ADAMS TWP — The shots were falling for Mars — off the front, sides and back of the rim.

But while the offense was failing to score for the Planets girls basketball team, the defense was keeping Knoch equally stifled in a 42-28 slugfest Monday night.

"That's a credit to these girls," said Mars coachTony Howard. "They've worked so hard. Some of them are out there giving everything they have. We're asking them to play a full-court press, then drop back into man-to-man. You could tell they were tired and it takes a toll on you, shooting- wise."

It took quite a toll — the basket must have looked like the size of a thimble to the Planets.

Mars (7-7 overall, 2-3 in section play) shot 23 percent from the floor. At the end of three quarters, that percentage was even smaller, yet the Planets clung to a seven-point lead.

Rebounding and Mars' penchant for getting to the free throw line were the keys.

"If we can outrebound our opponents and shoot more free throws than our opponent, we are going to be successful," Howard said.

No one was more ferocious on the boards than Lily Grenci. The senior led Mars with 14 points on just 4-of-18 shooting, but she also grabbed 24 rebounds.

Eight of those were on the offensive glass as Grenci is averaging 20 rebounds in the last three games.

Knoch coach Curt Vasas was pleased with how his team defended the Mars star, but not how they kept her off the glass.

"We put Lindsay MacArthur on her — she's probably our best defender," Vasas said. "I thought she did a nice job. But Lindsay is probably giving up four or five inches on her, and rebounding is kind of a mentality. When we focus on it, we rebound well. When we don't, we rebound poorly."

MacArthur also led the Knights with 10 points, but Knoch (2-12, 0-7) didn't shoot the lights out, either.

The Knights were 11-of-49 from the floor and went eight minutes of the first half without a basket.

That allowed Mars to turn a tie game into a 13-4 lead.

That advantage held up most of the game — the biggest threat Knoch mounted was when it cut the lead to 29-23 late in the third quarter.

The only solace Vasas could take from his team's performance was they kept it close.

"We didn't shoot well, I don't know how many turnovers we had, yet we were still in the game," Vasas said. "In the first half, we didn't take care of the ball very well. We're too amped up. I don't know what it is. Sometimes we know it's not the right pass, but we keep throwing it anyway. That will come with time."

It was a must-win for Mars at home against a section rival. After a slow start , the Planets are slowly creeping into the playoff hunt.

"We knew we had to win this game to get ourselves back into the playoff conversation," Howard said.

KNOCH 28Haley Hutterer 0-9 0-0 0, Hannah Novotny 0-9 0-0 0, Gina Robb 0-2 0-1 0, Kristen Gagen 0-2 1-2 1, Lindsay MacArthur 5-13 0-1 10, Sara Montgomery 2-7 3-7 7, Jade Thrower 4-6 2-2 10, Laura Gray 0-1 0-0 0.

Totals: 11-49 6-13 28

MARS 42Lily Grenci 4-18 6-9 14, Tori Gressang 3-5 1-1 7,Elaine Hasek 0-5 2-6 2, Ellen Kenitz 3-10 2-4 8, Kelsey Ferguson 0-0 0-0 0, Alexa Lee 1-11 0-0 3, Ashley Lynch 2-4 0-0 4, Kehle Pelles 1-4 2-2 4, Rachel Pinkerton 0-0 0-0 0, Ally Demetriadis 0-3 0-0 0.

Totals: 14-60 13-22 42

Knoch 4 12 7 5—28Mars 9 16 5 12—423-point goals: Lee

JV: Mars 36-33

Thursday: Burrell at Mars; Knoch at Kittanning