ADAMS TWP — Sara Getsy's heart was pounding in her chest.

No one but her could tell.

The Mars junior was calm, cool and collected throughout the game against Hampton in a battle of section unbeatens, no more so than in the final seconds when she drained two clutch free throws to spark the Planets' girls basketball team to a 47-44 come-from-behind home victory Wednesday night.

“I was so nervous,” Getsy said, smiling. “I tried to just think of what I do in practice, to not let the situation get to my head. If I would have, I would have been really nervous.”

A lot of nerves were frayed early for Mars, which fell behind Hampton 15-5 after the first quarter.

The Talbots (6-5, 3-1) stretched that lead to 30-14 with a minute remaining in the first half. The Planets got a pair of free throws from Ali Goetz in the closing seconds to go into halftime down by 14.

That's when the soul searching began. The message was clear.

“This is for 17 girls,” Mars coach Tony Howard told his team in a sullen locker room. “Don't worry about the fans. Don't worry about the coaches. You just have to look at each other ... look at your teammates and ask yourself if you can honestly tell them you are giving all you can.”

The speech worked.

Mars went on a 17-3 run in the second half to take a brief 39-38 lead. Hampton wrested it back quickly and once against built a three-point advantage before the Planets made a final push.

The fourth-quarter surge was keyed by Getsy and Ali Goetz. The junior duo combined for 14 points in the final 12 minutes.

“We needed to pick up our intensity,” Getsy said. “We weren't hustling back or boxing out. In the first half, we really struggled with that. Then we started to do that. Everyone contributed, I thought.”

The Planets took the lead for good on a drive to the basket for a layup by Goetz, who had nine of her 13 points in the second half.

Getsy led Mars with 17 points.

“I really give them all the credit in the world,” Howard said. “They have the competitive fight and spirit.”

A win like this may go a long way for Mars, which had been struggling in recent weeks with losses to Moon and Hopewell at its own holiday tournament.

The Planets (7-5, 4-0), though, have rebounded to win two in a row and sit atop the WPIAL Section 1-AAA standings.

“We're all going to be more confident than we were,” Getsy said. “We really needed this game, especially after (two lopsided losses to Hampton) last year. Most of us are back and we really wanted this.”

Boys

Indiana 71, Mars 66

John Castello's rim-rattling dunk sent the Mars fans into a frenzy.

It also sparked a rally for the Planets. But it was one that ultimately fell short in a loss that snapped Mars' 20-game section winning streak.

“When you play at home, and you hit your scoring average (66 points), that should be enough to win,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody. “They got 21 points on 19 offensive rebounds. We turned the ball over 25 times.”

Mars (6-5, 3-1) was sloppy, but still had a chance to win late.

The Planets nearly overcame a double-digit deficit late in the game, rallying to cut the Indiana lead to 66-64 with 57 seconds remaining.

Mars, though, could not complete the comeback. The Castello dunk spurred the rally.

But Castello, the 6-foot-4 sophomore and the Planets' only real size against the tall and lanky Indians, spent most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble.

When he returned in the second half, he returned with a vengeance, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the final two quarters.

Owen Nearhoof led Mars with 21 points, including an 11-of-13 night from the free throw line. In his last two games, Nearhoof, the county's leading scorer, is 23-of-25 from the stripe.

Blake Shields led Indiana (10-1, 3-1) with 18 points.

Ultimately, though, a loss is a loss.

“We fought. We battled,” Carmody said. “But at the end of the day, we didn't win the game. We did a lot of good things, but it's back to the drawing board. We'll get back at it (Thursday).”

Girls box

HAMPTON 44

Jada Alim 1-4 0-0 2, Caitlin Jameson 0-1 0-0 0, Lindsey Sain 0-1 0-0 0, Natalie Donegan 0-1 0-0 0, Jordan Busshaus 1-7 1-1 3, Emily Stitt 1-1 0-0 2, Maddy Nelligan 3-10 1-2 7, Amanda Reese 5-14 3-6 13, Lexi Girigas 7-16 2-3 17. Totals: 18-55 7-12 44.

MARS 47

Sara Getsy 6-15 3-4 17, Nicole McCloud 2-8 0-2 4, Jess Bunner 1-5 3-6 5, Ali Goetz 4-10 5-9 13, Ellyssa Paras 0-1 1-2 1, Gabby Kosobucki 1-3 0-1 2, Bonnie Workman 1-1 0-0 3, Elise Sheehy 1-4 0-0 2, Bailey Campbell 0-1 0-0 0, Bri Buzard 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 16-48 12-24 47.

Hampton 15 15 5 9—44

Mars5 11 14 17—47

3-point goals: Hampton 1 (Girigas); Mars 3 (Getsy 2, Workman)

Thursday: Mars at Highlands

Boys box

INDIANA 71

Darrious Carter 6-10 3-7 15, Blake Shields 8-19 0-0 18, Riley Stapleton 8-16 1-4 17, Kevin Jack 4-9 3-6 11, Derek Stapleton 0-3 2-2 2, Dylan Stapleton 0-2 0-0 0, Jacob Zilinskas 1-4 0-2 2, Jordan Hudzuicki 2-3 0-2 5, Chris McConnell 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 29-66 10-25 71

MARS 66

John Castello 7-7 4-5 18, Nick DeCamp 2-5 2-4 8, Owen Nearhoof 4-17 11-13 21, Ethan Lewis 3-4 6-7 12, Christian Schmitt 3-7 0-0 7, Mitch Verplank 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Fetsko 0-0 0-0 0, Brett Kloc 0-0 0-0 0, Nate Sablowski 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Giallonardo 0-0 0-0 0, Bailey Trzeciak 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 19-41 23-29 66.

Indiana 19 9 21 22—71

Mars9 21 11 25—66

3-point goals: Indiana 3 (Shields 2, Hudzicki); Mars 5 (DeCamp 2, Nearhoof 2, Schmitt)

Friday: Mars at Highlands