ADAMS TWP — Butler County high school basketball fans, meet John Castello and Zach Snyder.

The two front-court players led Mars and Seneca Valley, respectively, to wins at the Scott Lang Memorial Tournament Friday night.

Castello, a sophomore, scored 27 points and brought down 16 rebounds as the Planets survived Shady Side Academy, 69-67.

Snyder, a junior, paced SV with 28 points in an 88-59 drubbing of Penn Hills.

The Planets and Raiders will meet in the tournament's title game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

Castello dominated the baseline for much of the game. He did the majority of his scoring in the first half, scoring 16 points in that span.

“I did well in practice and was confident coming into this first game,” said Castello, who played on the freshman team last year. “I didn't expect to have the game I played, but at the same time, I'm not surprised by it.”

“He got a bit of a late start because he was a defensive end for the football team,” said Planets' coach Rob Carmody. “He's just a really talented kid. The most impressive thing about his play tonight was how comfortable he looked out there.”

The game was in doubt until the very end.

Mars held modest leads of 17-14 after one period and 47-42 after three quarters.

Trifectas by Austin Fetsko and Owen Nearhoof helped the Planets maintain a slim lead in the fourth quarter.

With 6.8 seconds left in the game, Nearhoof hit 1-of-2 free throws for a 69-67 Planet lead.

Shady Side's Kyle Olander, who led all scorers with 32 points, had a good look from 3-point range, but his attempt from just left of the top of the key bounced off the rim as time expired.

“We fought,” said Indians' coach David Vadnais. “We knew Mars was going to throw punches all night and we kept getting back up.”

Mars hit on just 17 percent of its 3-point attempts (4-of-23) and 61 percent of its free throws (27-of-44). The Planets also turned the ball over 23 times.

“We played hard,” said Carmody, “but we did not play with poise. At times, we lost sight of what we were trying to accomplish.

“A lot of our guys were seeing time in a varsity game for the first time tonight,” he added. “That's a whole different feeling. It was great to get a win out of it.”

Nearhoof added 17 points for the Planets.

Seneca Valley 88, Penn Hills 59

No matter what defense they applied, the Indians had no answer for Snyder.

The forward, who scored just five varsity points last season, dropped in 13 field goals in Friday's win, including 12 points in the third quarter alone.

“They (Indians) played both a 2-2-1 and 1-3-1 zone and then moved into a man defense in the halfcourt,” said Snyder, who during the offseason honed his skills for Basketball Stars of America, an AAU program based in Sewickley. “This was a good way for me to start the season. I just want to be a player other teams have to look out for.”

Penn Hills learned early on that they had to account for Snyder as he scored nine points in a first quarter that saw the Raiders jump out to an 18-2 lead before the Indians closed the gap to 22-11 by the end of the period.

“Zach did a fantastic job around the rim tonight,” said Raiders' coach Victor Giannotta. “He was aggressive.”

Joining Snyder in double digits in points were teammates T.J. Holl (18), Josh Bauer (12) and Mike Smith (11).

SV led 38-27 at halftime but, led by Snyder's onslaught in the third, built a 63-39 advantage with one quarter to play.

“We are a very young team,” said Penn Hills coach Jim Rocco. “We started two freshman and a sophomore tonight and I think they were shell-shocked.

“You can't take a breather against a team like Seneca Valley,” he added.

Deandre Schifino paced the Indians with 23 points.

“For being the first game of the season, I was pleased with our execution on offense,” said Giannotta, “but we have to clean up our defense.”

PENN HILLS 59

Maurius Lincoln-Vason 2 1-4 5, Delante Moultrie 1 2-6 4, Cameron Tarrant 2 0-0 6, Deandre Schifino 8 7-10 23, Sheron Schifino 5 1-3 14, Montay Chambers 1 3-6 5, Jerone Davis 1 0-0 2, Denzell Snead 0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Ligon 0 0-0 0, Dante Wright 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 14-29 59.

SENECA VALLEY 88

Matt Darby 2 0-4 5, Mike Smith 3 5-6 11, Josh Bauer 6 0-0 12, T.J. Holl 8 0-1 18, Dakota Topf 3 2-2 8, Zach Snyder 13 1-3 28, Chad Izenas 1 0-0 2, Sam Barb 1 0-0 2, Matt Dramble 1 0-0 2, Bryce Schnatterly 0 0-0 0. Totals: 38 8-16 88.

Penn Hills 11 16 12 20—59

Seneca Valley22 16 25 25—88

3-point goals: Penn Hills 5 (S. Schifino 3, Tarrant 2); Seneca Valley 4 (Holl 2, Darby, Snyder)

Saturday: Penn Hills vs. Shady Side Academy, 6 p.m.; Seneca Valley vs. Mars, 7:30 p.m.

SHADY SIDE ACADEMY 67

T-Jay Cleveland 0 1-2 1, Cam Dively 3 1-2 7, Kyle Olander 12 7-8 32, Alec Bernstein 1 0-0 2, Tyler Demchak 2 0-3 6, Jackson Fitzgerald 2 0-2 5, Dylan Groff 3 0-0 7, Mike Ware 2 2-4 7, Sean Gramley 0 0-0 0, Matt O'Connor 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 11-21 67.

MARS 69

Alex Gruber 3 0-2 6, Owen Nearhoof 4 7-14 17, John Castello 8 11-15 27, Ethan Lewis 1 4-5 6, Christian Schmitt 1 3-4 6, Austin Fetsko 2 0-0 5, Brett Kloc 0 2-4 2, Nick DeCamp 0 0-0 0, Mitch Verplank 0 0-0 0, Brent Ashbaugh 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 27-44 69.

Shady Side Acad. 14 12 16 25—67

Mars17 14 16 22—69

3-point goals: Shady Side Academy 6 (Demchak 2, Fitzgerald, Groff, Ware, Olander); Mars 4 (Nearhoof 2, Schmitt, Fetsko).

Saturday: Penn Hills vs. Shady Side Academy, 6 p.m.; Seneca Valley vs. Mars, 7:30 p.m.