Turnovers costly in Mars' 63-40 loss
ADAMS TWP — The Moon and Mars girls basketball teams both aim to be WPIAL playoff teams in February, but only the Tigers played like one Thursday night.
Moon forced the Planets into 32 turnovers and out-rebounded them 42-28 as the Tigers earned a 63-40 win in the first round of the Mars Christmas Tournament.
In the night's first game, Pine-Richland toppled Hopewell 52-42.
Miscues slowed the Planets (5-4) down from the start of the game as the team turned the ball over nine times in the opening quarter, allowing the Tigers (6-2) to jump out to a 14-6 lead.
“Between turnovers and allowing them to get offensive rebounds, that's what really hurt us,” said Mars coach Tony Howard. “We just can't do that against a playoff-caliber team.
“We didn't play instinctively tonight,” he added. “We seemed to be afraid to make mistakes and you can't play that way.”
Two players keyed Moon's offense. Junior center Abby Unis scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half, after which the Tigers led 31-15. In the second half, it was senior point guard Amirah Moore, who tallied 15 of her game-high 19 points to squash any hopes the Planets had of a comeback.
“We can count on that type of game from Amirah,” said Tigers' coach Doug Saklad. “Abby is capable of it, but is not as consistent. She always works so hard, though.”
Between the turnovers and a 29 percent (7-of-24) effort from the floor, Mars' offense sputtered in the first half. Sara Getsy, Jessica Bunner and Ali Goetz each tallied just four points to lead the squad in the first two quarters. Getsy ended the game with 10, Goetz had nine and Bunner six.
“We like to play a zone and put a lot of pressure on the other team's guards, forcing them to make quick decisions,” said Saklad. “Our overall team speed is pretty good.”
Mars was 0-of-13 from three-point range.
“Our players shot 45,000 three-pointers over the summer,” said Howard. “Three-point shooting should be one of our strengths. The key is to try and find a good look from out there and not just take the first one that comes.”
Mars will face Hopewell in the consolation game at 6 p.m. tonight, followed by the Pine-Richland/Moon title game at 7:30 p.m.
MOON 63
Izzy Engel 0 1-2 1, Abby Unis 7 3-5 17, Kirstin Gondol 0 1-2 1, Maddy O'Shea 4 1-1 9, Megan Toomer 1 2-2 4, Tara Balach 1 2-2 4, Amirah Moore 7 5-6 19, Annie Bal 1 1-1 3, Juhi Goyal 2 0-0 4, Hannah Brodish 0 1-2 1, Tenique Chaffin 0 0-0 0, Deaja Quick 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 17-23 63.
MARS 40
Sara Getsy 5 0-0 10, Nicole McCloud 3 1-2 7, Jessica Bunner 3 0-0 6, Ali Goetz 3 3-5 9, Paige Castora 1 1-1 3, Elise Sheehy 1 0-0 2, Bailey Campbell 0 1-2 1, Amanda Sommers 1 0-0 2, Bonnie Workman 0 0-1 0, Daniella Paras 0 0-0 0, Bri Buzard 0 0-0 0, Gabby Kosobucki 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 6-11 40.
Moon 14 17 17 15 — 63
Mars6 9 7 18 — 40
3-point goals: None
Today: Hopewell vs. Mars, 6 p.m.
