SLIPPERY ROCK –Not all halftime speeches are heard loud and clear.

This one was.

Trailing Franklin 17-13 at intermission, Mars girls basketball coach Dave Sylvester had a simple message for his team.

"I told the girls that they had to come out and impose their will on (Franklin) in the second half," he said.

The Planets did just that, riding a 14-8 advantage in the third quarter to a 38-35 victory in a PIAA Class AAA first-round playoff Saturday at Slippery Rock University's Morrow Fieldhouse.

Mars will face Westinghouse, a 49-39 winner over Kittanning, on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at North Hills High School.

Clinging to a lead in the final minutes, the Planets used free throws to put a lid on the victory.

With her team ahead 34-31, Mars senior guard Julie Utz hit two free throws with 33.3 seconds remaining.

Franklin's Natalie Keith answered with a 3-pointer to cut the lead back to 36-34 before Utz again drained two free throws, this time with 20.7 seconds left on the clock, in effect icing the win.

For the game, Mars was 10-of-11 from the free throw line, including 9-of-10 in the fourth quarter.

"We've really stressed (free-throw shooting) all year long," said Sylvester. "Our goal was to be around 70 or 75 percent for the year and we came pretty close to that."

"Mars did what it had to do to win the game," said Franklin coach Todd Wetjen. "They hit their free throws late. If one or two of those don't fall, we might have been OK. It was the difference in playing a two-possession game instead of one possession."

Mars' defense never gave up more than 10 points in a quarter. The Planets led 27-25 entering the final period and didn't allow any points until Brittany Foust's 3-pointer with 3:43 left in the game, cutting Mars' edge to 30-28.

"Our defense improved so much in the second half," Sylvester said.

In contrast, nothing seemed to go right for the Planets in the first quarter.

Mars committed seven turnovers in the period and was able to get off just three shots, making one of them to trail 10-2 entering the second period.

"I thought our offense was a bit stagnate in the (WPIAL playoff) loss to Moon," said Sylvester. "So we tried a few new things to open things up.

"So I think some of that first quarter was simply unfamiliarity with what we were doing."

Mars cut down on the turnovers in the second period, committing only three, and a 3-pointer from Abby Marshall early in the quarter sparked the team to an 11-7 run in the period.

"We were concerned with their ability to dribble, penetrate and kick," said Wetjen. "That's how they got some shots from the outside and the momentum came back to them."

Marshall led Mars with 14 points and Lily Grenci added nine for the Planets (21-6).

Franklin (21-7), the District 10 champion, was paced by Keith's 14 points, including four 3-pointers.

MARS 38Abby Marshall 5 2-2 14, Julie Utz 1 6-6 8, Megan Gibson 1 1-2 3, Alina Hudac 1 0-0 2, Lily Grenci 4 1-1 9, Maggie Bulman 1 0-0 2, Karly Takach 0 0-0 0, Haley Geyer 0 0-0 0, Cara Hudac 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 10-11 38.

FRANKLIN 35Natalie Keith 5 0-0 14, Nicole Cherry 0 1-2 1, Angela Sterner 4 2-5 11, Katie Weaver 1 0-0 2, Brittany Foust 3 0-0 7, Alisha Aylesworth 0 0-0 0, Shaniqua Law 0 0-0 0, Totals: 13 3-7 35.

Mars 2 11 14 11—38Franklin 10 7 8 10—353-point goals: Marshall 2; Keith 4, Sterner, Foust.

Wednesday: Mars vs. Westinghouse, PIAA Class AAA second round playoff–6 p.m. @ North Hills High School