CRANBERRY TWP — Monday’s non-section girls basketball game between Mars and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic provided both teams with a good tune-up prior to postseason play.

The Trojanettes built a sizable lead before withstanding Mars’ fourth-quarter rally in posting a 71-61 victory.

CWNC’s Sam Breen, a 6-foot-1 senior forward, led all scorers with 24 points, including 10 made field goals. Two other frontcourt players, Kylie Huffman (6-2) and Dani Short (6-0), combined for 21 points.

“With their size, we knew it was going to be a matchup nightmare for us tonight,” said Mars coach Dana Petruska. “But if we would have played with as much confidence in the first three quarters as we did in the fourth, we would have been in better shape.”

That fourth period began with the Planets facing a 55-37 deficit. Mars scored the first seven points of the quarter and when Tai Johnson and Lauren Wasylson sank treys less than 40 seconds apart, the Trojanette lead was sliced to 61-54 with 2:54 remaining. Wasylson drained seven treys in the game, three of them coming in the final eight minutes.

“We made some poor decisions late in the game,” said CWNC coach Molly Rottmann. “We were running things we shouldn’t have been running, taking bad shots. Then Mars starts making a run from the outside.”

It was freshman guard Tess Myers who pulled the Trojanettes (20-2) out of their slump. She made a pair of free throws, followed by a 3-pointer of her own, to push her team’s advantage to 66-54 with 1:56 left. Mars was unable to threaten again.

“Mars is a good team and they played hard the whole game,” said Rottmann. “I was excited to play them. We needed good competition before the playoffs.”

CWNC shot 64 percent (14-of-22) from the field in the first half, building a 37-22 cushion. Eight of those points belonged to junior swing player Amanda Bucklew, who began the season on the bench with an ankle injury.

Last season, Bucklew was Rottmann’s first option off the bench during the team’s run to the PIAA Class A title.

“She had some bad luck,” said Rottmann. “She had recovered from a concussion, then hurt her ankle. But she was back for us in mid-January.

“Amanda always does a tremendous job going back door and finding an open spot. She definitely gave us a spark in the first half tonight.”

Myers totaled 14 points for CWNC.

Wasylson scored 21 for Mars (16-6), with Johnson and Nicole McCloud adding 20 and 13, respectively.

Both teams will learn their first-round playoff opponent tonight at the WPIAL pairings meeting. CWNC will be competing in the Class 4A bracket and Mars in Class 5A.

Petruska likes the look of her team as it enters the postseason.

“Three weeks ago, I questioned whether or not we could fare well in the playoffs,” she said, “but we got rid of some issues and I’m excited.”

MARS 61

Lauren Wasylson 7 0-2 21, Nicole McCloud 4 4-4 13, Nichole Sommers 1 0-0 2, Tai Johnson 6 7-8 20, Bella Pelaia 2 1-2 5, Caroline Barent 0 0-0 0, Daria Hockenberry 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 12-16 61.

CWNC 71

Ashley Robbins 0 1-2 1, Cassie Foster 1 0-0 3, Amanda Bucklew 4 0-0 8, Kylie Huffman 4 2-2 13, Tess Myers 5 2-2 14, Dani Short 2 4-4 8, Sam Breen 10 4-4 24. Totals: 26 13-14 71.

Mars 13 9 15 24 — 61

CW North Catholic18 19 18 16 — 71

3-point goals: Mars 9 (Wasylson 7, McCloud, Johnson); CWNC 6 (Huffman 3, Myers 2, Foster).

Next: WPIAL playoffs, TBD