Leader of the pack
ADAMS TWP — Lily Grenci leaned against the wall deep in the bowels of Mars High and flashed a shy smile. She was almost embarrassed by her 28-point, 21-rebound performance against Perry Traditional Academy in a 50-36 PIAA Class AAA preliminary playoff game victory Tuesday night. "It's just awesome to get the chance to play high school basketball again and to play with my teammates," Grenci said. "I'm just glad we got a home game. We lost on senior night here." That was a game against Knoch in which the Knights guarded Grenci with everyone but the mascot and the scorekeeper. Perry did throw double-teams at Grenci, but she had no trouble splitting them to get to the hoop or to draw a foul. Grenci was 14-of-20 from the free-throw line and had the welts on her arms and legs to prove it. "She's going to be sore in the morning," said Mars coach Tony Howard. Mars (19-6) needed every last point and every last rebound from its senior star against a feisty Perry team that didn't get the memo that the Planets were supposed to win easily. Mars built a 21-3 lead late in the first half, but the Commodores went on a 9-3 run to close to 24-12. The Planets led by as many as 17 points early in the fourth quarter, but Perry cut the lead to 43-34 with 1:37 remaining. The comeback was too little, too late for the Commodores, who could blame poor shooting for most of their woes. Perry shot 22 percent from the floor. Still, the Commodores (15-7) put up a valiant fight. "They are a playoff team," Howard said. "We didn't expect to win by 40." Howard didn't know what to expect after a 10-day layoff. After losing to West Mifflin in the WPIAL playoffs Feb. 21, the Planets spent several days in limbo. It wasn't until West Mifflin beat Indiana in the next round that the
Planets knew their season wasn't finished. Mars showed the rust from its layoff. "That was my biggest concern," Howard said. "I thought if it was five girls against five girls who looked like they haven't played in awhile, the advantage was to them." But the advantage was to Mars, largely because of Grenci, who was giddy about the fact her high school career was not over. She played like she had nothing to lose, throwing herself into the fray repeatedly and driving to the basket with unbridled aggressiveness. "It's kind of like our third season," Grenci said. "We had the regular season and then the WPIAL playoffs and now the state playoffs. We know how bad it felt to lose. After that loss (in the WPIAL playoffs), we all knew we had to work harder if we got back in (to the state playoffs)." Guard Alexa Lee pitched in 12 points for Mars, including three big 3-pointers to keep Perry at arm's length. Mars faces District 10 champion General McLane in the first round of the state playoffs. The Lancers are 23-1 and have dominated the competition this season. "It's going to be a challenge," Howard said. "I know we are going to be a gigantic, enormous underdog." <br /><strong>PERRY 36 <br /></strong>Chelsea Anderson 2-11 3-7 7, Dashawna Carey 5-7 0-1 10, Maritta Gillcrease 0-5 0-0 0, Jamie Reed 6-14 0-3 12, Tyler Watts 2-18 1-2 5, Shantel Davenport 0-1 0-0 0, Ashia Regan 0-8 2-2 2, Alexis Eberhardt 0-3 0-0 0. <br /><strong>Totals: 15-67 6-15 36 <br />MARS 50 <br /></strong>Ally Demetriadis 0-1 3-7 3, Ashley Lynch 0-3 0-0 0, Lily Grenci 7-17 14-20 28, Elaine Hasek 0-2 1-2 1, Kehle Pelles 2-4 2-2 6, Maureen Cress 0-1 0-0 0, Alexa Lee 3-7 3-4 12. <br /><strong>Totals: 12-35 23-35 50</strong> <br />Perry 2 6 12 16—36 <br />Mars 11 13 11 15—50 <br /><strong>3-point goals:</strong> Lee 3 <br /><strong>Saturday:</strong> Mars vs. General McLane at Edinboro University, 6 p.m.
