Bulman

ADAMS TWP — It's in Dave Sylvester's nature to be optimistic about his team's chances.

Then again, it's hard not to be hopeful about the Mars girls basketball team.

The Planets coach watched his team finish the regular season with a 22-2 record, including a 14-game winning streak the squad will carry into a WPIAL Class AAA first-round playoff game against Ambridge at Butler High Saturday.

The Planets' last loss came in a 48-35 contest with Seneca Valley Dec. 28.

"I always think that my teams have a chance to be good," said Sylvester, who consistently coaches the Seneca Valley girls soccer team to the district playoffs as well.

This season, his optimism was rewarded with a 13-1 section record and the Section 1-AAA title, Mars' second straight section crown in as many seasons under Sylvester.

But even teams as good as Mars encounter bumps in the road from time to time.

The Planets opened the season with seven straight wins before suffering a 73-71 defeat Dec. 21 at section foe Indiana.

For a team accustomed to surrendering fewer than 40 points per game, 73 did not sit well with Sylvester.

"After that game, we started getting after the girls defensively, and it's just progressed since then," he said.

The Planets progressed by not allowing more than 49 points in a game since then.During their current winning streak, the team has given up an average of 38.2 points per contest."We slowed it down a bit on defense and we jell better as a team now," said 5-foot-11 senior forward Maggie Bulman, who is averaging 9.5 points per game and leads the team with 4.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per outing. "We know what everybody's capable of."Another key has been the improved play of sophomore forward-guard Lily Grenci.She averaged 7.7 points per game as a freshman last season. She enters this year's postseason as the team's leading scorer at 14.6 points per contest. Grenci also contributes 8.6 rebounds."Her ability to bring the ball up the floor against the press this season has worked to our advantage," Sylvester said. "And her transition into becoming an inside presence, working with Maggie and Karly (Takach), has helped our outside game."Sylvester also expressed his desire not to build a team around just one player. But Mars has enough playmakers to make that concern a moot point.The Planets also are receiving 10.7 points per game from senior forward-guard Haley Geyer, who leads the team with 42 3-point goals."She gave us a little bit of that last season," Sylvester said of Geyer's perimeter shooting. "We knew she could shoot the ball well, but we made a couple of adjustments with her footwork and where she holds the ball. She worked hard in the off-season on those things, so I have to credit her for that."Senior guards Cara Hudac and Megan Gibson — the latter the team leader with 5.1 assists every game — have been through WPIAL and PIAA playoff battles since their freshman season, as has Bulman.Takach, a junior forward, contributes 6.2 points per game.

The Planets made the WPIAL playoffs a season ago before losing to Moon in the quarterfinals. They came back in the state playoffs, again making it to the quarterfinals before being ousted by Hopewell."I'm just hoping we play really well together," said Bulman of the rest of the season. "We don't get too big-headed and we never underestimate an opponent."

Hudac

Gibson