AMBRIDGE — After a missed free throw that would have sent the game into overtime, sophomore Robby Carmody patted his chest with his open hand.

He walked to the bench and had a simple message for his Mars boys basketball teammates and its 12 seniors.

“Guys, my fault,” he said.

“As a coach you hurt for him and as a father you hurt for him,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody, “but what I loved was how he reacted. ‘Hey guys, my fault.’ That made me more proud than anything he’s done.”

Ultimately, the missed free throw was magnified because it came at the end of the game.

But the Planets were uncharacteristically sloppy, missed a slew of layups and began their charge at Beaver Falls a little too late Tuesday in a 59-58 WPIAL Class AAA semifinal loss at Ambridge High School.

Mars will now have to lick its wounds until it opens the PIAA Class AAA playoffs March 4.

“It’s about how you respond to these moments that define your character,” Coach Carmody said. “This could pull us apart, fracture us and end our season, or this can be something that defines us and pulls us together. Respond to it and display the type of character I know they have and get better from it.”

Mars (19-6) struggled most of the game shooting, yet still led by a point at the half.

But Beaver Falls forward Josh Creach got hot in the third quarter, making three consecutive 3-pointers and outscored the Planets by himself in the frame as the Tigers built a 13-point lead.

Creach scored a game-high 25 points for Beaver Falls (22-3), which will play Highlands — an upset winner over No. 1 seed New Castle — for the WPIAL title Friday at 9 p.m.

“He’s very 3-point capable,” said Beaver Falls coach Doug Biega. “He’s virtually unguardable. You’re talking about a player who can hit the offensive glass, that has a very polished post game and can step up and shoot 3s and drive to the basket. He really has no weaknesses as an offensive player.

“When Josh gets going, he’s pretty hard to defend.”

Mars was hard to defend in the fourth quarter as the Planets went to work on that Beaver Falls lead.

The Planets cut deeply and quickly into a Tiger nine-point advantage when Christian Schmitt got hot, nailing a pair of 3-pointers to cut the lead to three. Robby Carmody then got a steal and layup and it was all of a sudden 52-51 with 1:26 remaining.

Beaver Falls increased that lead back to six, but Steve Castello hit a high-arching 3-pointer and then Schmitt hit again from beyond the arc around a pair of Creach free throws to make it a 2-point game with nine seconds left.

Tigers’ Syron Noyes was fouled hard and hurt his eye. He stepped to the line anyway, blinking and rubbing the watery eye and missed both free throws.

Robby Carmody then made a mad dash down the court, drove toward the hoop and was fouled with 1.7 seconds remaining.

“I think that was a really aggressive move on Robby’s part and I don’t know how we got called for a foul,” Biega said. “I don’t know what you’re supposed to do in that situation when you’re getting run over except fall. I remember a year ago he made both of those free throws in the same situation to send the game to overtime.”

Carmody made the first free throw, but the second clanked off the iron to the left as Donovan Jeter grabbed the rebound.

And the game for Beaver Falls.

Coach Carmody said the seeds of the loss were sown much earlier than in the final two seconds.

“We missed too many layups early. We missed too many defensive assignments,” the coach said. “We just didn’t play as well as we need to play. You do that in this type of game, chances are you’re gonna lose. But I love our fight.”

Coach Carmody said part of the reason for the misses was his players were trying to draw contact on their shots instead of shooting through the contact.

John Castello, Steve Castello and Schmitt each scored 12 points for the Planets. Robby Carmody and Alex Gruber added 11 a piece.

Now Mars will have to wait for its second season to begin in 10 days.

“Our guys do get another chance,” Coach Carmody said. “To me, it’s not good if it doesn’t hurt. If they don’t go home tonight and it doesn’t hurt, then what were we doing for the last few months and really what have they been doing for the last few years of their lives because they’ve poured so much into this.”

MARS 58

Aaron Gruber 0-3 0-0 0, John Castello 6-14 0-0 12, Steve Castello 5-8 0-1 12, Christian Schmitt 4-9 0-0 12, Robby Carmody 3-18 4-7 11, Alex Gruber 5-7 1-2 11. Totals: 23-59 5-10 58.

BEAVER FALLS 59

Donovan Jeter 4-11 2-2 12, Josh Creach 8-10 6-8 25, Torian Leak 0-2 0-2 0, Malik Shephard 1-3 0-0 2, Bryce Strati 6-12 0-0 16, Syron Noyes 1-2 0-2 0, P.J. Solomon 1-1 0-0 2, Tomas Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-41 8-12 59.

Mars 13 12 10 23 — 58

Beaver Falls14 10 19 6 — 59

3-point goals: Mars 7 (S. Castello 2, Schmitt 4, Carmody); Beaver Falls 9 (Jeter 2, Creach 3, Strati 4)

March 4: Mars in first round of PIAA Class AAA playoffs, opponent, site and time TBD