Boys Basketball Class 5A Championship Preview
No. 1 Mars Planets (23-1) vs. No. 3 Moon Tigers (22-1) At Petersen Events Center, 9 PM
Tonight’s matchup shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as these teams were two of the best from the start of the season. They are also familiar with this stage. Mars is the defending Class 5A WPIAL champions, defeated Franklin Regional a year ago, 54-44. Moon found themselves in that position two years ago, knocking off Hampton, 69-62, at the Petersen Events Center. They were also section opponents last year before the reconfiguration of the sections this year. They split the regular season series last year… Mars advanced to the Championship Game with a win against No. 5 Chartiers Valley in the semifinals at Fox Chapel, 62-49. It was a slow start for the Planets’ offense, but back-to-back 16 point quarters in the second and third gave them control of the game. Senior first-team all-section guard Andrew Recchia led Mars with a game-high 25 points. Junior first-team all-section forward Michael Carmody added 13 points…Moon got back to the WPIAL title game after getting knocked out in the quarterfinals last year. The Tigers defeated No. 2 Penn Hills in Tuesday’s semifinal game at North Hills, 59-46. Moon was in control throughout the game, jumping out to a 16-10 lead after the first quarter and 32-16 lead at the half. Junior first-team all-section forward Donovan Johnson led Moon with 20 points…This is the first meeting of the season between these two teams.
For a complete look at the Class 5A bracket, click here.