The Marion Indians are not kidding themselves about making the Class 3A state basketball tournament this year, but there's no harm in dreaming.

Marion breezed past Center Point-Urbana, 64-47, in the opening round of the playoffs Monday night at the Xavier High School gym, but that was the easy part.

Now the Indians (10-12) have a date in the district finals Thursday night against the Xavier Saints, a dangerous team that faced a steady diet of Class 4A competition in the Mississippi Valley Conference this season. And if the Indians somehow upset the Saints, they'll probably have to face top-ranked Dubuque Wahlert in the substate finals next Monday.

"I read a quote the other day," said Marion Coach Mike Manderscheid. "When you have nothing to lose, you really have nothing to lose. We're just moving on. We'll take one game at a time."

Xavier raised its record to 14-8 Monday with a 64-32 victory over Vinton-Shellsburg in the second game of the Class 3A district twinbill at Xavier. Marion would have to pull off two major upsets to reach the state tournament with a 12-12 record.

"It's not easy," said Manderscheid. "But you know what? It's the tournament. It shouldn't be easy."

Marion struggled to defeat Center Point-Urbana, 39-38, when they met in a Wamac Conference game during the regular season, but the Indians led from start to finish Monday. Marion raced to a 20-point lead at 32-12 in the second quarter with good defense and good shooting and took it home from there.

"I think we played really well from the tip, came out aggressive and got the win," said senior Daly Quinn, who led the Indians with 18 points. "We came out strong right away and got a couple of steals and a few buckets and got things going."

Quinn Cannoy scored 14 points for Marion. Craig Engle (9 points), Derek Smith (7), Jacob Manderscheid (6) and Trevor Hardman (6) also contributed to a balanced attack.

"That's probably the most balance we've had all year," said Coach Manderscheid. "That's what you want to see during tournament time."

Manderscheid liked the way his team played.

"We talked about playing with passion and energy and coming out and just doing those type of things and playing care-free," he said. "I was really, really pleased with the halfcourt defense to start the game. I thought that was probably the best we've played all year."

The Indians stayed in the Xavier gym after their game and watched the Saints play Vinton-Shellsburg.

"We're just looking forward to playing whoever we play," said Quinn. "We don't have to worry about that until the next day in practice when we start scouting them."

Levi Gatrost scored 12 points for Center Point-Urbana (5-17). Nick Thibault had 10 points.

CENTER POINT-URBANA (47): Marshall 1 0-0 3, Millikin 1 0-0 2, Thibault 3 4-4 10, Winterhof 0 0-0 0, Houtakker 0 0-0 0, Brandt 1 0-0 3, Richmond 2 0-0 5, McCauley 3 1-1 7, Wilkin 1 0-0 2, Pitts 1 0-0 3, Gatrost 2 8-12 12. Totals 15 13-17 47.

MARION (64): Schneiders 0 0-0 0, Cannoy 6 0-0 14, Daly Quinn 6 3-5 18, Engle 4 0-0 9, Garde 1 0-0 2, Manderscheid 1 3-4 6, Alberts 0 0-0 0, Hardman 1 4-4 6, Smith 1 5-6 7, Williams 0 0-0 0, Deshaun Quinn 0 0-0 0, Byers 0 0-0 0, Devin Quinn 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 15-19 64.

Halftime - Marion 32, Center Point-Urbana 16. 3-point goals - Center Point-Urbana 4 (Marshall 1, Brandt 1, Richmond 1, Pitts 1), Marion 7 (Daly Quinn 3, Cannoy 2, Engle 1, Manderscheid 1). Fouled out - Brandt.