Mars wins 5A crown
happens when teenagers make memorable plays in the final seconds of state championships. But Johnson made two.
With the score tied, Archbishop Wood, a twotime defending PIAA champion, was holding the ball for the final shot of the game. Then Johnson, a 5foot-8 junior guard, had an idea.
“I just said to myself, ‘Take a chance and go for it,’” Johnson said.
Seconds later, Johnson poked away a Wood bounce pass near half court. The ball crossed the midcourt line and headed toward the sideline. Johnson sprinted after it. Grabbed it. Almost fell. And had one thing on her mind. Score. Johnson drove down the left lane, where Archbishop Wood’s Kaitlyn Orihel cut her off. But Johnson went all ambidextrous and got off a left-handed layup. Johnson was fouled, the ball hit the back rim and then the front before dropping into the basket with 4.2 seconds left.
Johnson made the free throw, Wood missed a long shot at the buzzer, and Mars was champion. Too bad Johnson missed seeing her basket.
“I fell and didn’t even see where the ball was after I shot it,” Johnson said in amazement. “I thought to myself, ‘Did it go out of bounds?’
“Then I found out it went in, and the feeling was just great.”
Johnson, a Bucknell recruit, averages 17 points a game, but she was 2 for 12 from the field before her winning basket. She finished with 10 points.
Sophomore forward Bella Pelaia led Mars with 14 and hit a big 3-pointer with 1:48 left to put Mars ahead, 33-30. Lindsay Tretter tied it for Wood with a 3pointer with 1:06 left.
A championship seemed so unlikely for Mars (25-5) when leading scorer Lauren Wasylson (18 points per game) fouled out with 6:51 to play. Wasylson couldn’t hold back tears for a few minutes as she sat on the bench. But she was crying tears of joy after the game.
Mars trailed by five points with four minutes to play — and then came back. Mars played the final few minutes of the game with Johnson, two sophomores and two freshmen.
“They were destined to win,” Mars coach Dana Petruska said.
Petruska was still emotional a half-hour after the game. She couldn’t help it.
She is in her third season of her second stint at Mars. She was fired in 2005, despite 19 successful seasons with the Planets.
“This just shows anything can happen,” she said.