CRANBERRY TWP — Mars boys basketball coach Rob Carmody repeatedly implored his team to wake up during the first half Saturday afternoon.

The Planets had a sleepy start during their 83-77 overtime win over Penn-Trafford during the Don Graham Classic at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School.

Mars (11-1) trailed by as many as nine points, 28-19, in the second quarter against the 3-8 Warriors.

How the Planets, who are winners of six straight, responded is what Carmody wants his team to take from its final non-section matchup.

“You want to learn about your team. I don’t think we played well and I was disappointed with our defensive effort,” Carmody said. “What I loved is, we were down 10 points in the second quarter and not playing well and we came out in the second half and got a couple big shots and got back into the game. We never wavered.”

Alex Gruber, who finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, was consistent throughout for the Planets. With 2 minutes, 15 seconds left in overtime, Gruber put the Planets ahead for good at 73-71 with a layup.

John Castello, who had 21 points and 14 rebounds, followed with a basket and two free throws from Christian Schmitt gave Mars enough separation to close out the win.

“I was looking for my shot and I knew I had a mismatch and could take the ball to the rim more,” Gruber said. “I needed to take the ball to the rim more because the team was lacking shooting.”

Mars struggled shooting during the first half in particular. Gruber scored 14 of the Planets’ first-half points as Penn-Trafford limited the Planets to 36 percent (11-of-30) shooting.

“We’ve been waiting for Alex to play like he did today,” Carmody said. “He’s a matchup problem because you’re going to put your best post defender on John. Now, Alex gets a secondary post defender and he has ability to go around and shoot.”

The Warriors got ahead early by consistently breaking Mars’ full-court pressure. Before halftime, a designed inboundplay for Adam Lave resulted in a 3-pointer that gave Penn-Trafford a 35-30 lead.

Sean Stinelli (24 points), Mike Barnes (13) and Dom Coconelli (12) all finished in double figures for the Warriors.

“We’re a team that handles pressure well, so we were hoping they’d stay in it,” Warriors coach Ryan Yarosik said. “We missed a couple easy ones early and we were up five at halftime, but it could have been up 15 if we didn’t miss easy put-backs.”

Both teams traded the lead back-and-forth several times in the second half. A Robby Carmody jumper with 3:49 remaining had Mars up 67-63.

Carmody (14 points) and Schmitt (14) also finished in double figures for Mars.

Penn-Trafford tied the game at 69 with 59.4 seconds left on a three-point play by Barnes. The Planets didn’t get off a shot on the final possession before overtime.

Even if it was nerve-wracking for Gruber, it was a good learning experience.

“It will give us confidence because we know we can grind out wins in the fourth and we can win in overtime,” Gruber said. “We can hang with any team if we play hard and smart.”

PENN-TRAFFORD 77

Sean Stinelli 8 4-6 24, Tim Vecchio 2 2-2 6, Dom Coconelli 3 6-7 12, Christian Creps 2 1-2 5, Mike Barnes 5 3-4 13, Brendan O’Toole 4 1-2 9, Cam Lafoon 0 0-0 0, Sean Kelly 2 0-0 5, Adam Lave 1 0-0 3. Totals: 27 17-23 77.

MARS 83

Alex Gruber 9 3-6 22, John Castello 9 3-3 21, Ryan Giollarnardo 1 6-8 8, Christian Schmitt 4 4-4 14, Robby Carmody 3 6-10 14, Aaron Gruber 1 1-2 3, Bailey Trzeciak 0 1-2 1, Nate Sablowski 0 0-0 0, Sam Morrissey 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 24-36 83.

Penn-Trafford 21 14 21 13 8 — 77

Mars 17 13 29 10 14 — 83

3-point goals: Penn-Trafford 5 (Stinelli 4, Lave); Mars (Schmitt 2, Carmody 2, Al. Gruber)

Tuesday: Deer Lakes at Mars