Mars' Bella Pelaia (33) fights off Oakland Catholic's Sierra DeAngelo (41) for possession diring the Lady Planets' 48-44 loss in the WPIAL 5A semifinals Wednesday night at North Hills.

ROSS TWP — The consolation prize for Mars was getting back into and at one point, tying the game after falling behind by double digits.

But the Planets wanted more. They wanted to knock off the team that had ended their run in both the district and state playoffs last year.

But it was not to be. Oakland Catholic advanced to the WPIAL Class 5A girls basketball title game with a 48-44 victory over Mars at North Hills Middle School Wednesday night.

The Planets, who had trailed 18-3 late in the first quarter, kept chipping away and when Alek Johnson drained a 3-pointer with 42 seconds left in the third quarter, the score was knotted at 38.

“Mars is a great team and I knew they would come back,” said Eagles' coach Shannon Kearney. “We just needed to keep executing our gameplan.”

To find out more about this game, read Thursday's Butler Eagle.