ROBINSON TWP — Great memories and achievements: Carrie Walters-Palermo found both on the basketball court.

The 1983 Mars High graduate was part of four straight section titles won by the Planets’ girls hoops program.

As a point guard, she ended her high school career as Mars’ all-time leader in assists and went on to coach the girls team at Sto-Rox High School for 17 years, winning a WPIAL title in 2009.

Palermo will be one of five people inducted into the Mars Athletic Hall of Fame Sept. 16.

“It’s humbling, that’s the best word to describe it,” said Palermo. “I was inducted into the Sto-Rox Hall of Fame last year and that was very nice, but to be taken in at my alma mater, it means a bit more.”

Palermo’s exposure to basketball began long before she joined Mars’ girls team in ninth grade.

“I used to go to the open gyms and play, that’s how I got interested,” she said. “I learned to be tough because there were a lot of boys in my neighborhood (Adams Township).”

She also remembers making use of time by herself.

“I’d eat dinner, then go out into the barn where I had a hoop,” said Palermo. “I would dribble and shoot until my mom made me come in.

“I was a competitive kid and basketball satisfied that part of me.”

Palermo also competed in the throwing events for the girls’ track and field team, but even that was connected to basketball.

“I wanted a new pair of basketball shoes, but to get them, my mother made me pick up a second sport,” she said. “The deals we make when we are kids ...”

The basketball teams Palermo played on in high school were filled with different personalities, but that didn’t stop the Planets from succeeding.

“Off the court, we weren’t the best of friends, but on the court and in practice, we respected each other,” she said.

Palermo also has much respect for her head coach in high school, Tim Tyler.

“After my junior year, he let me run things on the court,” she said. “If I didn’t like something, I’d call a timeout.

“We had good communication between us and we trusted each other.”

“Carrie was a fierce competitor,” said Tyler. “Her ball-handling and passing skills were outstanding.

“I’ve always said that if I was starting a team, she’d be my point guard,” he added.

Palermo’s first two years of college were spent at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown, where she played both guard positions on the women’s basketball team.

She then switched to Pitt’s main campus and had to leave basketball behind, at least playing the game.

Coaching was another story. Her 2009 title team went 26-2 overall.

“Communication, that’s why we did so well,” said Palermo. “It seemed like the players we had on the floor had a sixth sense.”

Palermo and her husband, Bill, have three grandchildren.

“I was missing out on a lot of family functions and that’s why I stepped down,” she said of coaching basketball. “It was time.”

Palermo, a math teacher at Sto-Rox High, now assists her husband, who is the Vikings’ varsity softball coach.

“I’m not surprised she became a successful coach,” said Tyler. “She was basically a coach on the floor when she played.”

Note: The 2011 inductees will be honored at a dinner at Mars Middle School prior to the Sept. 16 home varsity football game against Hampton. A $20 ticket buys admission to the dinner and the football game. For details, call 724-625-9380.