MASON — Luke Marlan grew up in the gym.

The junior guard was constantly around as a child during the days when his father, Ron Marlan, was in the midst of a successful 14-year run leading the DeWitt boys basketball program that included several CAAC Red championships before he stepped down in 2017.

Marlan was the water boy for some of these teams and got a first-hand view of what it took to be successful at the varsity level.

Now as a third-year varsity player, Marlan is using all he’s learned from his childhood and the last two seasons to help the Mason boys basketball team reach its high goals.

And he played a role as the Bulldogs continued their strong early-season play.

Marlan had a team-high 20 points while helping Mason stay unbeaten in the CAAC Red with a 60-32 victory over St. Johns on Friday.

Marlan had nine points during the third quarter while helping the Bulldogs (7-1, 3-0) extend what was a 10-point halftime advantage to pull away for their seventh straight win. The victory helped Mason remain in a good spot as it chases one of its top goals — winning the program’s first league championship since 2007.

“When I was little I was just around that environment (at DeWitt) and I always wanted to (win a league title),” Marlan said. “Now with my grade and this group of guys that we’ve got – we’re putting in the work and it’s paying off for us.”

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Friday’s game was the latest that Marlan has been a consistent offensive presence while fueling what has been a balanced attack for Mason.

“He’s been here three years now and he’s got DNA in his family in terms of basketball,” Mason coach Lee Chaney said. “We expect a lot out of him. He’s our leader.”

Marlan was joined in double figures by Kaleb Parrish, who finished with 12 points. Austin Stone added eight points and 10 rebounds.

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Landen Mikula had 10 points to lead St. Johns (5-2, 1-2). Carson Pieters had nine points and Logan Schroeder scored eight for the Redwings, who have already surpassed their win total from last season.

“I thought St. Johns played really well,” Chaney said. “They came out with a lot of energy and they defended us well. It kind of forced us into some sloppy first-half play. We finally got it together, finally relaxed a little bit and shared the ball and locked down defensively, which if we can do that we’re going to be awfully hard to beat. It was a really good second half.”

Contact Brian Calloway at bcalloway@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.