HAMPTON TWP — Hampton boys basketball coach Joe Lafko walked up to Mars coach Rob Carmody and shook his hand.

And his head.

“You guys are really tough,” Lafko said, letting out a sigh.

“Oh,” Carmody replied, “and you guys aren’t?”

The two coaches have been waging war against each other on the basketball court two times a season for more than a decade.

This year, though, the Talbots and the Planets are in different classes and in different sections. Mars is still in Section 1-AAA, while Hampton moved up to Section 3-AAAA.

Still, the two got together for a good, old-fashioned tussle at Hampton High School Friday night.

And it was just like old times.

Matt Getsy hit a short running jumper with 15 seconds remaining to give Mars a one-point lead, but Ryan Luther answered with his own off-balanced shot that found the net with 1.8 seconds on the clock to give Hampton a 59-58 victory.

“That’s the whole reason why we decided to keep playing (each other),” Carmody said.

Mars (2-1) had just three leads in the contest — 2-0, 45-44 and 58-57. The Planets spent most of the game playing catchup.

Hampton (3-0), though, could not distance itself from Mars despite 12 second-quarter points from David Huber and 13 second-half points from Luther.

The Talbots’ biggest lead was eight points.

“Mars is a very good basketball team,” Lafko said. “We were fortunate Ryan had the ball in his hands at the end.”

Mars had a foul to give after Getsy’s bucket and used it.

Hampton set up one final play. Luther got the ball, took two dribbles to his left and fired up an 8-footer that found the net.

“We forced the ball way out to the side,” Carmody said. “Ryan, as good players do, came out and got the basketball. ... There’s a reason why Ryan is the top junior in the WPIAL. That’s what guys like that do.”

Luther finished with 19 points.

His brother, Collin, missed his third straight game while still recovering from a concussion suffered during football season.

Huber also had a big game for the Talbots, finishing with 18 points.

“He has been stepping into more of a scoring role for us and we’re pleased he’s doing that,” Lafko said. “He had some big games in the tip-off tournament and he followed that up with a big game against Mars.”

Getsy led Mars with 17 points.

“Matt really made something nice happen and made that nice driving layup,” Carmody said.

Josh Goetz had a big second half for the Planets after being blanked in the first half.

The 6-foot-8 forward scored all 12 of his points in the second half and played solid defense on Luther.

“If there is a more improved player in the WPIAL, I haven’t seen him,” Carmody said of Goetz. “Obviously, we’re guard oriented, but he’s still finding ways to get his points.”

Despite the loss, Carmody was pleased.

“All of our guys did a great job,” Carmody said. “We can sit and nit-pick about how we could have done this better. It’s our third game of the year and we’re playing a really, really good team on the road. I’m looking at this as a positive. You lose in a heartbreaker at the buzzer, but we have a lot of positives to build from.”

MARS 58

Garrett Ashbaugh 2-5 0-1 4, Owen Nearhoof 4-8 1-1 10, Matt Getsy 8-14 1-2 17, Mitch Buzard 4-13 1-3 10, Josh Goetz 6-9 0-1 12, Ben Erdahl 0-0 0-0 0, Zach May 1-5 0-0 3, Alex Locher 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 26-56 3-8 58.

HAMPTON 59

Jon Floss 2-5 2-4 8, Ryan Luther 7-14 3-5 19, Joey Lafko 3-7 0-0 7, David Huber 7-13 2-4 18, Trace McConnell 0-0 0-0 0, Richard Ford 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Obringer 0-3 1-2 1, Hayden Seserko 1-1 0-0 3, James Edwards 0-1 0-0 0, Tom Radziminski 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Adams 1-1 1-1 3. Totals: 21-45 9-16 59.

Mars 12 19 12 15—58

Hampton15 19 10 15—59

3-pointers: Mars 3 (Nearhoof, Buzard, May). Hampton 8 (Floss 2, Luther 2, Lafko, Huber 2, Seserko)

JV: Hampton 64-54

Friday: Valley at Mars