ROSS TWP — Mars boys basketball coach Rob Carmody wasn't pleased with the situation, but he liked how the Planets responded to it.

In a nonsection tilt at North Hills Monday night, Mars committed 12 turnovers in the first half and trailed 31-25 at intermission.

In the second half, the Planets outscored the Indians by 13, leading to a 68-61 victory.

Mars forced 11 turnovers in the final two periods and freshman guard Owen Nearhoof scored 13 of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter.

“This was a great learning experience,” said Carmody. “We made a lot of mistakes against (North Hills') press defense, but we did a lot of terrific things in the second half to win.”

The Planets (14-3) trailed by one point entering the final quarter, but they went on a 12-0 run to take the lead for good.

Nearhoof began the surge with a 3-pointer before Mitch Buzard sank two straight baskets. Nearhoof then drained two more trifectas for a 50-38 lead.

The Indians (6-12) cut the deficit to six points after baskets by Alex Wright and Brody Zangaro, the latter with 1:38 left.

But Nearhoof and Brad Weischedel kept North Hills at bay with free throws.

“We've been competitive in a lot of games, but over the course of 32 minutes, we always seem to have a lapse at some point,” said Indians coach Buzz Gabos. “That's what happened tonight at the start of the fourth quarter.”

In the first quarter, 10 turnovers kept Mars from finding its offensive groove as the Indians led 14-9 after the first eight minutes

“We haven't faced a team that pressed us as much as North Hills did tonight,” said Carmody.

“Our intensity level was so high tonight,” he added. “We were playing so fast that at times, things weren't registering with our guys. I'll deal with that because it's a sign of playing hard.”

Christian Locher (15 points), Jake Lee (12) and Mitch Buzard (11) also scored in double figures for Mars.

Nick Marchese paced North Hills with 16 points.

The Planets are 8-2 in Section 1-AAA, one game behind Highlands and one game in front of Hampton.

The team has a stretch of four consecutive section games, beginning with tonight's home contest against Deer Lakes.

“I feel good about where we are, but there is still room to improve,” said Carmody. “We have two weeks to do that.”

MARS 68Jake Lee 5 0-2 12, Christian Locher 6 2-2 15, Brad Weischedel 0 6-6 6, Garrett Ashbaugh 1 0-0 3, Mitch Buzard 4 3-4 11, Alex Locher 2 0-0 4, Owen Nearhoof 5 4-5 17, Ben Erdahl 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 23 15-19 68.

NORTH HILLS 61Nick Marchese 8 0-0 16, Brody Zangaro 2 6-6 10, Sam Tovissi 3 0-1 8, Alex Wright 5 5-8 15, Connor McIntyre 2 2-2 6, Steve Hearty 3 0-2 6, Andrew Miller 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 23 13-19 61.

Mars 9 16 12 31—68North Hills 14 17 7 23—613-point goals: Mars 7 (Nearhoof 3, Lee 2, C. Locher, Ashbaugh); North Hills 2 (Tovissi 2).

Today: Deer Lakes at Mars