ADAMS TWP — Early struggles yet again haunted the Mars' girls basketball team as the Planets were forced to overcome an eight-point first quarter deficit on their way to a 64-47 win over Plum Thursday night.

An 18-point performance from senior guard Tai Johnson spurred the victory.

“The majority of the teams we play in our section, they have nothing to lose,” Mars coach Dana Petruska said. “When they come up against us, they play so loose, so carefree, and they're good.”

Plum (7-10, 3-5) started driving to the net early and often behind Kennedie Montue, who was able to end her day with a team-leading 21 points. Mars was caught off-guard by the aggressiveness in the paint and truly only found an answer for it in the second period as it was able to hold the Mustangs to just one point.

“If you are going to open up to them, they're going to take it,” Petruska said. “They're either going to score the basket, or you're going to foul them. During the timeout I said, 'You're opening, and you can't let them manhandle you.'”

Some adjustments were made by Petruska during the break after the first quarter because she felt her game plan was not being executed.

“I know what my game plan is and whether my kids are going to execute it remains to be seen,” Petruska said. “I mean if not, they're not going to be on the floor for very long and so there were some adjustments that were made and we slowly got into our game and that's what our problem has been.”

The Planets then turned to their own underneath presence from Bella Pelaia, who scored a pair of buckets and a trey in the second quarter.

Heavy defensive pressure by Mars (13-4, 6-3) and a handful of miscues by Plum would be enough for the Planets to take a 25-18 lead into halftime.

“You know, I think it's just so nice to have a bench this year,” Petruska said referring to the depth on the team. “Last year I didn't have a bench, so our hands were really tied. I'm just really proud of how our young players are stepping up.”

Mars exploded in the second half with 39 points, with Johnson scoring 16 of her 18 points in the final 16 minutes of play. With the Planets' lead slowly growing, Mars found themselves getting a little too confident in attempting some long passes that ended up as turnovers.

“I thought we did some really good things, but again I thought we made some decisions, like we were tying to throw these homerun passes with a 20-point lead and we don't have to,” Petruska said.

“Like, yeah she's open, but is she wide open? What's going to happen if she catches the ball? Is she going to get a wide open layup out of it? If not, then why are we throwing her the ball?”

Despite some streaky scoring, the Planets were able to put three players in double digits in Johnson, Pelaia (16) and Ava Black (10).

The Mustangs' Montue scored 11 fourth quarter points as Plum's late-game scoring surge fell short.

Plum coach Steve Elsier was unavailable for comment.

PLUM 47

Seneca 3, Johnson 2, Selgh 6, Montue 21, Lake 5, Zik 10. Totals: 13 16-23 47.

MARS 64

Tai Johnson 18, Ellie Coffield 6, Bella Pelaia 16, Alek Johnson 3, Ava Black 10, Kaitlyn Pelaia 4, Haylee Fredricks 8. Totals: 25 7-8 64.

Plum 17 1 13 16 — 47

Mars9 16 24 15 — 64

3-point goals: Tai Johnson 2, Bella Pelaia, Alek Johnson, Haylee Fredricks 2, Seneca, Montue, Zik 2.

JV: Mars won 54-15

Monday: Mars at Franklin Regional