ADAMS TWP. - Taryn Adamski needed less than a second to make her presence felt.

It's good thing, because that's all the Mars senior had.

Adamski, conspicuously quiet for the first 31 minutes and 59.2 seconds of the Mars girls basketball game against Knoch Thursday night, caught an inbounds pass from Megan Gibson under the basket and scored to tie the game at 42 as the buzzer sounded at the end of regulation.

Adamski scored the first four points of the overtime period as the Planets pulled out a 51-44 overtime win.

"We run that play all the time," said Mars coach Dana Petruska of the perfectly executed inbounds pass. "If you don't get a good screen out of it, it's not going to be open."

But it was and Adamski converted.

It was tough going for Adamski - the Planets' only senior - for most of the contest. She missed her first seven shots and didn't score her first points of the game until 4:16 remained in the fourth quarter.

She made up for it in the final eight minutes and finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

"Mars had a nice play," said Knoch coach Curt Vasas. "(Adamski) made a clutch shot. In overtime, she really turned it on. That's what good players do."

Knoch (13-8 overall, 9-5 in the section) set out to stop Adamski at all costs. It worked, but the Knights were hurt by Mars' other threats, including Abby Marshall, who led the Planets with 12 points. Gibson added 11.

Gibson scored seven of her points in the first quarter and looked like anything but a sophomore.

"(Gibson) went through a lull, like a lot of our young kids did," Petruska said. "She's a kid who was just diagnosed with asthma, so she is trying to deal with that. She's someone I forget about sometimes."

Petruska put a lot of faith in Gibson Thursday. Before Adamski's game-tying shot, Mars (16-6, 11-3) set up two 3-point plays for Gibson. She missed the first, but Knoch deflected the ball out of bounds and on her second 3-point attempt, Knoch's Jen Robinson blocked the shot out of bounds with .8 seconds remaining.

Petruska wasn't hesitant to put the game in the sophomore's hands.

"We've been talking about that," Petruska said. "They're all I have. We are so young, but I want them to know, 'I believe in you. Start believing in yourself.'"

To help pass along that message, Petruska had former assistant coach Ted Gross talk to the team after the Planets suffered two tough defeats last week.

"He came in and said a lot of positive things," Petruska said.

He almost had to give another pep talk.

After falling behind by eight early in the second quarter, Knoch stormed back with a 12-2 run to take a 21-19 lead with 1:23 remaining in the first half.

Neither team led by more than four points after that until Mars' final 11-2 run over the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.

The Adamski shot might only have tied the game, but, in essence, it won the game for the Planets.

"It's not an excuse, but, to be perfectly honest, it did take the wind out of us," Vasas said.

Maria Frey paced Knoch with 13 points and Jen Robinson, who hounded Adamski on defense, finished with 12 points.

Despite the loss, Knoch has the WPIAL playoffs to look forward to.

"Live in the present," Vasas said. "That's what I told them (after the game). This game is done. We have a lot of basketball left."

So does Mars, which will try to build on its come-from-behind win as it takes a very young team into the WPIAL playoffs.

"That's what I expect from our kids," Petruska said. "Don't cry. Don't hang your heads. Just come out and give me everything you have, win or lose. I'll be happy."

KNOCH 44

Nicole Reiser 1-5 3-4 5, Liz Burgard 3-6 4-6 10, Lauren Koegler 0-3 4-6 4, Maria Frey 6-12 0-0 13, Jen Robinson 6-11 0-3 12, Pam Gagen 0-0 0-0 0, Liz King 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-37 11-19 44

MARS 51

Taryn Adamski 5-13 0-1 10, Julie Utz 1-6 6-6 8, Megan Gibson 5-11 0-0 11, Heather Carpenter 0-3 0-0 0, Maggie Bulman 4-6 0-1 8, Cara Hudac 1-8 0-0 2, Abby Marshall 3-8 6-6 12, Vanessa Pappas 0-0 0-0 0, Karly Takach 0-2 0-0 0, Zara Zollner 0-0 0-0 0, Justine Funk 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-57 12-14 51

3-point goals:

Frey, Gibson

JV:

Mars 35-32

Saturday:

Mars @ Carlynton

Monday:

Knoch @ Bishop Canevin

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