GREENSBURG — Mars boys basketball coach Rob Carmody was relieved to put Milton Hershey in the rear-view mirror.

The Spartans, the ninth-place team from District 3, were tough to shake off in Friday's PIAA Class 5A first-round playoff against the Planets.

Mars held modest leads after the first quarter (16-15) and at halftime (32-30) before pulling away for a 74-65 victory at Greensburg Salem High School.

“They're like the old New Castle teams,” Carmody said of the Spartans. “They don't have to switch up on defense, that's how athletic they are.

Three points can quickly become nine for them. If they're the ninth seed out of District 3, I don't want to meet No. 1.”

Mars will face William Penn, which defeated Chartiers Valley Friday, in the second round Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.

It was the third quarter that proved to be the difference for Mars. Clinging to a 40-39 lead, the Planets used the final four minutes of the period to go on a 16-5 run.

Senior guard Khori Fusco led the charge, scoring 12 of his season-high 26 points in the quarter, which also saw the Spartans commit six turnovers.

“It took our ball handlers a half to figure out their defense,” said Carmody. “They realized what they (Spartans) were doing and what was and wasn't working for us.”

“We started getting into the flow of things offensively in the third quarter,” Fusco said.

The Spartans (19-8) made one final run, cutting Mars' lead to 65-58 with just under two minutes left. Brandon Caruso, a starting guard for the Planets, fouled out, and the Spartans had a chance.

But Mars (25-1) closed out the game at the free throw line.

“I can't say enough about Khori, scoring 26 points in his first state playoff game,” said Carmody. “Mihali (Sfanos) coming off the bench to score 13. Everybody contributed tonight and that's the kind of effort you need this time of the year.”

Sfanos, a sophomore guard, drained three treys in the first half, helping to curtail a 10-0 run by Milton Hershey that put the Spartans up 21-16 early in the second quarter.

Spartans' sophomore guard Kamiron Webster scored eight of his team-leading 19 points in the second period.

Just a week ago, the Planets won their second straight WPIAL title with a win over Moon at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh.

The first round of states often yields a letdown as action is returned to a high school gymnasium and the opponent, often times, is not a familiar one. In the case of the Planets and Spartans, though, they knew each other from last year's state semifinal, won by the Planets 62-61.

“I won't say it was a letdown tonight,” said Fusco, “but I had never played in this gym before and there was a weird vibe. Andrew (Recchia) and I were trying to motivate the other guys in warm-ups.”

MILTON HERSHEY 65

Kamiron Webster 8 3-6 19, Nat Wondwosen 2 0-0 6, Ka'Ron George 1 0-0 2, Jaiden Young 2 2-4 7, Nate Boyd 2 1-2 5, Naeem Cross 4 2-4 11, Josh Parra 5 3-7 13, Clemete Ojinnaka 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 11-23 65.

MARS 74

Khori Fusco 7 9-12 26, Michael Carmody 3 5-8 11, Andrew Recchia 5 8-8 18, Brandon Caruso 3 0-0 6, Mihali Sfanos 4 2-2 13, Zac Schlegel 0 0-0 0, Joe Craska 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 24-30 74.

Milton Hershey 15 15 14 21 — 65

Mars16 16 24 18 — 74

3-point goals: Milton Hershey 4 (Wondwosen 2, Young, Cross); Mars 6 (Fusco 3, Sfanos 3).

Tuesday: Mars vs. William Penn, PIAA Class 5A second-round playoff, TBD