Neither team was able to gain the upper hand during the first quarter.

That wasn't the case by halftime.

Mars trailed Westinghouse 10-9 entering the second period before unleashing a 17-7 run on the Bulldogs.

The City League power never recovered, as the Planets managed a 59-46 win in a PIAA Class AAA girls second-round playoff game Wednesday night at North Hills High School.

Mars will face Hopewell, a 56-26 winner over Punxsutawney, in the state quarterfinals Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

Westinghouse (24-5) did manage to stay within striking distance, trailing 51-42 with 2:03 remaining in the game, but the Planets made eight free throws in the final two minutes to keep their comfortable advantage.

"Between our defense and the way we handled the ball, I'd have to give this effort an A-plus," said Planets coach Dave Sylvester.

That defense held Westinghouse star center Shawnice Wilson to only five points in the game.

"She's even bigger than I thought," Sylvester said of Wilson, a sophomore who stands 6-feet-6. "But we had a good game plan."

That strategy centered around the Planets pressuring the Bulldogs' guards before they could come up the floor and look inside to Wilson.

"We lost our focus," said Westinghouse assistant coach Talitha Cox. "Instead of letting the game come to us, we played (Mars') game. We wanted to get the ball inside, but we just didn't play our game."

The Bulldogs were without head coach Phyllis Jones, who is serving a one-year suspension for allegedly recruiting a player.

Mars' run in the second quarter was paced by junior forward Abby Marshall, who scored seven points in the period and ended the night with a career-high 22.

"She played very well tonight," said Sylvester. "If she would have made a few more of her shots in the first quarter, it would have been crazy."

Wilson picked up two fouls in the first quarter and spent the entire second period on the bench.

In the third quarter, it was another factor that rendered the post player ineffective.

With Westinghouse trailing Mars by double digits, the Bulldogs moved to a man-to-man defense.

"(Wilson) couldn't keep up in our man-to-man defense," said Cox. "We needed to speed things up, so we put players with a bit more quickness in there."

It didn't matter.

The Planets (22-6) exposed weaknesses in the Bulldogs' scheme, scoring 18 points in the third quarter to lead 44-32 with eight minutes to play.

"We figured they'd go man-to-man," said Sylvester. "But we also knew they couldn't play it (effectively). We used screens and got a lot of open layups."

Megan Gibson added 12 points for Mars while Julie Utz contributed 10.

Westinghouse was led by Assata Ogbonna's 14 points.

MARS 59Abby Marshall 10 0-0 22, Julie Utz 3 3-8 10, Megan Gibson 3 5-6 12, Lily Grenci 0 7-8 7, Maggie Bulman 3 2-2 8, Cara Hudac 0 0-0 0, Haley Geyer 0 0-0 0, Alina Hudac 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 19 17-24 59.

WESTINGHOUSE 46Kelly Smith 3 0-0 9, Assata Ogbonna 5 2-2 14, Shalonda Winton 1 0-0 2, Aquanna Diggs 3 2-2 9, Sade Turner 3 0-0 6, Shawnice Wilson 2 1-3 5, Te'Shana Davis 0 1-2 1, Donnetta Allen 0 0-0 0, Deisha Foster 0 0-0 0, Totals: 17 6-9 46.

Mars 9 17 18 15—59Westinghouse 10 7 15 14—463-point goals: Marshall 2, Utz, Gibson; Smith 3, Ogbonna 2, Diggs.

Saturday: Mars vs. Hopewell, PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal, site and time TBD