ADAMS TWP — Everything seemed to be in perfect alignment for Mars Monday.

It was Senior Night for the Planets' final home game of the regular season.

Junior guard Lily Grenci achieved a personal milestone, reaching career 1,000 points.

And the Planets held off a second-half surge by the Rams, scoring the final nine points of the game in the final minute to post a 48-35 girls basketball victory.

Grenci scored a game-high 22 points, becoming the third girls player in school history to accomplish the feat, to keep the Planets' playoff hopes alive.

"Lily is the gel of the team," said Mars coach Tony Howard. "I can't say enough about what she does. She handles the ball 70 percent of the time and is our leading rebounder."

Grenci added 16 rebounds in the win, which improved Mars to 5-6 in Section 1-AAA and 9-10 overall. Hampton (11-0) and Indiana (9-2) lead the section race, with Burrell (6-4), Highlands (6-5) and Mars just behind.

Mars led by as many as 18 points late in the first half before the Rams scored the final basket of the second quarter, then opened the second half with a full-court press and scored the first seven points of the third quarter to make it 26-17.

Kasara Nee had a pair of 3-pointers in the run to help Highlands pull closer.

"They played a press against us the first time we played them and was kind of prepared for it," said Howard. "We handled it well. The key was to try and change the tempo. When we got movement, we did much better."

"I think we just we're expecting it," said Grenci. "We do well in their zone. The pressbreaker we do well against in practice."

Mars held a 34-28 lead early in the fourth quarter before baskets by Alexa Lee and Elaine Hasek and a free throw by Grenci gave the squad a 39-28 advantage with 4:12 remaining.

The Rams, however, scored the next seven points on two free throws from Cassandra Walker, a 3-pointer from Nee and two free throws from Chelsea Cavanaugh to make it a 39-35 game with 2:25 to play.

Highlands could have made it a two-point game when Walker stole the ball, but she missed a layup with 1:01 remaining. The Planets took the rebound and Ellen Kenitz scored on the other end and was fouled.

She missed the free throw, but Mars closed out the game at the free-throw line, connecting on 7-of-8 shots.

"Our defense was outstanding, holding them to just 10 points in the first half," said Howard. "We had a couple of breakdowns or we could have held them to a few baskets."

Mars started all five of its seniors: Kenitz, Tori Gressang, Kelsey Ferguson, Rachel Pinkerton and Katie Demetriadis.

"Our seniors set the tone from the beginning," said Howard. "Our starters fed off of that when they came in."

Kenitz added 10 points for Mars while Highlands received 15 fromKordes and nine from Nee, all on 3-pointers.

HIGHLANDS 35Cassandra Walker 0 2-2 2, Kasara Nee 3 0-0 9, Carly Witucki 0 0-1 0, Courtney Kordes 6 3-9 15, Chelsea Cavanaugh 0 2-2 2, Brittany Casoni 0 1-2 1, Sidney Grabigel 2 0-2 6.

Totals: 11 8-18 35.

MARS 48Tori Gressang 0 2-2 2, Ellen Kenitz 3 4-5 10, Kelsey Ferguson 1 0-0 2, Rachel Pinkerton, Katie Demetriadis 1 1-2 3, Lily Grenci 5 12-18 22, Elaine Hasek 2 0-4 4, Alexa Lee 2 0-0 5, Ashley Lynch 0 0-2 0.

Totals: 14 19-33 48

Highlands 5 5 16 9—35Mars 15 11 6 16—483-point goals: Nee 3, Grabigel 2; Lee

JV: Highlands, 53-50

Thursday: Mars at Valley