Moon's pressure cracks Mars
NORTH HUNTINGTON — Mars girls basketball coach Dave Sylvester knew what was coming, but his team couldn't stop it.
The Planets enjoyed a six-point halftime lead in their WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal game against Moon Friday, but the Tigers outscored Mars 10-0 in the third quarter and went on to capture a 42-30 victory at Norwin High School.
"We told them at halftime what was going to happen," said Sylvester. "They'll show you that run-and-jump and show you the press," said Sylvester.
"We practiced on that the last two days," he added.
The Tigers scored 14 of the first 15 second-half points to open a 31-24 lead.
"We really picked up our pressure in the second half," said Moon coach Kelly Matthews. "I talked to the team about getting good looks.
"On the way out of the locker room, I asked (assistant coaches) Paul (Hawthorne) and Kristin (Polosky) if we should run-and-jump and decide to do that, and that sparked us," Matthews added.
Mars (20-6) led 23-17 at the break before Moon's Julie Gebhard stole the ball and scored just 15 seconds into the third quarter. Laura Magnelli scored five points and Rachel Richardson scored three to account for the Tigers' 10 points of the frame.
Despite being shut out in the third quarter, Mars trailed by only four points before Julie Utz drained a free throw with 7:27 left in the game to make it 27-24.
However, Richardson countered with a basket and Grace Palucis stole a Planets pass and scored on the other end for a 31-24 advantage.
A basket by Mars' Lily Grenci basket trimmed the deficit to five points, but a free throw by Palucis and a basket by Gebhard increased the lead to 34-26.
Mars would get no closer than seven points the rest of the way.
"I never felt comfortable. Even with 12 seconds left, I was still out of my seat," said Matthews. "With Mars, we couldn't relax. They're too good a team."
Mars started out cold in the first half as well, not scoring their first two points until four minutes into the first period.
Mars scored 14 points in those final four minutes of the first quarter, getting six points from Maggie Bulman, five from Megan Gibson and a 3-pointer from Abby Marshall with four seconds left to take a 14-10 lead.
However, the Planets would score only 16 more points the rest of the way.
"We got no good looks," said Sylvester. "Offensively, we struggled. Give Moon credit. They applied that pressure and it makes you crazy."
Notes:
Gebhard led Moon with 12 points and Magnelli added 11. Mars received nine points from Utz and Bulman added eight. … The Planets can qualify for the PIAA tournament if Moon reaches the WPIAL championship game.
MOON 42Grace Palucis 3 3-7 9, Jenifer Ross 0 3-4 3, Laura Magnelli 3 5-6 11, Julie Gebhard 6 0-0 12, Rachel Richardson 3 1-4 7, Rebecca Pollack 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 12-21 42.
MARS 30Abby Marshall 1 0-0 3, Julie Utz 3 2-4 9, Megan Gibson 2 1-1 5, Haley Geyer 1 0-0 3, Maggie Bulman 4 0-0 8, Cara Hudac 0 0-0 0, Alina Hudac 0 0-0 0, Lily Grenci 1 0-2 2, Heather Carpenter 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 3-7 30.
3-point goals: Marshall, Utz, Geyer
