PENN HILLS — The road is supposed to get rougher the deeper a team advances in the playoffs.

That was not the case Friday night.

Mars opened its PIAA Class AAA boys basketball quarterfinal against section rival Highlands with a 17-4 run and was never threatened in a 77-48 rout at Penn Hills High School.

“You play a section team for the third time and one thing a lot of people don't realize is that it means rest,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody.

“That game we played Tuesday (a 58-56 win over Strong Vincent) was one of the most physical games we've played. Facing Highlands, we were allowed to rest because it was more of a mental thing; remembering what they did in certain situations during the regular season. We were ready to go tonight.”

The Planets (22-6) will face Bishop McDevitt, a 77-68 winner over New Castle, in the state semifinals Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

Sophomore Robby Carmody caught fire in the first quarter against the Golden Rams, scoring 11 points in the period. Defensively, Mars forced seven turnovers in the period and led 23-11 at the end of the quarter.

“Highlands (23-6) had been playing well and we figured it was going to be a tough matchup,” said Mars senior center John Castello, “but we came out with so much energy at the start of the game. We made our first few shots and just kept going.”

Mars has now won 15 straight against Highlands.

It is the second straight season that the Planets defeated the Rams three times, though all three contests last year were close. Mars won the two regular-season games this year by 32 and 15 points. In both of those contests, Mars owned the boards and that trend continued Friday with a 43-27 advantage.

“We wanted to hit the glass harder, but we still weren't at the level we expected,” said Highlands coach Tyler Stoczynski. “To play at a championship level, you have to do the little things and that eluded us tonight.”

One moment of mild concern for the Planets came in the second quarter when Robby Carmody was charged with three personal fouls in the span of just 23 seconds. He came to the bench with his team leading 23-12 and did not re-enter until the last half of the third quarter.

“He wanted to see if he could drive me crazy,” said Coach Carmody. “He picked up his second foul and I told him that he needed to get through the rest of the half without picking up another. Literally five seconds later, he gets his third foul.”

It did not matter on this night, however, as Castello and Co. held down the offensive end. Highlands, frantically trying to get back in the game, took a flurry of rushed shots, most of which did not fall.

Mars held a 39-19 advantage at halftime and a Planet victory had been signed, sealed and delivered by the end of the third period with a 64-31 edge.

Robby Carmody led Mars with 19 points. Steve Castello scored 17 and John Castello added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Mitch Dezort paced Highlands with 12 points.

Rob Carmody knows his team should face a much stiffer test against Bishop McDevitt (23-6), the District 3 champion.

“They have some tremendous athletes,” he said, “but I'm not focused on them tonight. Our kids just reached the state semifinals for the first time in school history. We're going to celebrate this. We will practice on Sunday and that's when we'll look ahead to Tuesday.”

MARS 77

Aaron Gruber 3 0-0 8, Alex Gruber 2 0-1 4, John Castello 5 5-6 15, Bailey Trzeciak 1 0-0 2, Steve Castello 6 3-5 17, Christian Schmitt 3 0-2 7, Robby Carmody 8 1-2 19, Nate Sablowski 2 1-2 5, Brent Ashbaugh 0 0-0 0, Nate Rosswog 0 0-0 0, Sam Morrissey 0 0-0 0, Ryan Giallonardo 0 0-0 0, Mike Wright 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30 10-18 77.

HIGHLANDS 48

Brayden Thimons 4 0-0 8, Ryan Boda 3 2-2 9, Jamison Nee 3 0-0 6, Shawn Erceg 0 1-2 1, Dom Martinka 0 2-4 2, R.J. Reiger 2 0-2 6, Mitch Dezort 4 2-5 12, Ramello Freeman 2 0-2 4. Totals: 18 7-17 48.

Mars 23 16 25 13 — 77

Highlands11 8 12 17 — 48

3-point goals: Mars 7 (Aa. Gruber 2, S. Castello 2, Carmody 2, Schmitt); Highlands 5 (Reiger 2, Dezort 2, Boda).

Tuesday: Mars vs. Bishop McDevitt, PIAA Class AAA semifinal, time and site TBD