The Marlins were waiting Tuesday night, Feb. 21, to find out whether they’ll face Gervin Academy of San Antonio or Johnson City in the area tip-off tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 24. The location and time of that game had not been announced at press time.

That followed a game Monday, Feb. 20, in which they were almost – but not quite – able to keep up with the ninth-ranked, 3A West Oso Bears in their final warm-up game before area competition.

Almost, but not quite. They dropped the game, 53-67, but made it a contest, cutting the West Oso lead to five and six points at times during the fourth quarter.

“It was a great tune-up,” coach Joe Kocurek said. “We started out cold, but adjusted during the game and played well.”

That cold start amounted to only four points in the first quarter, giving West Oso a 13-4 lead as the game swung into the second period. At the half, the Marlins trailed, 16- 29. They outscored the Bears in the third period to come to within 10 points, 45-35, but couldn’t pick up enough points in the final stanza for the win.

Tyler Pate led the Marlins in scoring with 19 points, including two from outside the circle; Caleb Rogers was close behind with 18, also with two three-pointers. Jake Roberts put in seven, Chase Gustafson hit five and Chris Eggleston and Austin Scott each got two points to round out the Port Aransas scoring.

The Marlins ended their season ranked 16th in the weekly poll by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. The TABC ranked Port Aransas eighth in the pre-season poll.