ADAMS TWP — Mars boys basketball coach Rob Carmody isn't about to predict how many wins his Planets will total this year, but he is sure of one thing.

“There's a long way to go, but if we continue to play this hard, I'll be happy,” he said.

He made the comment Tuesday night after watching his team, which is playing with four new starters after last season's run to the state title game, win for the third time in as many games with a 61-52 defeat of visiting Knoch in the Section 2 opener for both teams.

The only certainty for the Planets entering the season was they had a star player receiving attention and offers from Division I schools all over the country in junior guard Robby Carmody.

He scored a game-high 28 points against the Knights, but other players made key contributions.

Knoch senior guard Austin Hannes sank a 3-pointer that cut the Planet lead to 55-50 with 1:12 to play before Andrew Recchia helped to ice the game from the free throw line. The latter made all six of his attempts in the final 49 seconds to keep Knoch at bay and he finished with 11 points.

“He was as calm as can be,” Coach Carmody said of Recchia, a sophomore guard. “He's played a ton of basketball and competes at a high level in AAU.”

Robby Carmody scored 19 of his points in the second half, including Mars' first eight points of the third quarter as the Planets held a 34-29 lead with 3:24 left in the period.

“Robby didn't shoot the ball well tonight, but when we needed a big shot, he made it,” said Coach Carmody. “And he didn't force things, either.”

Mars' Ben Lewis scored 11 points while Ben Perdziola and Carmody both controlled 11 rebounds.

“Ben (Perdziola) would have started for a lot of teams as a sophomore, definitely as a junior,” said Coach Carmody. “He went up against John Castello (now starting at Shippensburg University) every day in practice the last couple of years.

“There are other guys like Luke Morrissey and Michael Carmody. Once they get more comfortable with the varsity game, they will contribute more for us.”

Hannes paced Knoch (3-1, 0-1) with 15 points. Mac Christy added 12 and Devin Campbell 11.

Robby Carmody finds himself in a leadership role he was unaccustomed to until recently.

“I don't feel any extra weight during games,” he said. “It's more during practices, making sure the other guys are staying focused. It took some time to get used to that, but I'm comfortable with it now.”