In the end, the scoreline perhaps flattered the visitors, who were far too inaccurate in a number of facets to compete with their clinical hosts.
Their scrum was going backwards and lost possession a number of times, while the line-out and breakdown all came under huge pressure.
Marist looked good in patches and actually managed to match Sports in scoring three first half tries, but still went for oranges down 27-17 due to the faultless kicking of Simon Rolleston and the speed with which their opposites were turning over possession.
The second half was more of the same - Sports working the corners and grinding down their opposition, who were unable to find a way through a tight wall of defence.
Stand-out former New Zealand under-20s player Nathan Harris barged through the line to dot one down from 20m out in the closing stages, putting an exclamation mark on a solid all-round performance that keep the champs truly in the hunt as the competition's halfway point nears.
Sports coach Craig Jeffries was delighted after his side's resounding win.
"We've done a lot of work at the scrum and the breakdown area - that was our on work-on for the week," said Jeffries.
"There was improvement there - which was good. The plan is to head down into the camping ground at their end - it's pretty simple."
The rest of the round offered up plenty as the halfway point of the round robin nears.
The Tauranga Sports machine kept rolling with a 42-24 win over Rotoiti.
The bonus point victory puts them head and shoulders above any other team on the ladder, with the 12-point gap to Te Puke Sports in second place an accurate reflection of how the two teams have gone so far this season.
Mount Maunganui reverted to their early season form in losing another heart-breaker by a single point, this time 23-22 to Whakarewarewa.
The Mount have now lost matches to Te Puna, Rotoiti, Tauranga Sports and Whakarewarewa by one point, and another to Marist by six points to claim five bonus points for close loses in eight rounds.
Rangataua won their first game of the year - 35-22 over Paroa.
The form Paroa showed in knocking over Marist in round two has gone largely missing since, with Rangataua - though winless - picking up valuable bonus points almost weekly in a campaign to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.
Opotiki put Te Puna to the sword 52-24 in a match that tags the winners of three straight as a team to watch. Wins against Paroa, Te Puke Sports and Te Puna in successive weeks have put them fifth on the ladder.
Week eight proved an interesting one in division one with a pair of surprising results further complicating matters.
Whakatane Marist were the big winners in pulling off a 26-19 upset at home against a previously unbeaten Rangiuru side. Due to other results going their way, the win puts Marist in fifth place on the ladder - just three points outside the top four.
Poroporo was another to capitalise on Rangiuru's misfortune by beating Katikati 34-29, meaning they sit just behind Rangiuru in second place.
Kahukura dominated Ruatoki 32-14 to improve their foothold in the top four, while Waikite moved to the middle of the table with their 24-12 victory over Marist St Michael's.
Te Teko were the other big winners in hammering Ngongotaha 51-17.
