ADAMS TWP — The Mars boys basketball team entered this past season with several question marks.

It finished it by clearing three hurdles never before accomplished in program history.

The Planets won their first-ever WPIAL first-round playoff game, qualified for the state tournament and won a state playoff contest.

The feats earned veteran coach Rob Carmody Butler Eagle Boys Basketball Coach of the Year honors.

Carmody was chosen over Seneca Valley's Victor Giannotta, Summit Academy's Art McCray and Union's Karen Davis.

The Planets finished the season at 18-8 overall. No Mars team has won more games in a season in the last 20 years.

“This year was a product of a lot of people, players and coaches, putting in a lot of effort,” said Carmody. “These (players) have been part of the program for a long time.”

After graduating the program's all-time leading scorer last spring in Christian Locher and losing two other senior leaders in guards Jake Lee and Brad Weischedel, success in 2011-12 was not a given for the Planets, who had no seniors on this year's team.

But Carmody kept his players focused.

“He's a great coach,” junior point guard Garrett Ashbaugh said of Carmody. “He made it clear that even though we had lost a lot from last year, his expectations for us were still very high. He felt that, as long as we played together, the points would come from a bunch of players. His main concern was the leadership on the floor that we didn't have from last year.”

As it turned out, that would come from a bunch of players, too.

Both Mitch Buzard and Owen Nearhoof averaged 13.3 points per game to lead the team. Matt Getsy, Zach May, Josh Goetz, Ben Erdahl and Ashbaugh all proved vital to the team's success.

Jason Lozzi, a reserve guard, started the WPIAL playoff opener in place of an injured Ashbaugh and helped the Planets to a historic 57-42 victory over West Mifflin. The win saw the Planets shoot 58.3 percent from the field.

Junior guard Alex Locher, a starter at the beginning of the season, returned from an injury and scored 16 points in the postseason.

“It was unbelievable the number of kids who stepped up,” said Carmody. “It speaks volumes about them and it was fun to be part of it.”

Following a defeat to New Castle in the WPIAL playoffs, Mars went on to defeat Oliver in a PIAA preliminary round game. The Planets' season came to an end with a first-round loss to Johnstown March 9.

Many people wouldn't have picked the Planets to get that far after the squad opened the season 2-3.

“Then we hosted our holiday tournament,” said Carmody. “In back-to-back days, we played Sto-Rox (a 61-53 victory) and Seneca Valley (65-63). They're two very good programs and we won both games.

“At that point, I think the kids said to themselves, ‘If we focus on what the coaches are telling us, we can really do something this year.'”

The Planets placed second in Section 1-AAA with an 11-3 mark.

By the end of the season, the Planets had played seven games against teams with at least 20 wins. That gauntlet included games against WPIAL Class AAA champion New Castle, state semifinalist Hampton (twice) and state finalist Montour.

Carmody hopes his team can take that experience and apply it to next season. He's already pleased with his team's off-season mindset.

“As soon as the season ended, we were back in the open gyms,” Ashbaugh said. “We're just a bunch of guys who love playing basketball.”

Carmody's varsity assistants included Paul Rubish and Mike Baumgartel.