Mars soars past Shaler, 74-61
Shaler suffered their first section loss of the season as they fell to Mars, 74-61, in a Section 3-5A game Tuesday night. Starters carried most of the offensive load, scoring all but five combined points in the game.
Both offenses started the game slow except for Mars’ Mihali Stefanos who jumped out of the gate scoring 11 of Mars’ 13 points in the opening quarter, giving the Fighting Planets a 13-9 lead. In the second quarter, both offenses got into a flow, but Mars maintained a 30-22 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, Shaler made a run. Mekhi Reynolds had 12 points in the quarter, cutting Mars’ lead to 46-40 heading into the fourth quarter. Stefanos was held scoreless in the third quarter. In the final stanza, Stefanos got hot again picking up 12 more points. Mars was able to outscore Shaler, 28-21, in the quarter to hang onto the win.
Stefanos was the PlayerPager Player of the Game with 27 points. Chris Dvorak added 19 points while Zach Schlegel chipped in 14 points. Michael Carmody made his return after a week’s absence from participating in the Polynesian Bowl in Hawaii and had 10 points.
Reynold led all scorers with 32 points. He now sits at 997 career points heading into their next game, Friday night. Christian White pitched in 14 points.
Mars improves to 6-2 in Section 3-5A and 11-3 overall. The Fighting Plants head to Franklin Regional on Friday for another Section 3-5A matchup at 7:30 p.m.
Shaler falls to 8-1 in Section 3-5A and 11-5 overall. Next up for the Titans will be Indiana at home Friday night at 7:30 p.m.