ADAMS TWP — Eight games — more than a third of the schedule — played in 14 days.

That’s the hectic march the Mars girls basketball team has been on so far this season.

The eighth game in that grueling early season stretch was perhaps the Planets’ best.

Mars jumped out on Freeport 13-0, closed the first half on a 16-0 run to lead 33-4 at the break and cruised to a 60-32 home section win over the Yellowjackets Thursday night.

It was only the second home game of the season for Mars (5-3, 2-0).

The Planets enjoyed their familiar surroundings, even though Mars coach Tony Howard was concerned with the heavy workload so far.

“I didn’t know how much we had left in our legs,” Howard said. “I wasn’t sure how much energy we would have. But being home helped.”

So did the defense.

Mars forced 20 first-half turnovers from Freeport and held the Yellowjackets to 2-of-19 shooting in the first two quarters.

Freeport (3-3, 2-1) didn’t score from the one-minute mark of the first quarter until there was 5:06 on the clock in the third quarter.

“The on-the-ball defense was tremendous,” Howard said.

Mars succeeded in taking away Freeport’s biggest offensive threats, sophomore guard Zoe Soilis and junior forward Macy Smolic.

The duo, which had combined to score nearly 30 points per game this season, were held to only 11.

“Give Mars credit,” said Freeport coach Paul Sylba. “Tony does a great job with them. They’re well-schooled and a good team.

“They took both Zoe and Macy out of the game early.”

That and the turnovers allowed Mars to run the floor. Ali Goetz scored 12 of her game-high 15 points in the first half and Elise Sheehy scored eight of her 10 points in the first two quarters.

Everything was working for the Planets. Nothing was for the Yellowjackets, who were coming off an 82-point performance in a win against Valley Monday.

“It couldn’t have been a worse start,” Sylba said. “(We had 82 points the other night) and I think that was an amazing achievement in today’s game.

“I was just proud of our effort in the second half,” Sylba added. “We didn’t fold up, and we went pretty hard.”

Freeport had a much better final two quarters, going on an 11-0 run to cut the Mars lead down to 37-17. The Yellowjackets out-scored the Planets 28-27 in the second half.

It was far too little, though. The first-half damage was done.

One of the bright spots for the Yellowjackets was the play of Dava Jack. With Mars focused on containing Soilis and Smolic, the senior guard scored all 13 of her points in the second half to lead Freeport.

“Dava picked it up,” Sylba said. “That was nice to see.”

Sara Getsy added 13 points for Mars, which will now have some much-needed rest before getting back on the floor in its holiday tournament Dec. 26.

Howard said there were pros and cons to the front-loaded schedule.

“Obviously, for the younger girls ... it gives them a really good chance to get their feet wet, to get their nerves out,” Howard said. “We’ve seen all kinds of defenses, all kinds of teams and we’ve traveled a lot. It’s made us battle tested. But we haven’t had a lot of practice time.

“We’ve been through a lot in these eight games — a lot of ups and downs,” Howard added. “And they should feel real good about where we’re at.”

FREEPORT 32

Zoe Soilis 2-15 1-2 5, Dava Jack 5-8 3-7 13, Macy Smolic 2-8 2-5 6, Haley Conner 1-2 0-2 2, Carly Van Tine 0-1 1-2 1, Erica Jack 1-3 0-0 3, Michaela Bowser 1-4 0-0 2, Carli Schwickrath 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Minyon 0-0 0-0 0, Victoria Delk 0-0 0-0 0, Natalie Dell 0-0 0-0 0, Aubree Cowen 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 12-44 7-18 32.

MARS 60

Jessica Bunner 3-10 1-2 6, Sara Getsy 4-9 3-4 13, Gabby Kosobucki 0-1 0-0 2, Paige Castora 1-3 0-0 2, Ali Goetz 6-11 2-4 15, Bonnie Workman 1-5 0-0 3, Elise Sheehy 5-8 0-0 10, Daniella Paras 0-0 0-0 0, Bri Buzard 1-4 0-0 2, Nicole McCloud 3-9 0-0 6, Bailey Campbell 1-5 0-0 2, Hunter Berneburg 0-0 0-0 0, Amanda Sommers 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-65 6-10 60.

Freeport 4 0 13 15—32

Mars19 14 10 17—60

3-point goals: Freeport 1 (E. Jack); Mars 4 (Getsy 2, Goetz, Workman)

JV: Mars 37-18

Dec. 26: Moon at Mars Tournament, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 27: Freeport vs. Carrick at Riverview Tournament, 1 p.m.