BUTLER TWP— Some small numbers were working for Mars Saturday afternoon.

• The Lady Planets led Ambridge at halftime of their first-round WPIALClass AAAbasketball playoff game despite having no player with more than one field goal.

• Mars suffered only six turnovers in the first three quarters.

• Ambridge plays only one girl off the bench, limiting its ability to play pressure defense.

• And it was one steal and five free throws in the final 52 seconds that ultimately decided the Planets' 42-41 victory.

Mars (23-2) led by as many as 12 in the third quarter and took an 11-point lead — 34-23 — into the fourth. Ambridge (15-10) opened that final period with an 8-0 run to cut the gap to 34-32 with 4:24 left in the game.

"It was nerve-wracking out there,"Mars senior Haley Geyer admitted. "All we were trying to do was take care of the basketball."

But the Planets kept giving it up. After the mere six turnovers through three quarters, Mars coughed up the ball eight times in the final period.

"We were down by 11 and had to turn on the pressure,"Ambridge coach Kim Tirik said. "I think we surprised them with our press.

"I have no bench, so I can't press all the time. I can't wear my girls out and we have to stay out of foul trouble. But there's no quit in this team. Maybe Mars thought we were gonna back off and let them have this game ... They don't know Ambridge girls."

Junior guard Kiki Brown scored 11 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter and repeatedly came up with steals to get the Bridgers back in the game.

"She's quite a player,"Mars coach Dave Sylvester said. "We've been preaching all year in practice not to give up the baseline, but she kept going baseline on us and beating us there.

"We'd grab a rebound and she'd knock it out of our hands. We were scrambling."

But Mars isn't riding a 15-game winning streak for nothing. The Planets made the plays when needed to hang on.

Maggie Bulman stuck back an offensive rebound with 3:42 left to give Mars its first points of the fourth quarter and a 36-32 lead. Brown answered with a lay-up and the Planets' Lily Grenci sank one of two free throws.

Kara Hochevar's corner jumper pulled Ambridge within 37-36 with 1:39 to play. Mars ran some clock before Megan Gibson sank both ends of a one-and-one with 52 seconds left.

Geyer stole a pass in the paint and the Bridgers were forced to foul Karly Takach with 20 seconds on the clock. She sank both free throws for a 41-36 lead.

"I was looking for the point guard to cut through and the ball came right to me,"Geyer said of the steal.

Still, the Bridgers wouldn't go away. Hochevar stuck back an offensive rebound with 6.8 seconds left and Gibson was fouled with 5.1 to play.

Gibson sank the first free throw for a 42-38 lead and the issue was decided. Brown tossed in a 3-pointer — Ambridge's lone trey of the game — just before the buzzer.

"Megan or Lily (Grenci) is our best foul-shooter,"Sylvester said. "Megan's shooting maybe 63 percent this year, but she was around 88 percent last year.

"Those were huge free throws. As it turned out, we needed every one of them."

Mars began the game hitting only two of its first 10 shots and didn't take the lead until two Grenci free throws gave the Planets a 14-12 edge with 1:30 left in the first half.

Once Mars got the lead, it never lost it. Ambridge suffered eight turnovers in the second quarter while being outscored 13-4 in the period.

"Their trap hurt us,"Tirik said. "We adjusted at halftime and came out more aggressive with the ball."

Once the Bridgers began to get penetration, Sylvester switched to a 1-2-2 defense.

"That was my fault. I may have over-coached there,"he said. "I should have stayed with what was working. We got out of rhythm once we changed defenses."

Grenci had 10 points and six rebounds for Mars while Bulman had eight points and eight boards. Geyer hit three treys.

Hochevar contributed 10 points and 11 rebounds for Ambridge, which had a 31-23 edge on the board. The Bridgers had 20 turnovers to Mars' 18.

"Today was about winning ugly,"Sylvester said. "But it's still winning."

AMBRIDGE 41Kandace Smith 2-3 0-0 4, Kiki Brown 6-16 4-5 17, Cortney Pazzanita 1-3 0-1 2, Courtney Parisi 2-2 1-2 5, Kara Hochevar 5-11 0-0 10, Katie Frioni 1-4 1-2 3.

Totals: 17-39 6-10 41

MARS 42Megan Gibson 2-6 5-6 9, Cara Hudac 1-6 0-0 2, Haley Geyer 3-9 0-0 9, Karly Takach 1-6 2-2 4, Lily Grenci 3-6 4-5 10, Maggie Bulman 4-8 0-1 8.

Totals: 14-41 11-14 42

Ambridge 8 4 11 18—41Mars 4 13 17 8—423-point goals: Brown; Geyer 3

Next: Mars vs. Montour-Knoch winner, date, site and time TBA