ADAMS TWP — The clutch shooting that got Mars back into the game simply disappeared in overtime.

The Planets rebounded from a 28-9 deficit in the second quarter and took several brief leads in a physical second half before running into a wall in the extra period of a 64-56 loss to Pine-Richland in the 12th annual St. Barnabas Medical Center Boys Roundball Classic at Mars High Saturday night.

The Planets got 13 of Christian Locher's 17 points in the third and fourth quarters, while Mike Lindenbaum scored all eight of his points in the same span, but Mars shot just 1-of-8 from the field in overtime.

"We became very tentative on offense in overtime and when we did get open looks, we didn't knock 'em down," said Mars coach Rob Carmody. "The effort was there, we just did not execute."

The Rams' attempt to win the game in regulation went for naught when Mars' Tim Vandall rebounded a missed shot with four seconds left and held the ball. But P-R scored the first five points in overtime to take a 59-54 lead.

Luke Gruber, who also scored 17 for Mars, then got a rebound and putback to make it 59-56 with 1:04 remaining.

But the Rams (1-3) hit crucial free throws late, while Mars' offensive production was through.

"We had a game just like this against Summit Academy (a 65-64 loss Dec. 12)," said Rams coach Brian Gaetano. "We had four chances to win it, but lost in overtime. It was good to get a win in a tight game like this."

Pine-Richland had all the momentum early in the contest, leading 15-9 after one quarter and opening the second period with a 13-0 run.

All five of the Rams' 3-pointers came in the first half.

But the Planets, led by Gruber, closed the first half on a 11-4 run and continued their comeback into the third period.

"Luke changed the whole flow of the game for us," said Carmody. "His enthusiasm was the key to us getting back into it. The other players fed off of that."

With P-R clinging to a 40-38 edge late in the third, Gruber left the court with a leg injury, but he did return.

"He was sitting there in the fourth quarter, looked at me and said, 'I have to get back in there,'" Carmody said.

The senior returned to sink the two free throws that tied the game at 54-all with 16.7 seconds in regulation.

It was the first loss of the season for Mars (2-1), but Carmody saw a performance the team can build on.

"We took six charges tonight," he said. "If our guys give that kind of effort every night, we're not only going to get better, we're going to win our share of games."

Gruber was tapped as the Planets' MVP, while Pine-Richland's Collin Ryan earned the honor after scoring 13 points.

PINE-RICHLAND 64Andy Andrie 3 4-6 12, Collin Ryan 4 4-6 13, Eddie Baranowski 1 4-4 6, Chris Rader 0 1-2 1, Ben Brown 5 0-0 10, Brock Baranowski 3 3-9 11, Collin Jackson 4 0-2 8, John Thompson 0 3-4 3, Mike Colosimo 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 20 19-33 64.

MARS 56Brad Weischedel 2 1-2 5, Christian Locher 3 8-8 17, Mike Lindenbaum 3 0-0 8, Ian Hindley 1 6-8 8, Tim Vandall 0 1-3 1, Luke Gruber 5 4-6 17, Ibn Hoffman 0 0-0 0, Mitch Buzzard 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 14 20-27 56.

Pine-Richland 15 17 9 13 10—64Mars 9 11 18 16 2—563-point goals: Pine-Richland 5 (Andrie 2, B. Baranowski 2, Ryan); Mars 8 (Locher 3, Lindenbaum 2, Gruber 3).

Tuesday: Hampton at Mars