MARATHON -- As the only player on Marathon High's boys basketball team who had ever experienced victory over Key West, Dolphins senior Nyran Ross wasn't about to let another one slip away.

In his regular-season home finale Friday night against the Conchs, Ross stunted a late Key West rally attempt with back-to-back 3-pointers, each one sending the home crowd into a bigger frenzy, and the Dolphins pulled away for a 71-52 victory. The win was Marathon's first over Key West in three seasons.

Ross, who finished with a game-high 21 points, hit each of the big 3s in front of his own bench against the wishes of his own coach.

"He just became a deadly assassin at the end," Dolphins coach Kevin Freeman said of Ross. "I was screaming, 'No' because we've got the lead and we don't need to shoot, but he was just knocking them down. It takes guts to hit those shots."

The loss ended the Conchs' season at 10-10, denying the first winning regular season in Paul Davis' five years as coach.

After the final horn sounded, the Dolphins (14-5) celebrated the win with their boisterous fans, who filled up the home side of the stands and remained loud and energetic throughout.

"We wanted it," said sophomore forward Dwayne Ellis, who had 20 points and eight rebounds in the win. "They're a good team, but we fought through it and stuck together like we have all season."

The teams opened the game by going back and forth, but Key West fell into foul trouble early and the Dolphins took advantage. With Irekaz Womack and Je'Quan Lopez on the bench in early foul trouble, Marathon, which was in the double bonus in the first quarter, finished the period with an 8-0 run, including a fade-away jumper by Nate Kitchen that fell in as the buzzer sounded.

"I was happy with the way we were able to handle all of the hype that was going on," Davis said. "It was just one of those things where we can't control the game, but the refs can control the game. They can take momentum away no matter what, and when they do that early, it's hard to get it back."

Marathon went into the break with a 30-24 advantage, a lead that quickly shot up thanks to the post play of Ellis, who scored nine straight points to put the Dolphins up, 46-28, with 2:30 remaining in the third.

"He hates playing the post, but he's so good at it," Freeman said. "He'd rather shoot the 3s or drive from the outside, but we know what works."

Keith Valdez responded with a run of his own to keep the Conchs in it. He scored four straight points and then, following a steal by Justin Reyes with just seconds remaining, capped the quarter with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut Key West's deficit to 48-40 heading into the fourth.

Marathon opened the fourth with an 8-2 run, however, and pulled away thanks to clutch shooting from Ross, Ellis, and Kenyatta Scott, who also hit a big 3 to keep his team out front.

Senior guard Patrick Auguste, who finished with six points, capped the victory with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"We kept our cool and we took good shots," said Freeman, whose team shot just 17-for-62 from the field in a Wednesday loss to Ransom Everglades. "We took smart shots tonight. We didn't settle for the 3 like we had been doing, we took it to the basket."

Valdez led Key West with 18 points. Lopez added nine points and eight boards.

Senior Thomas Herb chipped in eight points and eight rebounds for the Dolphins.

Marathon, which has won six of its last seven, will host the District 16-2A tournament next week. The Dolphins will open play Friday in the semifinals.

Key West will open play in the District 16-4A tournament Wednesday at Miami Central against the host Rockets. Despite losing Friday, Davis said he feels like his team is ready for the postseason.

"It's disappointing because we lost and we feel like we're a better team, but the fire I saw in these boys' eyes is what I want to see going into the district tournament," Davis said. "I think our intensity went up, and we want to take that and put into our game on Wednesday. If we can do that, we'll be a tough team."

wjacobson@keysnews.com