ADAMS TWP — It was a poor shooting night for the Mars girls basketball team, but the Planets scored more than enough to topple Moon.

Despite a 26-percent (13-of-49) performance from the field, Mars advanced to the championship game of its own Christmas tournament with a 41-31 win over the Tigers Monday night.

Mars will face North Catholic, a 51-48 winner over Sto-Rox Monday afternoon, at 7:30 p.m. today.

Moon's Dani Lewis drained a 3-pointer to cut her team's deficit to 31-25 with 6:15 left in the game, but the Planets went on a 10-6 run the rest of the way.

Mars entered halftime down 18-14 after shooting 4-of-22 from the field in the first two periods.

"I don't think the girls' confidence was down," said Mars coach Tony Howard. "We've been working on pushing the ball and getting points out of transition. That led to some rushed shots.

"But in the second half, we became more patient and got the ball inside where we had a height advantage," he added.

That's where Kelsey Pelles, a 6-foot junior, took control, scoring 11 of her 17 points in the final two quarters. She added eight rebounds in the win.

"She missed last year (with a leg injury), and that makes it tough," Howard said. "But now she's really getting into game speed and is improving her decision-making. Tonight was her best game by far."

While Mars gained the lead in the second half, it was Moon's turn to struggle from the field.

The Tigers made just one of 11 field goal attempts in the third quarter, getting outscored 13-4 in that eight-minute span.

Moon, a much shorter team, outrebounded the Planets 12-3 in the second quarter. In the other three periods, Mars enjoyed a combined 38-22 edge in boards.

"We focus on getting off to a fast start and we did that tonight," Howard said. "But then we relaxed a bit.

"It seemed Moon got to every loose ball in the first half," he added. "Late in the game, we were getting to them."

Elaine Hasek added 10 points for Mars (3-4) while Jharrin Gill scored 10 to lead the Tigers (2-4), who dressed only eight players.

Tigers coach Kelly Mathews was unavailable for comment.

MOON 31Natalie Corso 1 0-1 3, Jharrin Gill 4 2-2 10, Marquesha Mackey 2 0-4 4, Dani Lewis 2 0-0 6, Dana Magnelli 2 0-0 4, Zoey Cook 2 0-0 4.

Totals: 13 2-7 31.

MARS 41Ashley Lynch 3 1-2 8, Meghan Kelly 0 1-2 1, Elaine Hasek 4 2-4 10, Kelsey Pelles 4 9-14 17, Alexa Lee 2 1-2 5, Carly Clark 0 0-0 0, Lizz Tumminello 0 0-0 0, Corinne Gressang 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 13 14-24 41.

Moon 7 11 4 9—31Mars 8 6 13 14—413-point goals: Moon 3 (Lewis 2, Corso); Mars 1 (Lynch).

Today: Mars vs. North Catholic, Mars Christmas Tournament Championship game, 7:30 p.m.