Planets toppled by Gateway, 66-61
ADAMS TWP — The alarm clock didn’t sound in enough time to jolt Mars awake.
Trailing by 16 points with 6:27 to go in their WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball quarterfinal against Gateway Thursday night, the Planets did everything they could to climb out of the hole.
The comeback bid fell short, however, as Mars gave way to the visiting Gators, 66-61. The loss keeps the Planets out of the tournament’s semifinal round for the first time since 2015.
Mars (21-3) bucketed 25 points in the fourth quarter, 15 of them coming in the last 1:13. Tasso Sfanos posted 11 of them and Zach Schlegel 9. The latter led all scorers with 21 points on the night.
“All of a sudden, at the end, our guys kind of woke up and said, ‘Okay, we better get moving,’” Planet coach Rob Carmody said. “Gateway was able to withstand that at the end and did enough early to push that lead out. Kudos to them.”
Mars led by four points after the first frame, but the Gators (15-5) used a 13-2 run in the last five minutes of the half to claim an advantage they wouldn’t let slip.
“You call it an upset, I don’t,” Rogers said. “We came in here thinking we were the higher seed even though we weren’t. We came in here with one thing on our mind and that was to win the game.”
The Gators helped their own cause by dominating the glass. They grabbed a total of 15 offensive boards and out-rebounded the Planets, 35-17.
“I think we had them for 18 second-chance points,” Carmody said. “It was their guards getting rebounds and keeping possessions alive ... You give up 13 more possession in a five- or six-point basketball game (and) it really becomes a simple thing.”
Gateway converted on 10 of their 21 free throw attempts in the final eight minutes, holding their hosts off. Mars pulled with three points twice in the final 0:17.
The Gators saw four players score in the double-digits. Sophomore Taili Thompson paced them by pouring in 15 points, including three treys.
“Obviously, everybody is disappointed,” Carmody said. “You want to keep winning, not just to make the semis, but then you give yourself an opportunity then that you’re in control of whether you make the state playoffs.”
The Planets will have to hope to get into the PIAA tournament on the backs of either the Gators or their semifinal opponent, New Castle. Gateway has won six of seven.
“Sports too often becomes, ‘What have you done for me lately?” Carmody said. “Our guys never quit. A lot of teams quit 15 points down. The lessons they’ll learn from that are huge.”
GATEWAY 66
Taili Thompson 5 2-4 15, Jaydon Carr 5 1-2 14,, William Kronka 4 2-4 11, Ryan Greggerson 3 4-4 10, Michael Stevenson 2 5-10 9, Vito Campolo 1 0-0 3, Bryson Pavlik 1 0-2 2, Michael Crawford 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 14-26 66.
MARS 61
Zach Schlegel 7 4-5 21, Tasso Sfanos 4 4-5 13, Bryce Cunningham 2 2-4 8, Chris Dvorak 2 3-4 7, Austin Cote 2 0-1 6, Ryan Ceh 2 0-0 6. Totals: 19 13-19 61.
Gateway 13 21 12 20 — 66
Mars 17 10 9 25 — 61
3-point goals: Gateway 6 (Thompson 3, Kromka, Campolo, Carr); Mars 10 (Schlegel 3, Cote 2, Cunningham 2, Ceh 2 Sfanos)
