn the tide, as Tri-Valley’s Braeden Doyle caught fire with 10 third-quarter points.

The Colts kept it close as the Bulldogs held a 44-40 advantage after three quarters, but two quick threes from Tri-Valley to begin the fourth started a 17-5 frenzy that proved to be too large for Marian to overcome.

Doyle remained white hot, as he tallied another 13 points in the fourth and finished with 27.

For the Colts, the twin brother-duo of Justin and Jacob De La Cruz did their fair share in a losing effort, as Jacob finished with a team-high 17 points and six rebounds, while Justin ended with 16.

With a team as young as Marian, head coach Scott Murphy expects a fair amount of growing pains, as evidenced in the second half as Tri-Valley flipped the script and forced Marian to commit eight turnovers in the half.

“I try to impress upon the boys that in most cases you have more time than you think,” he said. “In the second half, we got a little fast. We kept pushing, and that’s going to lead to turnovers, especially when you have tired legs and tired minds.”

In spite of all the obstacles Marian has faced this year, Murphy had nothing but positive things to say about how his team has performed.

“I’m really proud of my guys’ effort,” he said. “They don’t quit and they play hard ... and we’re a young team. We have one senior (Dylan Rodino) in the locker room, and we rely on a lot of youth.

“These guys continue to grow. We’re getting a lot better, and I think sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t show that, but we are getting better. These kids show up every day and they bust their tails for me and my staff, and I think those dividends will pay off in the postseason as well as a couple of years to come.”

ROUND THREE? ... With only four teams in the District 11 Class 2A field, both the Colts and Bulldogs could meet again in the postseason for a third time.

TRI-VALLEY

Schwartz 3-0-0-6, Miller 1-0-0-3, Porter 1-2-2-5, Straub 0-0-0-0, Johnson 2-0-0-5, Roulston 7-3-4-19, Doyle 12-2-4-27, Klock 1-3-6-6. TOTALS: 27-10-16-71.

MARIAN

Catrone 3-0-0-6, Nunez 1-0-0-2, Justin De La Cruz 7-0-0-16, Rodino 1-0-0-2, Jacob De La Cruz 6-5-7-17, Osoria 0-0-0-0, Tirpak 2-1-2-7, Griguoli 4-1-5-9, Cannon 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-7-14-59.

Tri-Valley 13 17 14 27 - 71

Marian 18 10 12 19 - 59

Three-Pointers: Tri-Valley - Roulston 2, Miller 1, Porter 1, Johnson 1, Doyle 1, Klock 1; Marian - Justin De La Cruz 2, Tirpak 2.

Records: Tri-Valley (14-4; 9-3 SL); Marian (8-10; 5-7 SL).