First Half Defense leads to 67-53 win over Mars

Posted on: by Jonathan Spina

North Allegheny took the short trip to Mars High School to take on the Fighting Planets on Tuesday night in a non-section opener for both teams. The Tigers used a first half where they only allowed two field goals to jump out to a 36-8 lead before coasting to a 67-53 win.

In the opening frame, Mars score the first two points of the game before North Allegheny went on a 15-0 run to get the double digit lead. The Fighting Planets would score the last two points of the quarter but NA led 15-4 after a quarter of play. For how impressive North Allegheny’s defense was in the first quarter, it was even better in the second quarter not allowing a field goal and outscoring the Planets 21-4 to explode to a 36-8 lead at halftime.

Mars would hit a three-pointer seconds into the third quarter, it was their first field goal in over eight minutes of play. North Allegheny would get the lead up to 28 points multiple times in the third, but never could get it to 30 and led 51-25 heading into the fourth. Mars showed some fight in the fourth quarter outscoring the Tigers 28-16 but the game had long been decided and NA finished with a 67-53 win.

Carter Melzer led the way with 19 points for the Tigers. Jon Jubeck added 12 points while Carson Burns had 11 points. Justin Stalter chipped in 10 points.

North Allegheny starts the season 1-0. Mars falls to 0-1. The Tigers return to action on Friday when they head to east to take part in the State College Invitational. NA will take on Dock Mennonite at 6:30 p.m.

Boys Basketball vs. Mars, 12-3-24

GAME SUMMARY
SCORE BY QUARTERS1234FINAL
North Allegheny1521151667
Mars44172853