ADAMS TWP — Just when it appeared that the Seneca Valley offense would wait until the New Year to come alive, it had one more spurt left in 2005.

Trailing Mars 24-21 entering the fourth quarter, SV's girls scored as many points in the final period as they managed in the first three periods combined.

The end result was a 42-34 win in the championship game of the Mars Christmas Tournament.

In the boys final, Mars defeated Northgate 59-44.

SV coach Todd Schoeffel watched his team come up with big plays on both ends of the floor in the final period.

The Raiders (9-2) surrendered just three points to Mars in the final two minutes and 20 seconds, while Chelsey Pavlick scored seven of her 14 points in the final eight minutes to ice the win.

"It's not like we did anything special on offense or defense," said Schoeffel. "We just made plays in the end. It was a great team win."

With 2:20 left in the game, SV held a 32-31 lead. But a two-point basket from Pavlick, followed two free throws from both Tina Mangola and Kelsey Spencer made the score 38-31 with 1:17 remaining.

Mars' Julie Utz followed with a three-pointer, but 38-34 was as close as the Planets would get.

Mars started slow out of the gate, getting outscored 11-1 in the first period.

"Coach (Dave) Sylvester told us we just needed to play heads up after that first quarter," said Utz. "He told us to relax because we were rushing things a bit."

Mars responded by winning the second quarter 10-5, as it was SV's turn to struggle on offense. All five of the Raiders points in the period came from Pavlick at the free throw line.

Utz went into halftime having scored just two points and with her team down 16-11.

But the senior guard was Mars' catalyst in the second half, scoring 15 points in the final two quarters to end with a game-high 17 points.

"We are a team-based group," she said. "And we were looking for anybody to step up. It's just that my shots began to fall."

Pavlick was chosen as the tourney's MVP, scoring a combined 29 points in two games.

Also making the All-Tournament Team was SV's Ashley Turici and Mars' Julie Utz.

The Planets had to douse the Flames — twice.In the championship game of its own tournament, Mars jumped out to a 25-7 first-quarter lead against Northgate.But the Planets (8-4) saw their lead cut to single digits in the final period before pulling out a 59-44 win."That first quarter, I think that was the best quarter we've played this year," said Mars coach Rob Carmody. "We were moving the ball and shooting it well. Plus, we were getting after it on defense."But, despite entering the final period down 46-31, it was Northgate that had the momentum for much of the final eight minutes."In the fourth quarter, we would have spurts where we would play well for a minute here and a minute there; just enough to stay ahead."But that's going to have to change if we want to make and do something in the playoffs," Carmody said.Vinny Smith led Mars with 14 points.Tim Frye scored 13 points and was named Tournament MVP after 26 points in the semifinal win over Slippery Rock.Mars' Steve Cress totaled 36 points in two games, including 13 points in Wednesday's win.Slippery Rock's Bill Stoughton also made the All-Tournament Team.Girls BoxscoreSENECA VALLEY 42Tina Mangola 2 5-6 10, Chelsey Pavlick 3 8-10 14, Ashley Turici 4 0-0 8, Amanda Johnson 2 1-2 5, Kelsey Spencer 0 5-6 5, Ryan Ingrassia 0 0-0 0, Jackie Mangola 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 19-24 42.MARS 34Abby Marshall 1 0-2 3, Julie Utz 5 5-7 17, Megan Gibson 0 1-2 1, Lily Grenci 2 0-1 4, Maggie Bulman 3 3-4 9, Haley Geyer 0 0-0 0, Cara Hudac 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 9-16 34.3-point goals:T. Mangola; Utz 2, Marshall.Monday:North Allegheny @ Seneca ValleyTuesday:Mars @ HamptonBoys BoxscoreMARS 59Bryan Humphreys 1 1-2 3, Charlie Jaicks 3 0-1 8, Robbie Herold 3 1-3 8, Tim Frye 5 2-2 13, Steve Cress 3 7-8 13, Vinny Smith 6 2-2 14, Steve Jackson 0 0-0 0, Dan Colbert 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 13-18 59.NORTHGATE 44Dave Maruscak 0 2-4 2, Jon Gubish 2 0-2 4, John Valeriano 6 4-4 18, Brian Carney 1 2-2 4, Mark Buetzow 2 0-0 4, Justin Bergman 4 0-0 8, Steve Mayhew 1 0-0 2, Quincy Haynie 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 8-12 44.3-point goals:Jaicks 2, Frye, Herold; Valeriano 2.Tuesday:Mars @ Hampton