Elevation! STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN COLLINS Matt White of the Port Aransas High School Marlins uses a huge leap to overcome a Woodsboro player's 6-foot-8-inch stature. The Marlins won the Feb. 5 game, 64-53. The Port Aransas High School Marlins will battle the La Villa Cardinals in the Marlins' first play-off appearance in four years.

(No date, time or location for the game had been decided by press time, but Marlins coach Paul Patteson said it would be Monday or Tuesday, Feb. 18 or 19. Check www.portasouthjetty. com for updates.)

PAHS will be playing La Villa for the bi-district title. The Marlins ended their regular season with a 6- 2 district record, placing second in district. The Falls City Beavers won the district with a 7-1 record.

La Villa, a small town a few miles east of Harlingen, took third place in District 32-1A.

"From what I know about them, they're a scrappy team," Patteson said. "They shoot the ball pretty well. They get after you."

The Cardinals have post-season experience, making it to the playoffs the past few years. Last year, they lost in the regional semis to Thorndale, the school that went on to win the state championship.

Close quarters STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN COLLINS Drake Sawyer of the Port Aransas High School Marlins looks for a way around a tall Woodsboro player in a Feb. 5 game. But La Villa graduated two very good senior players last year, and the team is not especially tall this year.

"That's going to provide us with an advantage," Patteson said. "But they shoot the ball well and handle the ball well, so I'm confident it will be a tough match-up, regardless."

The Marlins were jubilant as they found themselves in the playoffs for the first time in four years. If they hadn't made the playoffs, the seniors on the team would have been the first group of Port Aransas High School varsity basketball players never to have played in the post season in the school's 28-year history.

"They're pretty jacked-up," Patteson said. "They're excited. … They didn't want to be the first group of senior boys never to have reached the playoffs. They took that pretty serious. They took that to heart this year. And now we're just enjoying it. They're fired up about it."

Runnin' and gunnin' STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER Zack Merrill passes the ball during a Marlins practice Feb. 8. The Marlins have been concentrating on fundamentals while preparing for the play-offs.

"If you don't take care of the basics in the play-offs, you're going to lose, period," Patteson said.

The Marlins aren't trying to re-invent themselves for the playoffs.

"This time of year, there's not a lot of teaching or learning that goes on," Patteson said. "A lot of it is getting them to do what they do. You can't change your style of ball in the playoffs. You can't change who you are."

The boys just have to do the best job they can do at being themselves, he said.

Go, fight, win, Marlins!

Team meeting STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER Coach Paul Patteson (center) talks to the Port Aransas High School Marlins at a team practice.