Tony Howard

ADAMS TWP — It was an 0-2 hole Tony Howard wanted his team to avoid.

After last week's section loss at Kittanning, the Mars girls basketball coach was hoping his squad could grab a home win against Highlands Monday.

The Planets responded with a 48-41 victory over the Golden Rams, evening Mars' section record at 1-1, 7-6 overall.

“Kittanning played well last week on their home court and we needed to do the same tonight,” said Howard. “Our goal is to win the section and to do that, you have to win your home games.”

The Planets led at the end of the first three quarters, including by nine points entering the final period.

But when Highlands' Taylor Becker sank a short jumper with 3:08 to play, the Rams' deficit was just five points.

The Planets then took more than a minute off the clock before Alexa Lee's layup pushed the Mars advantage back to seven points with 90 seconds left.

Highlands (3-4, 1-1) received a conventional three-point play from Nikki Misejka, but the Planets iced the game with late free throws from Lee, Meghan Kelly and Kelsey Pelles.

The Planets struggled with turnovers, committing 21 while the Rams had 22.

“Part of it is on us coaches,” said Howard. “Maybe we overcoach at certain times. The girls, they just need to trust their instincts, go with the first thing that they think of instead of hesitating.

“I thought we played well offensively and defensively in the fourth quarter,” added Howard. “We cut down on the number of offensive rebounds we allowed tonight, and that's something we have stressed.”

The Planets won the battle for rebounds, 37-32.

Carly Clark paced Mars with 11 points, including three 3-pointers in the second period, and Kelly contributed 10 points.

Abby Hetrick led the Rams with 15 points and Misejka scored 13.

Highlands coach Meghan Ziemianski was unavailable for comment.

HIGHLANDS 41Taylor Becker 2 0-0 4, Brittany Cooke 4 1-1 9, Abby Hetrick 5 5-8 15, Nikki Misejka 6 1-1 13, Nikki Greene 0 0-0 0, Carly Deskins 0 0-0 0 Julia Helgert 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 17 7-10 41.

MARS 48Alexa Lee 4 1-4 9, Carly Clark 4 0-0 11, Meghan Kelly 4 2-4 10, Kelsey Pelles 3 3-4 9, Lizz Tumminello 2 0-0 5, Randi Francis 1 0-0 3, Teresa Dallatore 0 1-2 1.

Totals: 18 7-14 48.

Highlands 8 10 13 10—41Mars 15 14 11 8—483-point goals: Highlands 0; Mars 5 (Clark 3, Tumminello, Francis).

Thursday: Hampton at Mars