Marcus eked past Colleyville Heritage 58-55 on Monday and moves on to face Plano West in the second round of the Class 5A girls’ basketball playoffs.

   The Marauders (24-12 overall  know their area round opponent very well as the two have already faced one another twice this season in non-district action. The last meeting was back on Nov. 24 as Marcus won 36-32. Three days earlier, West won 50-49. Both will be district foes next season. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday at Frisco Heritage. 

   “It’s always better when you know you have played someone previously,” Marcus head coach Kit Kyle said of facing Plano West for the third time. “It will be a big game for both teams, and a tough one.”

    Plano West (24-10 overall) comes in having beat South Grand Prairie in the first round. They are also riding an 11-game win streak. Surprisingly, though, they are unranked.

    This is the third-straight year the Marauders have advanced to the second round, but they haven’t been able to get over that hump. Monday’s first round win was a huge one, however, for a Marauder team that had lost two of its final three district contests heading into the postseason.

   Kyle had also led her team against Colleyville Heritage earlier this season, a 53-46 win in the season opener for both teams. Heritage, of course, came in having ripped through its own league schedule with just one loss. On Monday night, they looked to be continuing that dominance as they jumped out to a 32-23 halftime lead as Marcus had trouble containing the combo of Morgan Hunt and Alexia Standish. Hunt finished with 22 points while Standish poured in 16 points.

    “We just looked very jittery with those first round jitters, but once we got past those we settled down and were able to press a lot more in the second half,” Kyle said.

    Marcus outscored Heritage 16-10 in the third quarter and 19-13 in the final eight minutes to steal the win. Raven Short had a game high 25 points while Jasmine Shaw added 13 despite battling several nagging injuries. Hailie Sample added eight points.

    “It was a gutty win for us,” Kyle said.

    Kyle put her club through the ringer this preseason in hopes of preparing for yet another grueling district push and hopeful deep playoff run. Marcus played West, North Crowley and Arlington Bowie.