Nursing a two-point halftime lead, Nativity wanted to change the tempo in the second half Friday night against Marian.
So the Hilltoppers came out with a half-court, zone trap.
It had its desired affect.
Jeff Yordy poured in a game-high 26 points, Tyler Hunyara added 18 and Nativity's defense did the rest in a 59-39 rout of the Colts in a Schuylkill League Division III contest atop Lawton's Hill.
Nativity (1-1, 1-0 D-III), which opened the season with a 56-51 loss to Notre Dame-East Stroudsburg on Wednesday, led 25-23 at the half Friday before turning it on.
The Hilltoppers started trapping the ball out of its zone defense and the pressure slowly changed the game.
The Colts (1-3, 0-1) were 2-for-17 from the floor in the third quarter and turned the ball over six times. It led to easy transition baskets at the other end for Nativity, which finished the third quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 38-27 lead.
The Hilltoppers then built a 40-27 lead early in fourth on a layup by Kyle Kaledas, and went up 48-32 when Chris Mickey hit a jumper with 4:26 left.
"We felt we had to pressure the ball," Hilltoppers coach Kevin Kennedy said. "It really worked out well for us. We felt like we were a little quicker than they were and our defense was playing well.
"The kids played well. It was a big win for us after the other night here for the opening game."
Yordy completed a double-double for the Hilltoppers
with 10 rebounds while adding five steals.
His night also included two spectacular shots.
First, the junior hit a 3-pointer from the wing with two defenders in his face at the first-quarter buzzer. In the second quarter, Yordy went to the ground to pick up a loose ball on the right blocks, started dribbling, got to his feet and scored on a one-handed shot.
Dylan Palamar added eight boards and eight assists for Nativity, while Hunyara grabbed seven rebounds.
Mike Vercusky led the Colts with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Anthony Agosti added eight points, seven rebounds and four steals.
Nativity was threatening to pull away early in the second quarter, building a 24-17 lead after a Palamar putback. But Marian cut into the deficit, thanks to some full-court pressure, and pulled to within 25-23 when Vercusky hit two foul shots with 2:40 left in the half.
The second half was a different story.
"We threw the ball away and then when we got some shots we didn't make them," Colts coach John Patton said. "We make those shots, it is a different game."
Marian finished 6-for-22 (27 percent) from the floor in the second half and turned the ball over 12 times (25 in the game). The Colts also struggled from the foul line over the final 16 minutes, hitting 4-of-10.
"We got shots," Patton said. "Those are the shots we can make and they are shots we are going to have to make if teams are going to play a zone and press us. They are open shots. We didn't shoot well and we didn't shoot foul shots well."
The misses lead to some easy baskets at the other end for Nativity. Hunyara scored 12 of his points in the second half, while Palamar picked up seven of his assists, with most of them in transition.
"Marian is always physical," Kennedy said. "They play tough defense and they are always good and very well coached. But I think once we started breaking that four-point lead at halftime open a little bit we starting building confidence. We started pressuring their ball and they felt good."