Carmody leads Planets to elusive WPIAL hoop title
ADAMS TWP — From 2011 to 2017, the Mars boys basketball program had a string of unprecedented success. A combined record of 120-43, five straight section titles and six consecutive trips to the state playoffs elevated Mars to the upper echelon of teams in the WPIAL.
But the Planets wanted more and they achieved it this season.
After winning yet another section crown, the team went on to win the first district title in program history, defeating Franklin Regional, 54-44, for the championship March 2.
“At the beginning of the year, we had a set of goals for our kids,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody. “We wanted to go undefeated at home and win a section, WPIAL and state title. We felt those were realistic goals for us.”
The Planets had to settle for three out of four as they fell to Abington Heights in the state championship game last week in Hershey. But his team's achievements, which also included an overall record of 25-5, earned for Carmody the Butler Eagle's Boys Basketball Coach of the Year honor.
Karns City's Chris Bellis and Butler's Matt Clement were also considered.
Mars' regular-season schedule included non-section games against Kaukauna (Wis.), Wheeling Central Catholic, Allderdice and Sewickley Academy — four teams that finished the season with a combined record of 103-14. Wheeling Central and Kaukauna both won state titles last month.
“We had a very challenging schedule and felt that it would prepare us,” said Carmody, who took his foot off the gas in between the WPIAL and state playoffs.
“It was about getting guys healthy,” he said. “We were pretty banged up and some kids just needed rest.”
It proved to be a wise move. The re-energized Planets dispatched Hampton (68-47), Trinity (48-40), Highlands (60-51) and Milton Hershey (62-61) to reach the state championship game.
Carmody now has 20 seasons of leading the Planets under his belt.
“You don't do something for 20 years without some change,” he said. “I've had to adjust to kids and trends that have come up in the game, different ways to teach the game. But our motto is, 'Hard, Smart, Together,' and that has never changed.”
As with any coach at any level, Carmody can put his players in position to win. But ultimately, games are decided on the court.
“It's not about having plays that work, it's about having players that work,” he said. “The success we've had doesn't happen without our kids working hard and wanting to get better.
“From high school down to the youth level, we're about building players.”
Carmody also was named coach of the year in 2016 when he guided Mars to its first-ever appearance in the state title game.
