SLIPPERY ROCK — The deficit was small and almost two minutes remained in the game. One more burst of scoring could have sent Mars to the state semifinals.

It never came.

When Cade Hetzler drove for two points, the Planets trailed Meadville 47-46 with 1:46 left in Saturday's PIAA Class 5A boys quarterfinal playoff.

Mars, however, would not score again in suffering a 53-46 loss to the Bulldogs at Slippery Rock University's Morrow Field House.

Down 49-46, Robby Carmody stole a Meadville inbound pass with 45 seconds left, but Mars turned the ball back over to the Bulldogs. Moments later, Armoni Foster completed a conventional 3-point play. The Planets missed their final two attempts from the field and finished the game by scoring just six points in the fourth quarter.

“If you would have told me before the game that we would hold Meadville to the low-50s, I would have felt pretty good,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody. “They average about 70 per game. I thought we did a great job on defense, but just could not get going offensively in the fourth quarter. We got some pretty good looks, too. That's all you can ask for.”

Meadville (25-1) was behind 40-39 at the start of the final period. The Bulldogs gained the lead for good when Lashon Lindsey's putback made it 43-42 with 3:53 left.

The Planets (17-10), who had six turnovers in the first three quarters combined, suffered four costly miscues in the final eight minutes.

“They (Bulldogs) switched things up on defense a bit, went to a 2-2-1 zone,” said Carmody of the fourth period. “We knew it was coming and were prepared for it. We had a couple of really good possessions against it and a few bad ones.

“It's not like we didn't play hard,” he added. “Sometimes, the other team just makes plays. In a game like this, momentum can swing one way or the other. We just never got the pace to where we wanted it to be in the fourth quarter.”

“Our defense tightened up,” said Meadville coach Mark McElhinny. “We went with more trap action in the half-court.”

Meadville senior guard Simeal Wofford scored a team-high 21 points, including 12 in the second period. His two free throws gave the Bulldogs a brief 22-21 lead with 2:01 remaining in the first half. It proved to be Meadville's lone advantage before it moved ahead midway through the fourth.

“He's averaging 15 per game,” said McElhinny of Wofford, “but with Foster on the bench with foul trouble, he had to step it up for us.”

Both Foster and Wofford played key roles in Meadville committing just nine turnovers in the game. Only one of those came in the final period.

“Our two guards handle the ball really well,” said McElhinny. “They did the job late in the game.”

Mars junior guard Robby Carmody scored a game-high 25 points. Sixteen of those came in the first half, including a dunk with 6:08 left in the second quarter that sent Mars' fans into a frenzy. It put the Planets up 16-8.

Robby Carmody became Mars' all-time leading scorer, passing 2016 graduate John Castello. Carmody now has 1,450 points in his career.

The Bulldogs won the battle for rebounds 28-22, with Lindsey adding 12 boards to his 15 points.

“Meadville is a very good team and they're big inside,” said Rob Carmody. “We were not able to get many offensive rebounds.”

The loss ends a memorable season for the Planets, who weren't picked by many to make the WPIAL playoffs, let alone the state quarterfinals.

“I'm disappointed. I wanted us to advance,” said Rob Carmody. “But you look at it, we lost 12 guys from a team that played in the state championship last year. To be one of the final eight teams in the state, I'm proud of our guys.”

MEADVILLE 53Lashon Lindsey 6 3-4 15, Armoni Foster 6 1-2 13, Rashard Willis 2 0-0 4, Simeal Wofford 6 7-8 21, Journey Brown 0 0-0 0, Jack Stevens 0 0-0 0, Jayson Rhoades 0 0-0 0, Jaden Agnew 0 0-0 0, Malik Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 11-14 53.MARS 46Robby Carmody 10 2-3 25, Cade Hetzler 2 0-0 4, Andrew Recchia 3 0-2 7, Ben Perdziola 1 0-0 2, Ben Lewis 3 0-0 8, Michael Carmody 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 2-5 46.Meadville 8 16 15 14 — 53Mars12 12 16 6 — 463-point goals: Meadville 2 (Wofford 2); Mars 6 (R. Carmody 3, Lewis 2, Recchia).