Mars girls rally to take down Thomas Jefferson in PIAA Class 5A second round

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | 10:39 PM

Trailing by six points to Thomas Jefferson going into halftime, Mars coach Dana Petruska told her team during the intermission they were lucky they weren't down by 15 points.

The Planets burst out of the locker room, onto the court and immediately went on an 11-0 run to retake the lead and snatch the game's momentum en route to a 61-53 victory in the second round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs Wednesday night at Plum.

“That's our tendency,” Petruska said. “Sometimes we think that we don't belong on the big stage. I told them at halftime that we needed to finish what we need to finish and continue boxing out and just be patient.”

Mars (21-6) moves on to Saturday's quarterfinal round and will face WPIAL Class 5A champion Gateway (25-3) at a time and site to be determined.

“We had a six-point lead at the half and we came out and turn the ball over,” Thomas Jefferson coach George Vlassich said. “We told the kids, ‘listen, we need to build on that six-point lead. These are precious points.' ”

It was all junior guard Tai Johnson to start the third quarter. Johnson, a Bucknell recruit, scored two baskets, a 3-pointer and added two foul shots to give the Planets a 38-33 lead with 4 minutes, 10 seconds left on the third-quarter clock. Johnson led all scorers with 35 points.

“I just try to lock in and focus,” Johnson said. “I played with confidence because I know that I put in the work, I know what I'm capable of and I try to translate that onto the court.”

Despite the Planets' hot start to the half, Thomas Jefferson (21-5) had a few more runs before the game was over. Senior Marina Petruzzi added a basket with 3:22 remaining in the third quarter, and junior Jenna Clark added a layup off a steal to give the Jaguars a 39-38 lead before Petruska called a time out to regroup. Clark had another steal and score to extend Thomas Jefferson's lead to 41-38 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter. Clark led the Jaguars with 21 points.

“They got a run but we stayed with them all the way to the fourth quarter,” Vlassich said. “We had shots (in the second half), but we didn't put them in the basket.”

Clark made a pair of free throws for the Jaguars, and Johnson added a basket but Mars still trailed 44-43 at the end of three quarters.

Bella Pelaia added a basket to start the final quarter and Lauren Wasylson, a Xavier commit, connected on two free throws to give the Planets a 47-44 lead. It was a lead Mars rode the rest of the way.

Johnson scored seven straight points to extend the Planets' lead to 54-46.

“I can't say enough about Tai's performance,” Petruska said. “She came ready to play today.”

Petruzzi added a 3-pointer to draw the score to 58-50 with 1:10 remaining but that was as close as the Jaguars would get.

The first half was a different story. The Planets had a difficult time adjusting to the physicality and quickness of the Thomas Jefferson defense. Mars managed to get out of the first quarter with a slim 14-13 lead compliments a 3-pointer by Johnson with 35 seconds remaining.

Junior Shaylor Williams and sophomore Alyssa D'Angelo both connected on 3-pointers to give the Jaguars a 23-20 lead with 4:38 left in the first half. Clark got hot and scored TJ's final seven points to give the Jaguars a 33-27 halftime lead.

Despite the win, Petruska said that her team has yet to play a complete game this season.

“We haven't gotten all five of our starters to live up to their potential (at the same time), not one time this year,” Petruska said. “Everybody did their jobs.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Mars, Thomas Jefferson