Luke Gruber of Mars has his shot blocked by Hickory's Aaron Banas Tuesday in the Planets' 59-46 loss at the Mars Holiday Tournament.

ADAMS TWP — Apparently, the tank wasn't empty.

The Mars girls basketball team spent a lot of energy in Monday's 49-37 loss to Sto-Rox.

But the Planets salvaged a consolation victory by beating Moon 54-38 Tuesday night in the Mars Holiday Tournament.

In the boys final, Mars lost to Hickory 59-46.

Lily Grenci paced the Mars girls with 30 points, including a 12-of-13 performance from the free throw line.

"We did a lot of similar things against Sto-Rox," said Mars coach Tony Howard. "But you have to give credit to Sto-Rox because they're a good basketball team.

"We expended a lot of energy (Monday night). Tonight, we executed better and our girls reached down deep to put this one away."

The Tigers entered the game winless but stayed within striking distance for much of the night.

Jharrin Gill's two free throws cut Mars' lead to 46-36 with just under five minutes left in the game.

But free throws from Ashley Lynch and Grenci put Mars up by 13 and the Tigers never threatened again.

The Planets (8-2) did have turnover troubles.

"I've noticed progress in that area since the beginning of the season," said Howard. "But the girls were a bit rusty because of the Christmas break."

Gill led the Tigers (0-9) with 12 points and Alicia Aughton added 10.

Boys Basketball Hickory 59, Mars 46

Hickory's duo of Jaymee Shephard and Jordan Wilds proved to be too much for the Planets.

Both seniors, the guard and forward scored 25 and 21 points, respectively, as the Hornets captured first place at the Mars Holiday Tournament.Mars led 8-7 after one quarter as Hickory made just one of its first nine field goal attempts.But for the rest of the game, the Hornets shot 21-of-33 for 63 percent."Thank God we were able to play good defense while we weren't shooting well," said Hickory coach Nick Cannone. "In games like this, back-to-back nights and an early starting time, you have to play good defense."Vinny Smith had another strong game for Mars with 21 points, but no other Planet reached double figures."They did everything well tonight," Mars coach Rob Carmody said of the Hornets (9-1), a Class AAA team out of District 10. "They have no weaknesses and they play so hard."Hickory was able to match every big basket Mars could manage and, when Wilds converted a conventional three-point play with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter, the Hornets' lead was 49-31."They didn't take a possession off all night, offensively or defensively," said Carmody. "That's why they have a legitimate shot to compete for a state title."It was a good test for us," he added. "We have to learn from it."Matt Durisko chipped in 10 points for Hickory while Brad Weischedel scored eight for Mars (6-3).<B>GirlsMOON 38Erin Kelly 4 1-2 9, Natalie Corso 3 0-0 6, Alicia Aughton 4 2-2 10, Jharrin Gill 2 8-9 12, Marquesha Mackey 0 1-3 1, Zoey Cook 0 0-0 0. </B>Totals: 13 12-16 38.<B>MARS 54Ashley Lynch 1 1-2 3, Lily Grenci 9 12-13 30, Elaine Hasek 3 0-0 6, Kehle Pelles 3 1-4 7, Maureen Cress 1 0-0 2, Alexa Lee 2 1-2 6, Ally Demetriadis 0 0-0 0.</B> Totals: 19 15-21 54.<B>Moon 8 16 7 7—38Mars 14 19 13 8—543-point goals:</B> Mars (Lee).<B>Monday:</B> Valley at Mars<B>BoysHICKORY 59Jaymee Shephard 8 6-6 25, Jordan Wilds 9 2-3 21, Elrico Jones 1 1-3 3, Matt Durisko 4 2-3 10, Aaron Banas 0 0-2 0, Frank Habuda 0 0-0 0, Justin Lenhart 0 0-0 0, Garrett Trosch 0 0-0 0, Bill Dzuricsko 0 0-0 0. </B>Totals: 22 11-17 59.<B>MARS 46Chris Herold 2 1-1 5, Brad Weischedel 3 2-2 8, Christian Locher 1 2-2 5, Ian Hindley 1 0-0 3, Dante DeTillio 2 0-0 4, Vinny Smith 7 5-6 21, Luke Gruber 0 0-0 0, Alec Mahon 0 0-0 0.</B> Totals: 16 10-11 46.<B>Hickory 7 19 16 17—59Mars 8 11 7 20—463-point goals:</B> Hickory 4 (Shephard 3, Wilds); Mars 4 (Smith 2, Locher, Hindley).<B>Tuesday:</B> Valley at Mars

Lily Grenci of Mars drives the ball past Moon's Zoey Cook Tuesday at the Mars Holiday Tournament. Grenci scored 30 points to lead the Planets to a 54-38 victory.