JEFFERSON TWP - When in doubt, give it to the senior.

Mars' lone senior starter, 6-foot-1 center Taryn Adamski, had the basketball at the end of regulation time and overtime Monday night at Knoch.

She produced critical buckets both times, leading the Planets to a 53-51 girls basketball win over the Knights. The triumph ensured Mars a share of the lead in Section 1-AAA.

Mars, Knoch, Hampton and North Catholic began the night tied for the section lead with 5-1 records.

"It's going to be a battle all the way through," Mars coach Dana Petruska said. "This was a big one for us."

Mars (11-4) had a 37-28 lead with 1:56 left in the third quarter when Knoch called a timeout. The Knights responded with a 19-3 run to take a 47-40 advantage with 3:14 left in regulation.

Knoch (8-5) never led until a Lauren Koegler 3-pointer gave her team a 40-37 edge with 5:57 left in the final quarter.

"We're a different team when we have the lead," Knoch coach Curt Vasas said. "You can feel the energy level go up. I thought we had it, but the momentum got away from us."

The momentum switch came courtesy of Adamski, Julie Utz and Maggie Bulman, among others.

"We put our best defensive players out there late and they sort of wreak havoc," Petruska said.

Trailing 47-40, Mars got a layup from Utz, a free throw from Cara Hudac and a three-point play from Adamski to pull within 47-46 with 1:05 left.

Nicole Reiser canned two free throws for Knoch to increase its lead to 50-47 with 25 seconds remaining before Bulman sank one of two free throws at the other end with 15 seconds left.

The Knights missed the front end of a one-and-one with 14 seconds on the clock, then Adamski netted a layup with 1.7 seconds left to force overtime.

"There was no play for the ball to go specifically to me," Adamski said. "We just look for the open player in that situation and get to the basket."

The teams traded baskets in overtime - Bulman sticking back an offensive rebound for Mars, Jen Robinson sinking a six-foot jumper for Knoch - before the Planets got possession in the final minute.

Adamski took a pass near the foul line, drove to the hoop and laid it in with four seconds left.

"I had nothing to lose there," she said. "The score's tied, so I'm either going to make the layup, miss it or go to the foul line. I just went for it."

Adamski had 23 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Planets. Alina Hudac added 13 points. Bulman had seven rebounds off the bench.

After Adamski's go-ahead basket, Knoch called timeout. As the teams went to their benches, the clock showed five-tenths of a second. The officials changed it to 1.3 seconds.

Bulman stole the Knights' in-bounds pass and the game was over.

Robinson had 12 points and seven rebounds for Knoch, which held a 34-30 edge on the boards. Reiser had 12 points and Koegler 11.

Both teams had 17 turnovers.

"Our girls played so hard," Vasas said. "We pounded the boards offensively and defensively, we were on the floor after loose balls.

"We have seven section games left. We may still win the section. But we haven't beaten this team in 15 meetings. … This one's tough to take."

While Knoch has five senior starters, Mars starts two juniors and two sophomores.

"My philosophy is to have more patience with freshmen and sophomore players than juniors and seniors when it comes to mistakes," Petruska said. "That seems obvious, but this year I warned the girls I had to expect a lot more because we're such a young team.

"If any of the young kids couldn't stand up to that responsibility, I asked them to raise their hand. Nobody did.

"To win a game like this on the road, with the crowd into it like it was … Yeah, we did some growing up tonight," Petruska added.

MARS 53

Taryn Adamski 9-16 5-7 23, Alina Hudac 6-8 0-0 13, Julie Utz 3-12 1-2 7, Maggie Bulman 1-3 1-2 3, Megan Gibson 0-2 0-0 0, Cara Hudac 3-5 1-2 7, Abby Marshall 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-47 8-13 53

KNOCH 51

Nicole Reiser 3-13 5-7 12, Pam Gagen 2-2 2-2 6, Liz Burgard 3-12 0-0 6, Lauren Koegler 4-9 0-0 11, Liz King 0-1 0-0 0, Maria Frey 2-12 0-1 4, Jen Robinson 5-9 2-2 12. Toals: 19-58 9-12 51

3-point goals:

A. Hudac; Reiser, Koegler 3

JV:

Mars, 37-31 (M-Karly Takach 17, K-Liz King 11)

Wednesday:

St. Joseph's @ Knoch

Thursday:

Burrell @ Mars