JEFFERSON TWP — Trailing by six at halftime and scoring just one point in the second quarter, Knoch basketball coach Chris Andreassi had a simple message for his squad at halftime.

Keep doing what you're doing.

Andreassi believed the shots would fall eventually, and they did. The Knights ripped off 36 second-half points and held on for a 49-43 Section 1-AAA victory over the Planets.

Kyle Reiser and Rob Briggs scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, in the second half. Each of them recorded 16 points and eight rebounds.

"We didn't do anything different," said Andreassi. "We just made the shots. Rob's been our scorer all year and he got some good looks in the first half.

"I told him after the game there's no excuse for a bad defensive game. That's what I liked about Rob, his perseverance. ... He kept going and eventually the shots dropped,"Andreassi added.

Briggs had 10 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 14.9 seconds left to give Knoch (9-3, 4-2) a 47-43 lead.

"Knoch always has five good players on the court at all times," said Mars coach Rob Carmody. "You're not going to hold them to one point in a quarter often."

When Mars' Chris Herold calmly sank three free throws following a foul on a 3-point attempt, the Planets (5-10, 2-4) knotted the game at 38 with 3:30 remaining.

Reiser, however, countered with a three-point play, then Briggs followed with a layup for a 43-38 lead.

Dan Colbert scored 15 seconds later for Mars, but two free throws from Shawn Samek with 26.5 seconds left rebuilt the Knights' five-point lead.

Colbert sank a 3-pointer with 16.2 seconds left to pull the Planets within 45-43 before Briggs' free throws helped to ice the game.

Knoch was a perfect 9-for-9 in free throws in the fourth quarter and 15-of-18 for the game.

Mars had built a 19-13 halftime lead, but could muster only five points in the third quarter to trail 27-24 entering the fourth quarter.

"This was a growing-up game, and I mean that in a positive sense," said Carmody.

The game pitted the top two scorers in Butler County: Briggs (19.0 points per game) and Mars' Steve Cress (20.2), but other players made big contributions.

Michael Gallagher scored nine of his 12 points in the second half for the Knights. Colbert had his eight points in the fourth quarter while D.J. Cannon sank three 3-pointers in the first quarter to help Mars take a 13-12 lead.

Cress finished with 12 points and Vinny Smith added 10 for Mars.

A win would have evened the Planets' and Knights' section marks at 3-3, but the Knights kept their composure, despite the halftime deficit.

MARS 43Chris Herold 0 4-5 4, Dan Colbert 3 0-0 8, D.J. Cannon 3 0-0 9, Vinny Smith 5 0-0 10, Steve Cress 5 2-2 12, Ryan Nearhoof 0 0-0 0, Dave Petruska 0 0-0 0, Chris Cassidy 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 16 6-7 43.

KNOCH 49Shawn Samek 1 2-2 4, Michael Gallagher 4 2-2 12, Kyle Reiser 4 8-10 16, Rob Briggs 7 2-2 16, Alex Whisler 0 1-2 1, Andrew Wirtz 0 0-0 0, Jake McTighe 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 16 15-18 49.

Mars 13 6 5 19—43Knoch 12 1 14 22—493-point goals: Cannon 3, Colbert 2; Gallagher 2

JV: Knoch, 56-45

Monday: Mars at Pine-Richland

Tuesday: Knoch at Latrobe