Mental test
BUFFALO TWP — Mars junior forward John Castello knows the Class AAA playoffs are quickly approaching.
By the time the postseason starts, Castello would like to see the Planets relax.
Mars did capture its 12th with an 82-60 Section 1 road win over Freeport Friday night. How the Planets won is what Castello wants to fine tune.
Mars — which has four games remaining — received two techincals for unsportsmanlike conduct, had two players foul out and sent the Yellowjackets to the free-throw line 39 times.
“You do that in a playoff game and you're not going to win,” said Castello, who fouled out with 4 minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. “You get one chance and that's it. You can't have technicals, you can't have three or four people foul out and you have to play smarter than we did tonight.”
Castello finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Mars freshman Robby Carmody, who also scored 16 points, fouled out a minute before he did.
“Youth is no longer an excuse for that,” Mars coach Rob Carmody said. “They have to respond to situations better than that. You don't like they called a bump on you? The next time move your feet better.”
The Planets (17-1, 10-0) opened the game on 10-0 run, capped by two free throws from Nate Sablowski with 4:04 remaining in the first quarter.
Sablowski, who equaled a season-best with 12 points, came in for Alex Gruber, who picked up two fouls in the first two minutes.
Gruber, who scored 17 points, played after missing two games with a broken nose.
Sablowski said Mars has several players that can step in to help when foul trouble arises.
“We have a lot of big, physical guys and I feel like it's a spot we can fill well,” Sablowski said.
Freeport stopped the run on a Josh Beale trey with 3:39 left in the first quarter.
Mars continued its momentum, pushing its lead to 24-6 when Robby Carmody finished an alley-oop dunk with 2 seconds left in the first quarter.“The beginning was one of our better starts. We scored a lot of points and played real well defensively,” Castello said. “If we had kept that pace, it would have been a great game for us.”But the Yellowjackets' offense picked up after shooting 1-of-11 in the first quarter. Freeport cut the lead to 42-27 by the half.Mason Eddinger (12 points), Codey Digiacobbe (11) and Beale (11) all scored in double figures for the Yellowjackets.“It came down to shooting tonight,” Freeport coach Mike Beale said. “They got a lot of easy transition layups.”The game's pace was dragged to a halt by the 48 fouls called. Mars' Christian Schmitt and Robby Carmody, along with Freeport's Josh Beale, were tagged with technicals for unsportsmanlike conduct.“We have to take care of the ball a little more, try to work on our emotions and keep playing good basketball,” Sablowski said. “We're playing good defense and have to keep doing that.”Despite the foul trouble, Mars maintained a comfortable lead in the second half.The Planets' largest lead was 25 points, 69-44, after Castello made a jumper with 6:35 remaining.Rob Carmody was happy to get a win.“I told the guys tonight that this can't be our ceiling, we still have to have the motivation to get better,” Carmody said.Freeport is one game out of a playoff spot with four games left.“We're looking to come back tomorrow and get ready for Valley,” Beale said. “We need to win the games we can win and get help from Burrell knocking off somebody to get that last playoff spot.”MARS 82Alex Gruber 8 1-3 17, John Castello 9 0-3 18, Ryan Giallonardo 3 3-4 9, Christian Schmitt 2 2-2 6, Robby Carmody 6 2-4 16, Nate Sablowski 3 5-5 12, Aaron Gruber 0 2-2 2, Mitch Verplank 1 0-0 2, Brandt Kepreos 0 0-0 0, Bailey Trzeciak 0 0-0 0. Totals: 32 15-22 82.FREEPORT 60Mason Eddinger 3 5-7 12, Kevin Lynch 0 5-6 5, Kris Keppel 1 7-8 9, Marshall McCormick 0 1-2 1, Brandon Hochbein 0 0-0 0, Codey Digiacobbe 5 0-2 11, Ben Beale 0 2-2 2, Nick Robertson 0 0-0 0, Josh Beale 2 5-8 11, Jon Wise 4 0-2 8. Totals: 15 26-38 60.Mars 24 18 23 17 — 82Freeport6 21 15 18 — 603-point goals: Mars 3 (Carmody 2, Sablowski); Freeport 4 (Beale 2, Digiacobbe, Eddinger)Tuesday: Highlands at Mars; Freeport at Valley
