MOON TWP — Mars turned an unfamiliar position into a very familiar result.

The Planets found themselves down, 28-24, to Trinity in the third quarter of Tuesday night's PIAA Class 5A boys basketball second-round playoff game.

Then the team's offense, which had struggled most of the night, came to life and a stingy defense held its ground to lift Mars to a 49-40 victory at Moon High School.

“It wasn't pretty, but at this time of the year, it's just survive and advance,” said Planets' coach Rob Carmody. “I love it.”

Senior guard Robby Carmody, who led all scorers with 25 points, scored eight straight points late in the third period as the Planets' 4-point deficit turned into a 32-28 lead by the end of the quarter.

The run began with a pair of 3-pointers from Carmody 20 seconds apart. He had to spend part of the game on the bench with foul trouble and ended up fouling out — along with Trinity's Dausen Marry on a double-foul call — with 16 seconds left in the game.

“When he (Robby Carmody) is not in the game, they don't know what to do,” said Hillers' coach Tim Tessmer. “He gives them life and those two 3-pointers were huge. That's what good players do.”

The Hillers (21-6) never pulled even again. On two separate occasions in the fourth period, senior guard Joey Koroly pulled them to within one point at the free throw line — 32-31 with 5:37 left and 34-33 with 4:51 on the clock.

But Trinity, which scored just 39 points in a district semifinal loss to Mars last month, simply could not find the offense to keep up with the Planets.

Carmody's conventional 3-point play with 2:18 left gave the Planets a 41-34 lead. Andrew Recchia, Cade Hetzler and Carmody then iced the game from the free throw line, though Mars missed six free throws in the period.

“I think we had worked so hard defensively, our kids' legs were gone at that point,” said Rob Carmody.

Trinity made just two of its eight field goal attempts in the fourth, hampered by four turnovers.

“Our guys battled,” said Tessmer. “We just have to find a way to make a few more plays, execute a little better at the end.”

The game was being played at Trinity's pace in the first half. Mars scored just four points in the second quarter on 2-of-11 shooting and trailed 19-16 at the break.

But the Planets were still playing well defensively, as Rob Carmody was quick to point out.

“Brandon Caruso didn't score a point tonight, but what he did on defense was tremendous,” he said. “He didn't allow their guards into the lane. So 19-16 could have been 30-16 (at halftime).”

Hetzler added 13 points for Mars.

Joey Koroly paced Trinity with 15 points.

Mars (23-4) will face Highlands in the quarterfinals Friday at a site and time to be determined.

Highlands defeated Carrick in Tuesday's second round.

TRINITY 40

Joey Koroly 3 8-14 15, Mike Koroly 2 2-2 7, Dylan Kern 1 2-2 4, Dausen Marry 1 0-0 2, Jeff Ecker 0 1-2 1, Stephen Schultz 1 0-0 2, Zach Ecker 3 2-3 9. Totals: 11 15-23 40.

MARS 49

Robby Carmody 7 9-11 25, Andrew Recchia 2 2-4 7, Cade Hetzler 5 2-4 13, Michael Carmody 2 0-0 4, Brandon Caruso 0 0-0 0, Joe Schneider 0 0-0 0, Luke Morrissey 0 0-0 0, Joe Craska 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 13-19 49.

Trinity 4 15 9 12 — 40

Mars12 4 16 17 — 49

3-point goals: Trinity 3 (J. Koroly, M. Koroly, Z. Ecker); Mars 4 (R. Carmody 2, Recchia, Hetzler).

Friday: Mars vs. Highlands, PIAA Class 5A quarterfinal, TBD