Moon Gets Revenge On Mars; Punches Ticket To Title Game

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There was a bad taste in the mouth of the Moon players and coaches after the Class 5A WPIAL Championship Game.

The Tigers lost a heartbreaker in the final seconds to Mars, and were hoping for a chance at redemption.

They got that on Monday night and took full advantage, knocking off Mars, 73-55 at New Castle High School, to advance to their second State Championship Game in program history.

Junior Donovan Johnson was the catalyst for the Tigers, scoring 28 points and pulling down nine rebounds. He finished 10 of 12 from the field, both misses in the first quarter, and 5 of 6 from 3-point range.

Moon controlled the pace of the game throughout, jumping out to a 35-24 halftime lead and 55-39 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Also scoring in double figures for Moon were seniors Connor Ryan and Jioni Smith with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

Mars was led by junior Michael Carmody with 17 points. Seniors Andrew Recchia and Brandon Caruso finished with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Moon improves to 27-2 with the win. The Tigers will face District 12 champion, Archbishop Wood (20-8), on Friday at 8 p.m. at the Giant Center in Hershey.