Steve Cress dropped a 26-point bomb on the Laurel Spartans as Mars claimed a 65-39 win in high school boys basketball Tuesday night.

Cress scored 17 points in the first half, while teammate Vinny Smith added 15 points in the victory.

LAUREL 39Corey Collins 3 2-2 9, Marcus Cook 1 3-6 5, Ryan Forbes 4 0-0 9, Andy Lawrence 1 0-0 2, Kyle Callahan 1 0-0 3, Jake Dando 2 0-0 6, Eric Wallas 1 0-0 3, Tyler Forbes 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 5-8 39.

MARS 65Chris Herold 2 0-0 4, Dan Colbert 1 0-0 3, Chris Cassidy 2 0-0 4, Dave Petruska 1 0-0 2, D.J. Cannon 3 0-0 7, Brandon Stadelmyer 1 0-0 2, Vinny Smith 7 1-5 15, Ryan Nearhoof 1 0-0 2, Steve Cress 9 7-8 26. Totals: 27 8-13 65.

Laurel 5 16 7 11—39Mars 17 21 15 12—653-point goals: Laurel 6 (Dando 2, Wallas, R. Forbes, Collins, Callahan); Mars 3 (Colbert, Cannon, Cress).

Friday: Highlands at Mars

Ford City 49, Karns City 40 — Despite 22 points and 10 rebounds from Cameron Turner, the Gremlins fell on the road.Mike Senopole added five points and 10 rebounds for KC (3-2).

KARNS CITY 40Mike Senopole 2 0-1 5, Mike McConnell 1 4-4 6, Cameron Turner 9 4-8 22, Kody Craig 2 0-1 5, Kevin Beck 1 0-0 2, Dan Everetts 0 0-0 0, Trevor Williams 0 0-0 0, Matt McConnell 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 8-14 40.

FORD CITY 49Kutsch 0 2-4 2, Hand 0 0-8 0, Shrieber 4 2-3 11, Good 5 1-1 11, Cousins 1 0-0 2, Young 4 0-2 9, Prazenica 4 1-4 9, Russell 1 0-0 3, McGrody 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 6-22 49.

Karns City 11 10 13 6—40Ford City 13 12 10 14—493-point goals: Karns City 2 (Senopole, Craig); Ford City 3 (Shrieber, Young, Russell)

Thursday: East Forest at Karns City

Slippery Rock 81, Franklin 64 — Zack Ejzak poured in 27 points, Kendall Mahan added 17 and Rhett Gordon chipped in with 16 to lead the Rockets.Slippery Rock led 26-13 after the first quarter.

FRANKLIN 64Grill 5 2-2 15, Kahle 1 0-0 3, Caffrey 0 2-2 2, Gravatt 3 2-2 8, J. Villar 11 0-1 26, Maleski 1 0-0 2, Latchaw 1 0-2 2, R. Villar 3 0-0 6. Totals: 25 6-9 64.

SLIPPERY ROCK 81Rhett Gordon 6 4-5 16, Nick Cress 1 0-0 2, Kendall Mahan 6 1-5 17, Brian Kelly 2 0-0 5, Zack Ejzak 10 6-8 27, Matt Shearer 3 6-13 14, Vince Papley 0 0-0 0. Totals:

Franklin 13 16 17 18—64Slippery Rock 26 17 17 21—813-point goals: Franklin 8 (J. Villar 4, Grill 3, Kahle); Slippery Rock 8 (Mahan 4, Shearer, Kelly, Ejzak)

Friday: Hickory at Slippery Rock

Clarion 67, Union 60 — The Knights overcame a 16-point deficit in the third quarter to send the game to overtime before falling.Union (3-2, 2-1) had four players score in double digits, led by 15 points from Gary Cooper, 13 from A.J. Ethriedge and 12 each from Nate Boltz and Spencer Varner.

CLARION 67Ritz 13 5-13 32, Vandermeer 7 5-8 23, McGinley 0 1-4 1, Bevevino 0 1-4 1, Miles 3 2-5 8, Larson 0 0-0 0, Best 0 0-0 0, Almes 0 2-2 2. Totals: 23 16-32 67.

UNION 60Nate Boltz 3 3-8 12, Gary Cooper 6 3-5 15, A.J. Ethriedge 5 3-7 13, Chase Stewart 0 0-0 0, Neil Scott 0 0-0 0, Colby Davis 0 0-0 0, Scott Booth 3 0-0 8, Spencer Varner 4 0-0 12. Totals: 21 9-20 60.

Clarion 16 14 12 10 15—67Union 10 13 12 17 8—603-point goals: Ritz, Vandermeer 4, Boltz 3, Booth 2, Varner 4

Thursday: Union at Clarion-Limestone

Rocky Grove 61, A-C Valley 53 — Shawn Courson scored 13 of his team-leading 24 points in the first quarter, but the Falcons couldn't hold on to a lead in the fourth quarter in a loss.Garrett Greathouse added 12 points for A-C Valley, which led 42-37 at the end of three quarters.Matt Hadden scored 24 points for Rocky Grove, including a 9-for-9 effort from the line in the fourth quarter.

A-C VALLEY 53Shawn Courson 8 5-5 24, Garrett Greathouse 4 2-2 12, Ryan Jackson 4 0-0 8, BrandonEiler 1 0-0 2, Nate Silvis 2 0-1 4, Kyle Hirsch 1 0-0 3, Mike Himes 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 7-8 53.

ROCKY GROVE 61Saeler 2 1-2 5, Melhuish 1 0-0 2, Kearns 1 4-6 5, Setz Korn 0 2-3 2, Mietus 6 3-4 18, Hadden 5 12-15 24, Bell 2 0-0 4. Totals: 17 22-30 61.

A-C Valley 18 18 6 11—53Rocky Grove 23 11 3 24—613-point goals: Courson 3, Greathouse 2, Mietus 3, Hadden 2

Tuesday: Venango Catholic at A-C ValleyGirls BasketballTiffany Corle led all scorers with 21 points and Janele Divins added nine points and nine assists as Union rolled to a 69-40 win over Clarion.Mackenzie Shirey turned in a strong game for the Damsels (3-2) with seven points, seven rebounds and five steals.

UNION 69Tiffany Corle 8 3-4 21, Janele Divins 3 2-4 9, Mackenzie Shirey 3 1-2 7, Denyelle Painter 3 0-0 6, Torri Smith 1 0-0 2, Heather Booth 0 2-2 2, Alicia Anthony 5 0-1 11, Meagan Booth 3 2-3 9, Lanae Cicciarelli 1 0-0 2, Courtney Frederick 0 0-0 0, Melissa Shook 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 10-16 69.

CLARION 40McNeil 1 0-2 2, Smith 8 3-4 20, Bean 0 1-2 1, Kriebel 0 5-5 5, Rhoads 1 1-2 3, Fillman 2 0-0 4, Meyers 2 1-2 5, Glenn 0 0-3 0. Totals: 14 11-20 40.

Union 20 21 17 11—69Clarion 9 9 12 10—403-point goals: Union 5 (Corle 2, Divins, Anthony, M. Booth); Clarion (Smith)

JV: Clarion 33-32

Thursday: Clarion-Limestone at Union

Rocky Grove 57, A-C Valley 17 — Shannon Bartley scored eight points for the Falcons.A-C Valley won the junior varsity game, 33-26, with Maryellen Busch leading the win with nine points.

ROCKY GROVE 57Melissa McCutcheon 1 0-0 2, Tabitha McBride 1 0-0 2, Jessica Reacher 6 0-0 16, Meghan Peterson 4 0-0 8, Autumn Mallory 2 0-0 6, Sarah Van Wormer 3 1-2 8, Cheriann Burkhardt 5 4-5 15. Totals: 22 5-7 57.

A-C VALLEY 17Jessica Henry 0 1-4 1, Shannon Bartley 4 0-4 8, Karly Kaufman 1 0-1 3, Natalie Russell 2 0-3 4, Shelbi Cervenec 0 1-2 1, Shannon Blauser 0 0-2 0, Brandy Jackson 0 0-2 0, Markeea Hart 0 0-0 0, Kate Best 0 0-0 0, Kelli Davis 0 0-0 0, Maryellen Busch 0 0-0 0. Totals: 7 2-18 17.

Rocky Grove 11 20 10 16—57A-C Valley 4 2 3 8—173-point goals: Rocky Grove 8 (Reacher 4, Mallory 2, Van Wormer, Burkhardt); A-C Valley (Kaufman).

JV: A-C Valley 33-26 (ACV-Maryellen Busch 9 points)

Saturday: Reynolds at A-C ValleyWrestlingLuke Selker (130 pounds) and Rich Fallecker (189) both recorded pins in Mars' 54-22 road win over Riverview Monday. The match started at 140 pounds.

Mars 54, Riverview-22103-Not contested

112-Dyllon Lennen (M) won by forfeit

119-Craig (R) pinned Billy Matoka, 5:06

125-Johnson (R) pinned Dryden, 1:40

130-Luke Selker (M) pinned Brown, 5:55

135-John Kramer (M) won by forfeit

140-Studeny (M) won by forfeit

145-Stephen Jackson (M) won by forfeit

152-Adrian Camp (M) won by forfeit

160-DiCocco (R) major dec. Ben Ziggas

171-Dezort (R) pinned Zach Thompson, 1:03

189-Rich Fallecker (M) pinned Gatly, 5:48

215-Chris Chappel (M) won by forfeit

Hwt-Ryan Johnston (M) won by forfeitRifleSam Hawryliak, Nick Kernick and Nick McCurdy performed well, but the Butler junior varsity team lost to Indiana, 782 (49x)-769 (46x).