Mars bounced from WPIAL Class 5A tourney with 67-50 loss at No. 2 Franklin Regional
MURRYSVILLE — Despite entering Franklin Regional’s gym having won only one contest in over a month, Mars found it hard to consider itself at a disadvantage.
Not with a lengthy program postseason appearances streak. Or a player who would reach the 1,000-point threshold Monday night and the supporting cast around him.
It was a Panthers surge late in the second quarter, though, that put the Planets behind in a 67-50 first-round WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball playoff loss.
“The reality is that it’s a 15 (seed) and a two,” Mars coach Rob Carmody said. “The longer you can hang around and keep pressure on them, man, maybe something good happens. But we were not able to do that. ... The difference between a one-possession game and a three-possession game? Really big.”
After Ryan Ceh’s three-pointer with 2:13 to go in the first half, the Planets (10-13) trailed by just two. The hosts replied with a bucket on the other end, then Mars committed fouls that gave Drew Devola a trip to the line and Cameron Rowell another two. The latter cut to the hoop and laid it in with a second left to give Franklin Regional (20-2) a nine-point lead at the halfway mark.
It wasn’t what the Planets had in mind after a first frame in which it relatively kept the Panthers off-balance and answered when the home team’s shots did begin to fall.
“We had to get off to a good start,” Carmody said. “What’s plagued us over the past few weeks plagued us tonight. Just untimely turnovers, really some missed opportunities on shots that we’ve got to make — some easy layups — and giving away second-chance points.”
Ceh’s trey was the only made field goal Mars had in the final 6:30 of the second. It had more turnovers (6) than points (4) in that rough stretch.
“We wanted to play fast, but we were never able to get them to slow down in their transition,” Carmody said.
Ceh, who posted a game-high 26 points and added nine rebounds, reached 1,000 points on a trey with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter. He finishes his Mars career with 1,007 points.
No other Planet player was able to knock down more than two field goals on the night. Drew Navetta had six points and Austin Campbell five.
“For the rest of the guys, we wanted to take away stand-still threes and force them to drive and attack and score over us,” Panthers coach Jesse Reed said.
MARS 50
Ryan Ceh 11 0-0 26, Drew Navetta 2 0-0 6, Austin Campbell 2 1-2 5, Brady Jordan 2 0-1 4, Austen Wroblewski 1 0-0 3, Ben Detisch 1 0-0 2, Alex Vidic 0 2-3 2, Ian Zukowski 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 3-6 50.
FRANKLIN REGIONAL 67
Colin Masten 8 2-3 20, Cooper Rankin 9 1-2 19, Cameron Rowell 7 4-10 18, Drew Devola 2 1-4 5, Finian Hutchison 1 0-0 3, Connor Crossey 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 8-19 67.
Mars 11 10 15 14 — 50
Franklin Regional 14 16 19 18 — 67
3-point goals: Mars 7 (Ceh 4, Navetta 2, Wroblewski); Franklin Regional 3 (Masten 2, Hutchison)
