ADAMS TWP — In one respect, it was fitting the Mars Sports Hall of Fame's latest class was inducted in 2007.

It was 30 years ago that the Mars girls basketball team won the WPIAL Class AA championship.

Four members of that team — point guard Kathy Lisman Wood, guard Kathleen Doman, assistant coach Marcia Semple and head coach Carol DeVenzio — were among the 16 people inducted into the Hall at a special ceremony Friday at Mars Middle School.

Four other players who starred for the girls basketball team — Eileen White West (Class of 1971) Kim Courson Zollner (1975), Pam Best (1976) and Sandi Starr Everhart (1982) — were also inducted.

Doman and West were unable to attend the ceremony because of prior commitments.

The Planets, who went 27-1 during the 1976-77 season, defeated Brentwood 44-42 in the district title game and advanced to the state championship game, where it suffered its only loss of the season to Carbondale.

DeVenzio and Semple took over the team before the 1966-67 campaign. Up to that point, girls basketball at Mars was confined to a couple of practices per week and an actual game here and there.

"At that time, there were no sections, no WPIAL for girls," said DeVenzio. "We played the schools closest to us, home and away."

One of the players on those early teams was West, who was Mars' all-time leading scorer at one time.

Zollner and Best were stars for the Planets in the mid-'70s before the WPIAL title team.

"My senior season was the last year Mars played at Class AAA," said Best. "The next year, the title season, they moved down to AA."

Both players still appreciate the influence DeVenzio and Semple had on them.

"They were such awesome mentors, not only on the court, but off as well," said Zollner, who was Most Valuable Player for the 1974 basketball team.

"Hard work and dedication were the two biggest things I learned playing basketball for them," said Best, Mars' Most Outstanding Female Athlete in 1976.

Girls basketball at Mars has always received great support from the student body and community, but never was this backing greater than when the Planets made their postseason run in the late winter of 1977.

And what an exciting run it was.

"I remember during one of those playoff games, we must have been down by about 15 points at halftime," said Wood. "The coaches were worried, you could tell. We went up to them and patted them on the back and said, 'Don't worry.'"

The Planets took their perfect 27-0 record to the state title game, along with more than a few rowdy fans.

"We had bus loads of people who went to Hershey," said Wood. "The support we received from the school and the community was tremendous."

The effect of that year's team remained at the school long after its players had graduated.

Sandi Starr Everhart can attest to that.

She was a swing guard on the girls varsity basketball team from 1979-82. She knew what the 1977 team had accomplished and what it meant to Mars High.

"I think growing up, all the young girls playing basketball at Mars looked up to them, both the players and the coaches," Everhart said. "They were such great role models."

Semple was part of many wins with the Planets, including the district title, but she said the teams she helped coach were winners regardless of the .

"I was very blessed to coach some very talented and beautiful young women," she said. "Their character went above and beyond their wins and losses."

Though it took the Hall of Fame 20 years to recognize its latest inductees, they couldn't have accepted the honor with more class or humility.

"I was very honored to be named to the Hall of Fame," said DeVenzio. "To me, I was just doing my job.

"When you're living your passion and getting paid for it, that's the ultimate dream."

This year's inductees also included

E.J. Wheeler (1986),

Bill Crummy (1975)

, Mary Molloy Weaver (1978),

Gary Warman (1978),

Mike Sheehy (1985), Carole Cress Descovich (1985),

Craig Penney (1971),

and Edna Anderson Ritts (Special Service Award).