ROSS TWP — Mars girls basketball coach Dave Sylvester noticed Montour's Jena Kacsur on game films as he prepared his team for a WPIAL Class AAA quarterfinal playoff game.

On Friday, he got a better look at her.

The senior guard drained eight 3-pointers in 11 attempts to spark the Spartans' 62-42 rout of the Planets at North Hills High School.

She tallied one 3-pointer in the first quarter, three in each of the second and third quarters, and one more in the fourth period.

"I was looking at her stats the other day and she's hit 44 percent of her 3-point attempts this season," said Montour coach Jack Burik. "I don't care what level of basketball you're talking about, that's a heck of a percentage."

"We noticed her on tape against Hopewell and Knoch," Sylvester said. "We knew she could shoot the ball, but she wasn't anything special."

But she was on this night.

Kacsur hit a 3-pointer as time expired in the first half to give the Spartans (19-7) a 31-19 lead.

She beat the buzzer once again at the end of the third quarter, extending Montour's edge to 49-28.

Covering Kacsur wasn't as easy as it sounds.

"(Montour) was keeping two girls low on offense, which threw us out of whack with our halfcourt trap," said Sylvester. "Our players didn't know who to pick up when we switched."

More often than not, Kacsur was able to get open.

But she wasn't the only threat the Spartans featured on offense.

Senior center Audrey Jamiolkowski scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, Jordan Burkes scored 12 points and Melanie Bihler added 11.

The Planets were unable to find such balance, as Lily Grenci led Mars with 19 points and Maggie Bulman managed 12, but the rest of the team combined for only 11 points.

"It was disappointing that we didn't have our normal, well-rounded offense tonight," said Sylvester.

The third quarter saw Mars' fortunes go from bad to worse.

Down 12 points at the start of the period, the Planets shot 4-of-19 for 21 percent from the field and were outscored 18-9 by quarter's end.

After a brief lead in the opening period, the Planets didn't see the lead for the rest of the night.

The loss snaps a 15-game winning streak for the Planets (23-3), who will now hope that Montour gets to the WPIAL championship game. That would pull Mars into the state playoffs.

Montour will face Greensburg Salem, a 65-60 winner over West Mifflin, in the semifinals next week.

MONTOUR 62Melanie Bihler 4 3-8 11, Melissa Uram 1 1-2 3, Jena Kacsur 8 0-0 24, Jordan Burkes 2 8-11 12, Audrey Jamiolkowski 4 4-4 12, Gina Ciamacco 0 0-0 0, Angie Sciulli 0 0-0 0, Caitlin Singletary 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 19 16-25 62.

MARS 42Megan Gibson 3 0-0 6, Cara Hudac 1 0-0 2, Haley Geyer 1 0-0 3, Lily Grenci 7 4-4 19, Maggie Bulman 5 2-5 12, Karly Takach 0 0-0 0, Vanessa Pappas 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 17 6-9 42.

Montour 11 20 18 13—62Mars 6 13 9 14—423-point goals: Montour 8 (Kacsur 8); Mars 2 (Geyer, Grenci).