CRANBERRY TWP — The day was a sweet one for Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic basketball.

A charging call ended it on a sour note.

The Trojans' Kenny Fukon had a game-tying bucket wiped out with 16.6 seconds in the Don Graham Classic Saturday at CWNC. The official ruled a charge instead of a block on the play. Mars gained possession, sank four free throws the rest of the way and held on for a 54-50 boys basketball victory.

The win was the third straight for the Planets (8-2) while the Trojans (8-4) had their three-game winning streak snapped.

“I'm so used to Kenny pulling up with a jump-stop when he goes toward the basket like that,” CWNC coach Dave Long said. “The official told me that once I look at the film, I'll see it was a charge.

“It may have been, but it might have been a good acting job by the defender, too. He sold it and they (officials) bought it, maybe. I'm not sure. I'll have to look at it.”

Fukon's shot went in on the play and would have knotted the game at 50. Instead, Ben Lewis hit a free throw for the Planets with 12 seconds left.

Fukon sank a free throw to cut the Trojans' deficit to two again before Robby Carmody added a free throw and Ben Perdziola converted two more charity tosses to finally ice the win.

“Ben (Lewis) was in good position on the play and took the charge,” Mars coach Rob Carmody said. “Obviously, that was a big play. But it was only one play. This game had a lot of them.

“People think we're Robby and a bunch of other guys this year. We're not. We're a team and Robby's part of that team.”

Neither team ever led by more than five points. Robby Carmody went to the Mars bench after picking up his third foul with 7:43 left in the first half and the Planets leading, 10-9.

CWNC had a 24-21 lead at halftime.

“We did a good job of holding our own with Robby out of there,” Carmody said. “Guys came off the bench and made contributions.”

The lead changed hands seven times. Mars took the lead for good at 38-36 on a Robby Carmody jumper with 4:46 remaining.

“This was good competition and we love this kind of non-section game,” Long said. “This is much better than scheduling somebody where you can just mail it in.”

Carmody scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. He had nine rebounds, six steals and three assists as well. Sophomore Andrew Recchia had 15 points, including three treys.

Lewis had 12 points and three steals. He hit three treys as well.

“Andrew was fighting the stomach flu today. He came to the bench asking me if I had any Tums,” Carmody said.

“I said, what do I look like? A pharmacy?,” the coach added, laughing. “That kid really gave us a gutsy effort.”

Fukon had 14 points, 10 rebounds and four steals for the Trojans. John Fukon added 14 points, Isaiah Wilson seven points, five assists and three steals.

Saturday's Don Graham Classic consisted of four varsity basketball games and the naming of the CWNC court in honor of legendary North Catholic hoop coaches Don Graham and Don Barth.

The late Graham won 831 games over 51 years, including three Catholic state championships. Barth, who could not attend Saturday due to illness, won 788 games on the girls side, including a record 20 consecutive appearances in the WPIAL title game, 12 WPIAL championships and seven state titles.

MARS 54

Cade Hetzler 0-3 1-2 1, Andrew Recchia 5-10 2-3 15, Robby Carmody 6-14 7-8 19, Ben Lewis 3-12 3-3 12, Ben Perdziola 0-1 4-4 4, Michael Carmody 1-1 1-1 3, Max Chizmar 0-0 0-0 0, Bradon Caruson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-42 18-21 54.

CW NORTH CATHOLIC 50

Zach Offi 3-11 0-1 8, Jack Carmody 0-1 0-0 0, John Fukon 4-10 5-6 14, Danny Nyman 0-0 0-0 0, Isaiah Wilson 2-6 2-3 7, Vinnie DiNicolas 3-7 0-0 7, Kemnny Fukon 4-9 5-6 14. Totals: 16-39 12-15 50.

Mars 10 11 13 20 — 54

CW North Cath.9 15 10 16 — 50

3-point goals: Recchia 3, Lewis 3; Offi 2, J.Fukon, Wilson, DiNicola, K.Fukon

Tuesday: Mars at Moon, Brentwood at CWNC

Seneca Valley 53, Altoona 38 (boys)

The Raiders (6-5) outscored Altoona (5-4) 15-4 in the fourth quarter to break open a close game.

Mark Smathers had 12 points and five rebounds, Marcus Might 12 points and three boards as inside players for SV. Nate Trzeciak came off the bench to produce nine points and grab four rebounds.

“Mark and Marcus are tough to handle down low. They did a nice job in there,” SV coach Victor Giannotta said.

Payton Skalos had eight assists, Patrick Uher five rebounds and three assists for Seneca Valley.

“We're playing better. We have the ship heading in the right direction and want to keep it that way,” Giannotta said. “We've got a big week in section coming up, beginning Tuesday at Pine (Richland).”

Jayvion Queen paced Altoona with 14 points and eight rebounds. Connor Zerbee added 11 points, including three treys.

SENECA VALLEY 53

Jake Bunofsky 0-1 0-0 0, Nate Trzeciak 4-7 1-4 9, Payton Skalos 1-5 0-0 3, Patrick Uher 2-6 0-0 4, Justin Koken 1-2 0-0 2, Marcus Might 6-9 0-0 12, Mark Smathers 5-6 2-2 12, Chris Hart 3-8 2-3 9, Dalton Peffer 0-1 0-0 0, Cian Iaria 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 23-47 5-9 53.

ALTOONA 38

Shawn Gibson 2-9 0-0 4, Mike Scharf 0-8 1-2 1, Max Crownover 1-5 1-3 4, Tyler Petucci 1-3 0-0 2, Tyler Barry 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Barr 0-2 0-0 0, Connor Zerbee 4-4 0-0 11, Maceo Day 1-3 0-0 2, Jayvion Queen 6-9 2-4 14. Totals: 15-43 4-10 38.

Seneca Valley 10 18 10 15 — 53

Altoona10 6 18 4 — 38

3-point goals: Skalos, Hart; Crownover, Zerbee 3

Tuesday: Seneca Valley at Pine-Richland

CW North Catholic 71, Seneca Valley 27 (girls)

The Trojanettes (10-1) won their seventh straight, building a 15-point lead by halftime and allowing the Raiders no field goals in the final two quarters.

Sam Breen — who received a commemorative game ball before the contest in recognition of her 2,000 career points — scored 26 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists in less than three quarters of play. Kyllie Huffman had 15 points, five rebounds and three assists for CWNC.

Tess Myers scored 12 points and Ashley Robbins had five assists.

Erin Danik paced the Raiders (4-7) with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Oakland Catholic's girls opened the Graham Classic with a 60-47 win over Blackhawk.

SENECA VALLEY 27

Michaela Lamont 1-5 6-8 9, Gretchen Koken 0-3 0-0 0, Anna Crisci 0-1 0-0 0, Anna Sullivan 0-1 0-0 0, McKenna Gross 1-7 0-0 3, Hannah Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Kelsey Cruttenden 1-1 0-0 3, Karlie Martin 0-0 0-0, Erin Danik 4-14 2-2 12, Lexi Peffer 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Cramer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 7-34 8-10 27.

CW NORTH CATHOLIC 71

Ashley Robbins 2-3 0-1 5, Emma Pospisil 0-1 0-0 0, Cassie Foster 2-3 0-0 6, Amanda Buchlew 1-2 0-0 2, Kylie Huffman 6-12 0-0 15, Lauren Gaertner 0-0 0-0 0, Lucy Waskiewicz 1-1 0-0 2, Tess Myers 5-7 1-1 12, Dani Short 0-1 0-0 0, Belle O'Hara 0-1 0-0 0, Sam Breen 9-12 6-6 26, Lizzy Goetz 1-4 0-0 3 . Totals: 27-48 7-10 71.

Seneca Valley 13 10 2 2 — 27

CW North Cath.24 14 23 10 — 71

3-point goals: Lamont, Gross, Cruttenden, Danik 2; Robbins, Foster 2, Huffman 3, Breen 2, Myers, Goetz

Today: North Allegheny at Seneca Valley, Highlands at CWNC