ADAMS TWP — Winning a section title is nice, but achieving it with a perfect record is icing on the cake.

Mars High School hopes to realize that fact this week as both the girls and boys basketball teams are vying for outright Section 1-AAA titles.

Entering tonight's home game against Knoch, the Planet girls are an undefeated 12-0 in section play and have a two-game lead on Hampton (10-2). Mars' boys are also 12-0 and have a one-game edge on the Talbots (11-1). Both Mars teams close the section slate at Hampton later this week.

The Planets and Talbots are used to battling each other at the top of the girls standings, sharing section titles in the 2013-14 and 2011-12 seasons. But an uncontested title would be Mars' first since the 2006-07 campaign.

“Winning the section championship for ourselves would be great for the team,” said Mars senior guard Jess Bunner. “We enjoy playing against Hampton, they are a great rival. But we feel we deserve the title.

“We are working as a team instead of individually,” she added. “That's the biggest reason for our success.”

Mars coach Tony Howard believes the ability of his younger players to contribute has been invaluable toward this season's effort.

“They have picked up on things and are able to practice well against the more experienced girls,” he said. “That's a big reason why we have won a lot of close games that could have gone either way. All 17 players have had a hand in that.”

The Planets are led by seniors Ali Goetz (forward) and Sara Getsy (guard), who are averaging 14 points and 7.9 rebounds and 13.8 points and 2.2 steals per game, respectively.

But the other three starters — Bunner, sophomore guard Nicole McCloud and junior forward Elise Sheehy — are all doing their part.

McCloud is third on the team in scoring, Sheehy second in rebounding and Bunner does a little bit of everything.

“Jess never gets a lot of credit, but she is a machine,” said Howard. “Defensively, she and Nicole always take the opponent's top two players.”

That defense is giving up an average of just 36.8 points per contest.

“We have primarily stuck with man-to-man this year,” Howard said. “We've strayed from that a bit depending on our opponent. Our goal is to make other teams play faster than they want.”

Howard said that freshman guard/forward Lauren Wasylson is the team's X-factor. Her size (5-foot-10) causes matchup problems for a lot of teams.

“The younger players are helping us as much as we help them,” Bunner said. “This is the best defense we've had in my four years on the team.”

The Planets (17-2 overall) are hoping this year's mix of veterans and rising stars equals a longer stay in the postseason. They have lost their first playoff game each of the last four years.

“As long as we prepare and play hard, we'll live with the result,” Howard said.

Mars' boys team has grabbed a lot of headlines this season with its offense.

Paced by junior forward/center John Castello (16.9 points) and freshman guard Robby Carmody (14.3), the Planets' 72.6 points per game is sixth in the WPIAL, regardless of class.

Robby Carmody and Christian Schmitt are constant threats from the outside and Ryan Giallonardo has done a solid job at point guard.

Aaron Gruber and Nate Sablowski lead a group providing productive minutes off the bench.

“It's nice to have a team that doesn't have to rely just on the outside or the inside game,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody. “Our versatility and balance have been key.”

“We've seen man, zone and full-court press defenses this year,” said Castello. “We have handled it all and have a lot of confidence right now.”

Mars has so far steamrolled through Section 1, except for its two games against Highlands. The Planets defeated the Golden Rams by five points Dec. 23 and squeaked out a 61-60 victory in the rematch Jan. 27. They trailed by four points entering the final quarter.

“Highlands played harder than we did and that grabbed our attention,” said Rob Carmody. “We kept our cool and found a way to win. As we get closer to the playoffs, it's nice to know that we can come back to win a game.”

Mars rarely loses the battle for rebounds as Castello (14.5) and Alex Gruber (10.2) control the boards.

“They have been a double-double machine lately,” said Rob Carmody. “Alex is scoring in double figures as well. Rebounding and defense, you always want those to be constants.”

Mars last won an outright section title in 2012-13. It shared the crown last season with Indiana and Knoch.

Much like the girls team, the Planet boys' impressive record is just as much a product of what happens in between games as what takes place during them.

“We have four seniors — Nate Bayuk, Brandt Kepreos, Noah Tresky and Mitch Verplank,” Rob Carmody said. “One of the great things they bring to the team is chemistry. They don't get a ton of minutes, but they come to practice every day and don't complain. They are proud to be part of the program and we are fortunate to have them.”

The lone team to defeat Mars (19-1 overall) is Rock Canyon (Colo.) at a tournament in Las Vegas in December.

“We go into every game expecting to win,” Alex Gruber said. “We know that we are one of the top teams and every team is after us. We have to perform every night.”