Dominant Run
HAMPTON TWP — The Mars boys basketball team had already clinched the Section 4-5A title before its section finale at Hampton Friday night.
But the Planets, who have dominated much of the season, wanted to add an exclamation point to their championship.
They did just that with a 70-45 rout of the Talbots.
Only once this season — a 75-68 victory over Highlands last Tuesday — has Mars failed to win a section contest by at least 10 points. The Planets (18-2, 12-0) defeated their section foes by an average of 27 points per game.
It was as if Mars had a chip on its shoulder the last two months. In fact, it did after not winning the section last season for the first time in nine campaigns.
“Highlands took the section from us last year (by one-half game) and we wanted to retake it,” said senior forward Chris Dvorak. “We have a lot of team chemistry and this is where we expected to be.”
The Planets set the tone for Friday’s game by taking a 13-3 lead in the first quarter. Junior guard Tasso Sfanos netted nine points in the second period to help his team maintain a comfortable lead, which was 32-17 at halftime.
While no Talbot scored in double figures, three Mars players did. Zach Schlegel and Sfanos both scored 20 and Austin Cote added 10.
The trio is joined by Bryce Cunningham and Dvorak in Mars’ starting five. The former recently returned to the court after an ankle injury.
“Getting Bryce back was big for us because it gives us another ball handler,” said Mars coach Rob Carmody. “But we have a lot of players contributing. Ryan Ceh came off the bench and hit four 3-pointers against Highlands (a 73-62 win Jan. 14).
“We have a unique, cohesive group this year.”
The Talbots (12-9, 7-5), who are also headed to the playoffs, had their four-game winning streak snapped Friday. Hampton shot the ball decently well (20 of 44), but was hampered by turnovers.
“Mars pressed our guards and disrupted our offensive sets,” said Hampton coach Joe Lafko. “We just didn’t play well tonight.”
The Planets had already beaten the Talbots, 69-52, in mid-January.
Schlegel is 10 points shy of reaching 1,000 for his varsity career. Mars has two games left before the playoffs — Saturday at Knoch and Monday at Shenango.
MARS 70
Zach Schlegel 6 3-4 20, Austin Cote 4 0-0 10, Chris Dvorak 3 2-2 8, Tasso Sfanos 8 3-3 20, Bryce Cunningham 2 0-0 5, Ryan Ceh 1 0-0 3, Ian Zukowski 1 0-0 2, Remi Black 1 0-0 2, Devon Koch 0 0-0 0, Austin Campbell 0 0-0 0. Totals: 26 8-9 70.
HAMPTON 45
Matt DeMatteo 4 1-2 9, Zander Plizga 1 0-0 2, Brennan Murray 3 0-0 6, Bobby Oliver 2 1-1 5, Liam Mignogna 4 1-3 9, Eric Weeks 3 1-1 8, Braxton Eastly 1 0-2 2, Robert Coll 1 0-0 2, Jaden McMeekin 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 4-9 45.
Mars 13 19 16 22 — 70
Hampton 3 14 9 19 — 45
3-point goals: Mars 10 (Schlegel 5, Cote 2, Sfanos, Cunningham, Ceh); Hampton 1 (Weeks).
Saturday: Mars at Knoch
Monday: Butler at Hampton
