Mars boys advance to PIAA title game with come-from-behind win over Milton Hershey

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, March 19, 2018 | 9:45 PM

ALTOONA — Moments after Mars secured its second trip to a state basketball championship game in three years by beating Milton Hershey in the PIAA Class 5A semifinals Monday night, Robby Carmody, the player, hugged Rob Carmody, the coach, and the two made a pact.

“We just said, ‘One more game together in high school. Why not go out with a bang and win a championship and bring a state championship to Mars,' ” said Robby Carmody of his father.

Cade Hetzler's driving layup with 9 seconds left gave Mars the lead and the Fighting Planets held on for a 62-61 victory at Altoona's Fieldhouse.

WPIAL-champion Mars (25-4) will face District 2-champion Abington Heights (26-3) in the Class 5A title game at 8 p.m. Friday at Giant Center in Hershey.

Robby Carmody led Mars with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Michael Carmody, his brother, added 16 and Hetzler 10 for the Fighting Planets, who lost to Neumann-Goretti in the 2016 Class 3A championship.

“It feels amazing,” Hetzler said. “That play was set up. They were keying on Robby, but we couldn't get him the ball. He wasn't open. I think they had two people on him. I just saw the lane and went in, and it just feels amazing.”

District 3-champion Milton Hershey (26-4), which wasted an 11-point halftime lead, had a chance to win it at the end, but Pedro Rodriguez's jumper from the left corner was off the mark. Rodriquez led the Spartans with 22 points.

Robby Carmody, a Notre Dame recruit and the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year, battled foul trouble from the start. He picked up two infractions in the first minute and ended the game with four.

But, after Milton Hershey used an 18-5 run to close out the second quarter and take a 37-26 lead, Carmody, the only player remaining from the 2016 team at Mars, came out of the locker room after halftime and led a comeback that put the Fighting Planets back in front for a time.

They trailed at the end of three quarters, 49-48.

Robby Carmody, who didn't make his first field goal until scoring at the halftime buzzer, notched 14 of his team-high points in the second half.

“I don't necessarily need to make shots for us to win,” he said. “I need to be a playmaker. If I'm making shots and passes, we're going to be tough to beat.”

Milton Hershey led 61-57 on a layup by Josh Parra with 1:34 remaining before Mars scored the game's final five points, capped by Hetzler's go-ahead bucket.

“I've got a bunch of guys out there who want to make plays,” said Rob Carmody, the coach. “The play was designed to give Robby a screen, but Cade saw there was a lane and he made the shot.

“Fortunately, our guys believed, trusted, kept battling and we made just enough plays. Their guts, effort, fight, togetherness, that's what it's about.”

Mars controlled the first quarter and led 18-11, but went cold and fell behind 19-18 before Michael Carmody's long 3-point shot with 4:25 left before halftime gave the Fighting Planets their last lead, at 21-19, until they rallied late in the third.

With Robby Carmody saddled with those early fouls, Milton Hershey's athleticism took over, and the Spartans were on a 16-1 run and looking like they would cruise to victory.

But Mars salvaged a few points near the end of the half and settled for an 11-point deficit.

Robby Carmody scored seven consecutive points during a third-quarter surge for Mars, including a reverse layup that tied it at 46-46.

Then, the two teams battled, trading baskets at times. Neither team led by more than four points after Mars rallied to tie it.

“They got a great look there at the end,” Rob Carmody said of Milton Hershey and Rodriguez's potential game-winning shot. “That was great execution, but they just missed it.

“I said this after the WPIAL championship (against Franklin Regional), the way their kids battled, your heart goes out to them because someone has to win and lose. There were no losers out there, just a bunch of kids going at it, competing. It was a great environment.”

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Mars