ADAMS TWP — This isn't horseshoes. And it certainly isn't hand grenades.

In high school basketball, close doesn't cut it.

Mars' boys found that out the hard way in a 60-56 home loss to Highlands Tuesday night.

"We missed 10 layups," said Mars coach Rob Carmody. "We had opportunities. If I could explain it, if I could figure it out, I'd be very wealthy. We're not the only high school, college or professional team that goes through this."

The missed shots came at the most inopportune times.

Mars trailed 9-0 out of the gate, but clawed back to force a 23-all tie late in the first half.

The Planets trailed by a point on three other occasions and had possession with a chance to take a lead, but were unable to do so.

"It was huge that we were able to keep a lead. You could see the momentum swinging their way," said Highlands coach Rich Falter. "If they could have taken the lead, it would have all gone to them."

Highlands (14-5, 7-2) maintained control with a strategy that has served the Rams well this season.

Undersized — the tallest player on the varsity roster stands 6-feet-3 — Falter has gone with the all-or-nothing approach.

The Rams don't mess around with those dinky 2-pointers. Why settle for two when you can get three?

Nine of Highlands' 10 field goals in the first half were 3-pointers. The Rams were 13-of-33 from beyond the arc in the game — one of their worst shooting performances of the season, Falter said.

"We played putrid," the coach said. "Our shooters didn't shoot well. But we still won. Anytime you can go on the road in this section and beat a team like Mars, you have to be happy."

Carmody was going to let the Rams shoot as much as they wanted from the perimeter.

"We knew we had to give something up against them," Carmody said. "We'd rather give up a 20-footer — and in some cases a 26-footer — than a 2-footer."

Ironically, Christian Locher set the Mars single-season 3-point field goal record on a night whenHighlands bombed away from behind the arc with such abandon.

Locker has hit 60 3-pointers this season.

Vinny Smith scored 23 points to lead the Planets, who failed to clinch a playoff spot with the loss.

Mike Trenski paced Highlands with 16 points. He was 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.

Mars (12-6, 6-4) will try again to lock up a spot in the WPIAL playoffs Friday at Valley. It also could be a milestone night for Smith, who needs three points to reach 1,000 in his career.

Despite the loss, Carmody is optimistic about his team's future.

"The group we have here have fought and clawed themselves into a good position," Carmody said. "We're not going to lose sight of that. We want to win every game, but we're going to take what we learned tonight and get better from it."

HIGHLANDS 60Damon Porter 3-13 2-4 8, Jeff Sinclair 3-17 0-2 9, Micah Mason 4-6 0-0 11, Mike Trenski 3-8 7-8 16, Ruben King 5-9 0-1 13, Seth Edwards 0-2 0-0 0, Jeff Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Dyllon Powell 1-3 0-0 3. Totals: 19-58 9-15 60

MARS 56Dante DeTillio 1-5 2-2 4, Chris Herold 2-3 0-0 5, Alec Mahon 3-6 0-0 8, Viny Smith 11-19 0-0 23, Luke Gruber 0-1 0-0 0, Christian Locker 4-9 0-0 11, Brad Weischedel 1-10 2-2 4, Ian Hindley 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 22-55 5-6 56

Highlands 18 11 14 17—60Mars 14 11 15 16—563-point goals: Sinclair 3, Mason 3, Trenski 3, King 3, Powell; Herold, Mahon 2, Smith, Locker 3

JV: Mars 67-42

Friday: Mars at Valley