Ben Detisch, Austen Wroblewski lead Mars boys basketball to dramatic WPIAL upset of South Fayette
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Mars celebrates after upsetting South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Austen Wroblewski (5) celebrates after upsetting South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Mars celebrate after upsetting South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Austen Wroblewski (5) and Ben Detisch, right, celebrate after upsetting South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Austen Wroblewski (5) drives the ball past South Fayette's Braden Plasko (23) in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Will Wilson (10) gets fouled as he goes for a rebound by South Fayette's Jake Levisuer (2) in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Mars celebrates with new head coach Kobe Phillippi in the locker room after upsetting South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Mars’ Ben Detisch (35) grabs a rebound off of South Fayette’s Dylan Head (31) in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Mars' Drew Navetta (4) dives for a loose ball against South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School. Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle
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Mars vs South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars vs South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars vs South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars vs South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars vs South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars Austen Wroblewski (5) celebrates after upsetting South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars celebrates in the locker room after upsetting South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars celebrates in the locker room after upsetting South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars celebrates in the locker room after upsetting South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars Ben Detisch blocks a shot from South Fayette Dylan Head (31) in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars Ben Detisch (35) grabs a rebound to win mars the game against South Fayette in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars Will Wilson (10) fights for a rebound with South Fayette Tyson Wright (0) in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars Austin Campbell (1) puts a layup in over South Fayette Braden Plasko (23) in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars (1) Austin Campbell shots over South Fayette Braden Plasko (23)in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
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Mars Will Wilson (10) gets fouled as he goes for a rebound by South Fayette Jake Levisuer (2) in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round game Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at South Fayette High School.(Justin Guido/Special to the Eagle)
SOUTH FAYETTE TWP — Regional conflict doesn’t usually have a lot to do with basketball.
It kind of did for Mars on Tuesday night.
During a pivotal moment in a WPIAL Class 5A boys basketball first-round playoff game, the topic popped up in the minds of Mars’ Ben Detisch and Austen Wroblewski.
The 10th-seeded Planets were clinging to a one-point lead with 13 seconds to play against host and No. 7 South Fayette, and Detisch had just clanked the first of two free throws. Lions coach Dave Mislan called a timeout to force Detisch to mull over the next.
“Coach tried to get my mind off of it,” Detisch said. “He always asks us at practice what we learned at school that day. ... I said something about, in history, like, a buffer state.”
With that thought in the back of his mind, Detisch swished the second try. Soon after, Wroblewski picked off a pass on Mars’ side of the court, was fouled and knocked down a pair of free throws that sealed a 50-46 win.
“I wasn’t guarding the ball right away,” Wroblewski said. “They passed it, and then they passed it back to my guy. I sagged off him a little bit, and then he tried to make a cross-court pass and I tipped it up. I knew I had to get a steal. I was actually going to foul, but I got a steal.”
The Planets will face No. 15 Penn-Trafford, who pulled off a significant upset over No. 2 Baldwin 60-45, on Friday in the quarterfinals. They also booked one of the WPIAL’s eight PIAA qualification spots with the victory.
Merriam-Webster defines a buffer state as being “a usually neutral state lying between two larger potentially rival powers,” a phrase the history classmates will have to study up on.
“Honestly, can’t remember,” said Detisch, who tied for a game-high with 19 points and finished a rebound shy of a double-double. “It was a state that was controlled by, like, I don’t even know what happened.”
“I actually don’t know what state it was either, I wasn’t really listening,” Wroblewski said. “Coach just tries to get our minds off things and, you know, just calm us down in the big moments.”
Wroblewski, who had 11 points, also had to have a one-track mind.
The junior guard had a 3-point attempt tipped by the Lions’ Tyson Wright with 2:12 to go, the miss landing short but in Detisch’s hands. He stuck it off the glass to even matters at 44 points apiece.
Stefano Vezio sank a pair of free throws to give South Fayette (15-8) a momentary lead, which was washed away by Wroblewski’s corner trey that put the Planets (13-10) ahead for good with 53 ticks remaining.
“We tell our guys just, ‘Hey, next play. Everyone in the gym saw you miss that shot or whatever, but you’ve just got to worry about the next play,’” Mars coach Kobe Phillippi said.
“I’m not sure how it happened,” Mislan said. “We lost the best kid. ... No. 5 (Wroblewski) didn’t get loose, hardly at all, all night. We had the game right where we wanted it.”
Wroblewski said he’s been face-guarded more and more down the stretch this season.
“Just staying with it late, knowing that my team may need me to hit a shot at the end,” Wroblewski said. “It went in that time.”
MARS 50
Ben Detisch 9 1-2 19, Austen Wroblewski 4 2-2 11, Austin Campbell 3 0-0 7, Alex Vidic 2 0-0 5, Will Wilson 2 0-2 4, Drew Navetta 1 0-1 2, Chase Thimons 0 2-2 2. Totals: 21 5-9 50.
SOUTH FAYETTE 46
Stefano Vezio 73-3 19, Gavin Orosz 3 6-7 13, Tyson Wright 4 4-4 12, Jake Levisuer 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 13-14 46.
Mars 6 18 14 12 — 50
South Fayette 16 9 14 7 — 46
3-point goals: Mars 3 (Wroblewski, Vidic, Campbell); South Fayette 3 (Vezio 2, Orosz)
Next: Mars vs. Penn-Trafford
