ADAMS TWP — The Mars boys basketball team must have thought it was playing a ball and basket game at a traveling carnival.

It seemed as if it were rigged: The ball barely small enough to fit through the rim.

The Planets shot a mere 21 percent from the floor in a miserable first half against Hampton at home Tuesday night. Many of those shots rimmed out, while other clanked just inches off the mark.

By the time Mars found its shooting touch, it was too late in a 60-52 loss to the Talbots.

“We have a lot of guys who can shoot the ball,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody. “To shoot 6-for-29 (in the first half) — we're much better than that.

“Shooting is one of those things,” Carmody added. “It's like a tidal wave almost. If one guy makes it, everyone else seems to make it.”

Mars didn't make nearly enough early in falling behind 14-4.

The Planets trailed by as many as 18 midway through the third quarter, but made a charge at the Talbots.

Mars (2-2, 1-1) cut the lead to 51-43 with a little more than 2 minutes remaining, but Mark Pilarski scored eight straight points for Hampton (4-2, 2-0) down the stretch to keep the Planets at a distance.

Pilarski ended up with 21 points — 10 coming in the final quarter.

Pilarski was the beneficiary of Hampton's ability to break Mars' press.

“If you fall down 13 points (at the half) to Hampton, they're not going to shoot themselves in the foot to get back into the game,” Carmody said.

The Talbots did not panic as Mars was making its push.

“Mars plays very well here and I knew they would make a run at us in the second half,” said Hampton coach Joe Lafko. “I give their kids a lot of credit. They don't quit. I'm proud of our guys, too. They hung in there. It was a hot environment and a big section game on the road and we came up with a win.”

Ryan Luther added 17 points for the Talbots.

Mitchell Buzard paced Mars with 17 points and the Planets shot 58 percent from the floor in the second half to get back into the game.

“We'll get better,” Carmody said. “The problem is we are a young team and you worry about a lot of different things with a young team, but the biggest thing is consistency. We haven't put together a consistent 32 minutes yet.”

Still, Carmody was pleased that his team was able to battle back. He was also happy his bench played as well as it did.

Zach May scored nine points in a reserve role and Matt Getsy and Ethan Lewis combined for 10 points in limited minutes.

But to get to a place where Hampton is, Carmody expects more.

“We had our moments against them,” Carmody said. “I think to be one of those really, really top-notch teams, you have to play consistently.”

HAMPTON 60Tom Radzimski 0-0 0-0 0, John Floss 1-3 12 2, Ryan Luther 7-14 0-0 17, Collin Luther 3-4 0-1 7, Joey Lafko 0-3 0-0 0, David Huber 0-5 0-2 0, David Klodowski 3-7 5-7 12, Mark Pilarski 9-13 3-6 21.

Totals: 23-49 9-18 60.

MARS 52Garrett Ashbaugh 3-5 0-0 7, Owen Nearhoof 2-8 0-0 5, Ben Erdahl 2-2 0-0 4, Ethan Lewis 1-2 2-3 4, Alex Locher 0-5 0-0 0, Matt Getsy 2-8 2-3 6, Mitchell Buzard 7-14 1-2 17, Zach May 4-9 0-0 0, Josh Goetz 0-2 0-0 0, Jason Lozzi 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 21-55 5-8 52.

Hampton 14 14 15 17—60Mars 6 9 14 23—523-point goals: Hampton 5 (R. Luther 3, C. Luther, Klodowski); Mars 5 (Ashbaugh, Nearhoof, Buzard 2, May).

Thursday: North Hills at Mars