JEFFERSON TWP — Nicole McCloud likes taking points away from the opponent.

She doesn't mind scoring some, either.

McCloud did both against Knoch Thursday night, stifling anyone she happened to guard and also chipped in 15 points as the Mars girls basketball team rolled past the Knights, 66-37.

“The seniors are a really big part of our team this year,” said McCloud, a sophomore guard. “Next year, we're not going to have them, so this year we're trying to get everyone involved scoring. Last year, I was just a freshman and just laid back ... this year I'm involved more.”

McCloud, with her season-high 15 points, was one of three Mars players in double digits.

Ali Goetz, who just reached 1,000 career points earlier this week, led all scorers with 19. Sara Getsy chipped in 10 points.

McCloud has rarely been asked to be an offensive weapon. Her bread and butter is defense and she helped limit Knoch freshman forward Sarah Armahizer to just nine points.

“We have (McCloud) and Jess Bunner who match-up against the best two players on the other team,” said Mars coach Tony Howard. “Tonight was good because (McCloud) stayed out of foul trouble, which she gets into sometimes because she is guarding really good offensive players.”

McCloud helped Mars (9-2, 6-0) build a 33-18 halftime lead.

McCloud smiled when asked about guarding Armahizer.

“I've worked out with her before, so I was excited to finally get to see her play,” McCloud said. “I like guarding the best player because if they don't score as many points as they usually do, it makes me feel good, like I did my job.”

The Mars lead swelled to 20 in the third quarter thanks to a pair of clutch 3-pointers by Bonnie Workman after Knoch had made a run.

Mars' half-court trap gave the Knights trouble throughout.

“We got a little scattered, a little frazzled there,” said Knoch coach Dave Peters. “We threw some away. When we did break it, we'd come down and miss a layup or something. So it was tough. You fight through that trap and that press and you get an easy layup and you miss.”

Ally Riley led Knoch with 11 points. Casey Kretzer added eight for the Knights (6-7, 1-5), who have lost three straight.

Still, Peters said there is no panic from his young team.

“I told them when I got here, 'Don't get too high and don't get too low,'” Peters said. “I wanted them to try to stay on an even- keel. They're fine. They're a good group of kids and they're going to keep working. They'll be fine.”

Mars is also fine with a perfect start to the section schedule with a big game against Hampton coming up Monday.

Howard was concerned with how his team would come out early against Knoch.

“Give Knoch credit,” Howard said. “They are definitely heading in the right direction. For us, it seems like it takes some time to get sure of what we are doing. This week, both games (including Deer Lakes on Monday), we started off unsure of what we were doing, but in the second quarter, we figured things out.”

McCloud said she was happy with the intensity the Planets came out with against a scary opponent on the road.

“We knew we couldn't just come out tonight and lollygag,” McCloud said. “We came out hard and we really proved ourselves. We played hard. We played well.”

MARS 66

Sara Getsy 5-13 0-0 10, Nicole McCloud 4-6 7-10 15, Jess Bunner 0-0 0-0 0, Ali Goetz 7-13 4-7 19, Elise Sheehy 0-2 4-4 4, Lauren Wasylson 3-6 3-4 9, Bri Buzard 0-1 0-0 0, Bonnie Workman 2-6 0-0 6, Hunter Berneburg 0-0 0-0 0, Hannah Ryan 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Sommers 0-1 1-2 1, Grace Ryan 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 22-50 19-27 66.

KNOCH 37

Ally Riley 5-12 0-1 11, Alyssa Logan 2-5 0-0 4, Kayla Grafton 0-1 0-0 0, Gabriella Fennell 0-1 0-0 0, Allie Megahan 0-3 0-1 0, Laura Neff 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Fraser 1-5 1-4 3, Casey Kretzer 2-9 2-6 8, Erica Hunter 0-2 0-0 0, Madeline Canal 0-1 0-0 0, Carly Burdett 1-5 0-0 2, Sarah Armahizer 4-11 1-2 9. Totals: 15-55 4-14 37.

Mars 20 13 16 17 — 66

Knoch12 6 9 10 — 37

3-point goals: Mars 3 (Goetz, Workman 2); Knoch 3 (Riley, Kretzer 2)

JV: Mars 35-33

Monday: Hampton at Mars

Thursday: Hampton at Knoch