ADAMS TWP — There was the good.

Michael Carmody had 19 points and 26 rebounds and the Mars boys basketball team looked like their explosive selves in stretches.

There was the bad, too. The Planets could never put visiting Franklin Regional away despite several opportunities to do so.

And, well, the ugly. Turnovers and confounding play at times.

Still, Mars found a way to win — like good teams are want to do — downing Franklin Regional 57-52 Monday night.

“No, it wasn't pretty,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody. “We lost so much, but these guys have the talent. We turned the ball over a little too much. We played too fast at times. There were times when I actually thought we played too slow. We will do a better job at that. We found a way to win.”

Michael Carmody dominated in the paint for the Planets despite going up against an opponent who matched his size in Franklin Regional's Johnny O'Toole.

Michael Carmody, though, came up big when Mars needed him the most, gathering key rebounds, throwing down one thunderous dunk and scoring nine of his points in the third quarter.

Franklin Regional (2-5, 0-2), though, wasn't going to go quietly.

Mars (4-0, 2-0) led 47-32 early in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers went to work chiseling away at the lead, trimming it to five with 2:45 remaining.

“Credit Franklin Regional,” Rob Carmody said. “They play hard. That's a product of coach Scorpion. I really look at them as a mirror of us. I don't know if we'll play a tougher game. This is a great game for us to learn and grow from.”

Even with 27 seconds remaining, Franklin Regional was within two possessions, but Mihali Sfanos hit three of four free throws to pad the lead and help the Planets remain unbeaten heading into a road showdown with Shaler Tuesday.

Sfanos finished with 15 points.

“We had some stretches where, man, we looked really proficient on offense,” Rob Carmody said.

But then there were other stretches.

Turnovers plagued Mars. So did the balky ankle of point guard Zach Schlegel.

The sophomore, who is moving into the big shoes of Andrew Recchia, turned his ankle early but battled through it and never left the court.

“I have nothing by 1,000 percent confidence in Zach Schlegel and what he's going to be,” Rob Carmody said. “We've been pretty lucky here. You go all the way back. You had Garrett Ashbaugh for three years. Turned it into Christian Schmidt. Turned it over into Andrew Recchia and now it's Zach. Each of those guys as sophomores, especially early, had some learning to do.”

Craska, a senior whose role has expanded this season, said it was a good sign that Mars found a way to pull out this victory.

“We were able to see the capabilities we have and the possibilities we have when we're playing together as a team,” said Craska, who joined Michael Carmody and Sfanos in double figures with 10. “We just had to stay focused and battle through the end.”

FRANKLIN REGIONAL 52

Luke Kimmich 4-13 5-5 13, Jacob Brush 0-1 0-0 0, Caden Smith 4-7 1-2 9, Johnny O'Toole 2-10 1-2 5, Logan Summerhill 7-12 2-2 18, Luke Treloar 2-6 0-0 4, Jordan Suvak 0-1 0-0 0, Kadyn Hannah 1-2 1-2 3, Aiden Carlisle 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 20-52 10-13 52.

MARS 57

Jared Kozora 0-0 0-0 0, Zach Schlegel 2-8 0-0 5, Michael Carmody 6-12 6-8 19, Joey Craska 4-6 2-2 10, Mihali Sfanos 5-9 5-9 15, Anthony Vargo 1-1 2-2 5, Bryce Cunningham 1-1 0-0 3, Chris Dvorak 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-38 15-21 57.

Franklin Regional 12 7 11 22 — 52

Mars18 14 13 12 — 57

3-point goals: Franklin Regional 2 (Summerhill 2); Mars 4 (Schlegel, Carmody, Cunningham, Vargo)

Tuesday: Mars at Shaler