GREEN TREE — John Castello remembers watching the group of seniors led by Garrett Ashbaugh, Matt Getsy and Josh Goetz when he was a freshman.

What struck him about the trio — and the rest of that Mars boys basketball team — was how hard they worked, even in practice.

“They set the bar for us,” said Castello, who is now a senior for the Planets. “We always watched them when we were in ninth grade. We always looked up to those guys and they had so much success. We really wanted to keep that going.”

And keep it going they have.

That team four years ago was the first since 1987 to win a section title.

Castello and Mars just capped off a fourth straight section crown and now switch their attention to the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs.

In the brackets released Tuesday night, Mars will play the winner of the Laurel Highlands-Southmoreland preliminary game in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

In those four years, Mars has posted a 49-3 record in their section and a 79-23 overall mark.

“It's been a lot of fun,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody. “They put the work in. Going 49-3, winning four section titles, two of those years undefeated in the section, this year one loss — it speaks to the type of kids they are.”

Mars (17-5) is the No. 3 seed in the Class AAA bracket. To Carmody, though, seeding ultimately doesn't mean much in a tournament like this.

“It really doesn't,” the coach said. “That first year you get into it, you're excited and, boy, you hope you get a good seed. But it truly doesn't make much of a difference. These are all good teams that worked hard and did what they needed to do to get into the playoffs. It might be a little different if it's a best-of-seven and one team has home court. But it's one game.”

Mars will get buoyed by the return of senior Alex Gruber, who has missed most of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot.

Gruber played limited minutes in the Planets' last two games of the season, but said he is close to 100 percent.

He is also proud of what his team has been able to accomplish so far in the last four years.

“It's definitely something to be proud of,” Gruber said.

But Mars has some unfinished business. The Planets were the No. 1 seed last year and were upset in the WPIAL quarterfinals by Ambridge.

The Planets did manage to reach the PIAA quarterfinals, but that WPIAL loss has stuck with them.

“That loss to Ambridge humbled us,” Castello said. “But it helped us grow up quite a bit.”

Other notable developments as the brackets were released:

The Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic girls basketball team received the No. 1 seed in Class A.

The Trojanettes (20-2) are coming off a win last week over arch-rival Vincentian, which is the No. 2 seed.

“We couldn't be more excited,” said Cardinal Wuerl junior forward Sam Breen. “This is so great for our team. I couldn't be more proud of all of us.”

Cardinal Wuerl will play Aliquippa at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 17 at Ambridge.

The Butler boys received the No. 14 seed and will play third-seeded Penn Hills at noon Saturday at North Allegheny.

The Seneca Valley girls get a rematch with Bethel Park, which beat the Raiders 48-30 before Christmas.

That game will be at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Cardinal Wuerl.

In perhaps the biggest surprise of the night, the Knoch boys received what amounted to a No. 16 seed. The Knights, fourth in a stacked section that included top five seeds Mars (three), Highlands (four) and Hampton (five), will play Montour in a play-in game at 8 p.m. Friday at Cardinal Wuerl.

The winner gets No. 1 seed New Castle.

“Obviously we're a little surprised and a little disappointed,” said Knoch coach Ron McNabb. “I thought our body of work would have gotten us something better. We've been playing well. We were 13-3 in our last 16 games. We really didn't have any bad losses and it was a meat-grinder of a section. We were hoping for something better. We thought we deserved something better.”

The committee didn't see it that way.

McNabb, though, said he and his team won't dwell on it.

“It'll be a good challenge,” McNabb said. “We just have to work our tails off.”

WPIAL Basketball Playoffs

Local team pairings

Boys

Class AAAA

Butler (15-7) vs. Penn Hills (17-5), Saturday, noon, at North Allegheny

Class AAA

Knoch (14-7) vs. Montour (12-9), Friday, 8 p.m., at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (winner gets No. 1 New Castle (20-1), Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. at Ambridge)

Mars (17-5) vs. Laurel Highlands-Southmoreland winner, Tuesday, 8 p.m., at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

Class A

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (14-8) vs. Winston Thurston (12-7), Friday, 8 p.m., at North Hills

Girls

Class AAAA

Seneca Valley (16-6) vs. Bethel Park (17-5), Friday, 6:30 p.m., at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic

Class AAA

Mars (17-5) vs. Derry (13-9), Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m. at Fox Chapel

Class A

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (20-2) vs. Aliquippa (6-15), Feb. 17, 6:30 p.m. at Ambridge