Mars boys basketball coach Rob Carmody knew the dedication, the hard work and the commitment were there.

But could it finally translate into victories for the Planets

Carmody got his answer when the program enjoyed one of its best seasons in 2004-05, rolling up 17 victories and a berth in the WPIAL playoffs.

The Planets (17-8) hadn't reached the WPIAL playoffs since the 1999-2000 season, when they won 13 games. They won 15 games in 1997-98 but missed the WPIAL playoffs.

In fact, the wins are the most by a Mars boys squad since the 1982-83 season. Carmody said Mars has had one 19-win campaign and one 18-win squad in its history.

"These guys, when they were sophomores and freshmen, were committed to the program after the season," said Carmody, who just wrapped up his seventh season at the helm.

"They'd get up before school and start lifting. They'd shoot around on the weekends. I thought this was a special group of kids. I knew the work ethic was there, but we knew there was a lot of talent in the section.

"These guys made sure to do what it takes. They hung out and were close," he added.

The Planets finished third in Section 1-AAA with a 9-3 record, one game behind co-champions Knoch and Hampton.

"At the beginning of the season, we hoped to possibly win the section," said senior guard Sean Gallagher, who led the team with 14.9 points and 11 rebounds per game.

"But the playoffs were on our minds and we achieved that. We would have liked to have gone deeper," he added.

The Planets lost to Elizabeth-Forward 52-49 in the first round.

"We were pretty excited about the year," said senior guard Scott Martinelli. "We returned a lot of guys and the goal was to win the section title.

"We thought we could have done more. In our eyes, we kind of underachieved, but when we looked back, it was a great year," Martinelli added.

Mars did return seven letterwinners - Gallagher, Martinelli, Tim Frye, Robbie Herold, Charlie Jaicks, Dusty Wessel and Mark Lucas.

Last year, Mars finished 9-14 overall, 5-9 in the section. The Planets drained an incredible 172 3-pointers but allowed 63 points per game.

The Planets lost their No. 2 scorer in Colin Zedreck but had the rest of their top players returning.

This season, Mars held its opponents to just 55 points per game while scoring 64 per contest.

A balanced scoring attack was another key to the Planets' success. Along with Gallagher, Frye added 13.8 points and seven rebounds per game, despite suffering a torn ACL in his right knee in June. Martinelli added 11.8 points, Jaicks 9.1 points and 6.5 assists and Herold 6.7 points per contest.

Mars opened the season winning its first six games before losing two of three at the Rock Holiday Classic in Coconut Creek, Fla.

Late in the season, Mars won seven of eight before losing its regular-season finale to Quad A Butler 63-55.

The Planets followed up that contest with their playoff loss to Elizabeth-Forward.

"Elizabeth-Forward's a good team," said Martinelli. "And Steve Swiech (6-foot-8 center, who scored 22 points) is a big boy. We played very well and held them to 52 points, but we had our worst shooting game of the year."

Gallagher and Martinelli are hopeful the younger players will learn from what these players have endured, especially winning only four games as freshman.

"We just worked real hard and hoped they learned the dedication," said Martinelli.

"We were pretty close in age and hung out together," said Gallagher. "Hopefully, they can take the lessons we taught and put it to use and be successful."

Carmody's lasting image of this year's team will be more than what it did on the court or in the weight room.

"We had a five-second call in a game and in practice, we went over it," said Carmody. "I asked them, 'How smart are you guys? How many of you are on the honor roll?' As it turned out, 16 out of 16 were on the honor roll.

"That's what's most important. It says what kind of kids these are."