No. 10 Mars gets past No. 15 Penn-Trafford in Class 5A Cinderella showdown

By: Michael Love
Friday, February 21, 2025 | 11:53 PM

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When the Mars and Penn-Trafford boys basketball teams met Friday in a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal at Fox Chapel, a double-digit seed was guaranteed to punch its ticket to the final four.

That double-digit seed ended up being the No. 10 Planets, who got a game-best 19 points from senior Drew Navetta and 17 more from junior Austen Wroblewski in a hard-fought 64-59 victory.

“This is such an awesome feeling,” said Navetta, who connected on five of Mars’ eight 3-pointers in the game. “Me and my teammates’ senior season, we’re just trying to keep this going, and we’re having fun while we do it. At the start of the tournament, we felt we could make a run like this.”

Mars, in the WPIAL semifinals for the first time since 2021, is one step away from a trip to the title game at Petersen Events Center. It plays Tuesday against No. 6 Peters Township in the semifinals.

It is the first meeting of the season between the Planets and Indians.

“Winning and winning in the playoffs is the standard here at Mars,” first-year coach Kobi Phillippi said. “I am learning that quickly. This group wasn’t here in 2021, so this is their first chance to experience the playoffs to this point. When they come into the gym, they see the dates on the banners. They know, and they want to add something special to that.”

Peters Township advanced Friday with a 56-52 victory over No. 3 Uniontown at Ringgold High School.

Senior forward Will Wilson and junior forward Ben Detisch each added nine points and seven rebounds as part of a balanced attack for the Planets (15-10).

“That’s the way this team has been throughout the year,” Phillippi said.

“I give so much credit to them for the way they play for each other. They don’t necessarily care who scores. They just want to collectively do the things it takes to get the win. They did that tonight. A number of guys stepped up in big ways.”

Penn-Trafford, which had the ball down by two with 20 seconds left, battled back from a nine-point deficit early in the fourth.

But the Warriors (15-10), who upset No. 2 Baldwin, 60-45, in the first round Tuesday, were not able to come all the way back.

“These guys have shown all year how resilient they are,” Penn-Trafford coach Doug Kelly said. “They have that closeness that really helps us in games like the one tonight. We gave ourselves a chance to tie or win at the end because of how hard the guys continued to work and battle.

“We came out and punched them, and they punched back. But we gave ourselves a chance at the end. Credit to the way Mars’ kids came out and played.”

Despite the loss, Penn-Trafford has much still to play for as they will move into the consolation bracket where two wins will be needed to secure fifth place.

The Warriors will be on the road Monday against Uniontown.

“We’ll go early (Saturday) and get ready for a really good Uniontown team,” Kelly said. “I expect another great battle.”

Each team had committed just one foul at the 1:40 mark of the fourth. Trailing by four, Penn-Trafford committed four fouls in 25 seconds to get Mars to the line.

Wrobleski sank two foul shots with 1:10 left to extend the Planets’ lead to six.

Senior Austin Campbell was put on the line twice in the final minute but was unable to convert any of his four shots.

Warriors junior forward Zach Feldman, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, grabbed the ball after Campbell’s last miss with 19 seconds to go.

P-T senior guard Tyler Anthony, who tallied 17 points — 15 coming on five 3-pointers — set up for what he hoped was a sixth from long range. But his shot rang off the rim. Wilson pulled in the rebound, was fouled, and hit the crucial free throws with 8 seconds to go.

“It was exactly what we wanted,” Kelly said.

“We want it with Tyler having a chance there at a 3. It could’ve been for Evan Gross. He played really well tonight, too. We ran that play a ton last year, and it’s been scouted this year. We haven’t run it for a while, but the guys trusted each other to know we could get a good shot with that play, and we did.”

Wroblewski then sank one of two from the line with 3 seconds left for good measure.

“We had an answer for a lot of what (Penn-Trafford) was able to do,” Navetta said. “I love the toughness and fight of this team.”

Wroblewski scored 10 of Mars’ 12 points in the fourth.

“We’re at the point in the season where everyone is in shape. But Austen is a little different,” Phillippi said.

“He is at his best in the fourth quarter. He has a motor that doesn’t slow down. Penn-Trafford likes to get up and down, and we were a little tired, but Austen really turned it on. He’s been tremendous for us all year.”

Penn-Trafford enjoyed its biggest lead of the first half — 11 — at 27-16 after a layup from junior Tyler Boss and a 3-pointer from Anthony to open the second quarter.

Mars responded with a 17-5 run over the next five minutes to take the lead at 33-32 with 1:09 on the clock. Navetta had the hot hand during the run with a trio of 3-pointers including his final one of the quarter which put the Planets in front.

He sank his first trey of the game in the first quarter as he led Mars with 12 at the half.

Anthony paced the Warriors with 11 at the break. Nine of the 11 came on a trio of field goals from long range.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Mars, Penn-Trafford