ADAMS TWP — Opponents are paying quite a bit of attention to Robby Carmody.

For good reason.

The Division I blue-chip prospect is the engine that makes the Mars boys basketball team go.

But focus too much on the 6-foot-5 junior guard and the Planets have other options.

They showed that off in an 88-39 rout of West Allegheny Tuesday night.

Sure, Carmody got his points — 30 of them in a little more than three quarters, including four dunks — but Mars also got 13 points from Ben Perdziola and 11 from Michael Carmody.

In all, 10 Planets' players scored at least one point.

“Robby got 30,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody, “but the rest of the team got 58.”

That would have been plenty to beat the Indians (1-8, 0-3), who were besieged by fouls in the first half and never got into any kind of rhythm.

Mars (6-2, 2-0) jumped out to a 16-2 lead and hit its only prolonged dry spell of the game as West Allegheny closed to 18-10. But the Planets out-scored the Indians 24-5 the rest of the half to take a commanding 42-15 lead at the break.

Mars then went on a 16-3 run at the start of the third quarter to trigger the mercy rule.

Robby Carmody scored 23 of his points in a 10-minute span.

But Rob Carmody was just as proud of the supporting cast, which has helped Mars quiet most, if not all, of the pundits who claimed this was going to be a rebuilding year for the Planets.

Just call them the “Other Guys,” but they have been just as important.

“Just a great overall team effort,” the coach said. “Cade Hetzler doesn't get enough credit. He's such a great defensive player. It allows us to be pests on defense.”

Hetzler, who scored eight points, held West Allegheny's leading scorer, Kenny White, without a point. White scored his only two points against Mars' reserves in the fourth quarter with the game well out of reach.

“Ben (Perdziola), Ben Lewis, they're all doing great things,” Coach Carmody added. “Brandon Caruso was great off the bench for us tonight. Jerry Stoddart got going. When you want to focus on (Robby), OK, we have points coming from other guys. We have other guys now that they're feeling comfortable.”

Robby Carmody had no doubt this would be the case a year after a senior-laden Mars team advanced to the PIAA championship game.

He said it's going to make for an exciting season.

“First game coming out of the locker room I said, 'No one is going to think we're going to be like we were last year. But I know what you guys are capable of,'” Robby Carmody said. “'I saw what you could do last year in JV when you were 14-2. I know you guys will be ready to come out and play.'

“After the first few minutes and the jitters were gone, they were all right,” he added. “And they've been great since.”

Girls

Just one of those games.

That was the message Dana Petruska sent to her team after just about everything went awry in a 32-23 home loss to section foe Plum.

“It's one of those games where you can get all upset about it, but it's a long season,” Petruska said.

Mars (6-4, 1-1) only scored 12 points in the last 27 minutes of the game and shot 16 percent from the floor.

Still, the Planets were only down 24-21 with three minutes left in the game.

“I said to them, 'Gosh, neither one of us are scoring. You have to focus on your offense,'” Petruska said.

But the offense never came. Mars was 3-of-37 from the floor in the final three quarters.

The woes also translated to the free throw line, where the Planets were a dismal 5-of-16.

Tai Johnson and Lauren Wasylson led Mars with seven points each. Nicole McCloud scored six.

Maria Lawthorne led Plum (5-6, 2-1), which also had a bad shooting night at 35 percent from the floor and 10-of-23 at the line, with 12 points.

The best thing the Planets can do, Petruska said, is move on.

“We'll be OK,” Petruska said. “We'll learn from it.”

Girls

PLUM 32

Rayne Donatelli 2-4 1-4 7, Liz Adamcyk 1-1 3-6 5, Maria Lawthorne 5-14 2-6 12, Alexa Seigh 0 2-2 2, Madi Cubarney 0-2 0-0 0, Mackenzie Lake 1-2 0-1 2, Kelsi Zik 1-3 2-4 4. Totals: 9-26 10-23 32.

MARS 23

Lauren Wasylson 2-17 1-2 7, Nicole McCloud 3-8 0-0 6, Nichole Sommers 0-2 0-0 0, Tai Johnson 2-17 3-10 7, Rachel Bobko 0-0 0-0 0, Bella Pelaia 1-5 0-0 2, Regan Kramm 0-0 0-0 0, Mara Fuller 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 8-49 5-16 23.

Plum 11 7 6 8 — 32

Mars11 4 4 4 — 23

3-point goals: Plum 2 (Donatelli 2); Mars 2 (Wasylson 2)

Thursday: Indiana at Mars

Boys

WEST ALLEGHENY 39

Chad Bovalina 3-8 3-4 9, Kenny White 1-5 0-0 2, Jackson Faulk 3-10 3-4 10, Zachary Resio 1-7 1-2 3, Isaiah Crowe 2-4 0-0 5, Roman Votour 0-1 1-2 1, Matthew Gardocki 0-1 2-4 2, Grant Nicholson 0-3 0-0 0, Connor Cesnik 1-2 0-0 2, Mason Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Kam Kruze 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Guilfoil 0-0 0-0 0, Cam Pankyo 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 13-43 10-16 39.

MARS 88

Dave Hetzler 3-4 2-3 8, Robby Carmody 10-17 8-12 30, Ben Lewis 3-12 1-2 9, Ben Perdziola 6-9 1-4 13, Max Chizmar 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Carmody 2-4 7-8 11, Jerry Toddart 1-3 4-7 7, Brandon Caruso 1-1 0-2 3, Luke Morrissey 0-0 2-2 2, Joe Schneider 2-2 0-0 4, Connor Amsler 0-1 0-0 0, Hunter Fetsko 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Vogel 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 28-52 26-41 88.

West Allegheny 8 7 7 17 — 39

Mars18 24 25 21 — 88

3-point goals: West Allegheny 3 (Faulk, Crowe, Pankyo); Mars 6 (R. Carmody 2, Lewis 2, Caruso, Stoddart)

Friday: Montour at Mars