Dana Petruska and Rob Carmody, Mars Area High School Girls and Boys Varsity Basketball head coaches, were named 2017-2018 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Girls and Boys Basketball Coaches of the Year, respectively.

Petruska led the Lady Planets to a 2017-2018 PIAA Class 5A Girls Varsity Basketball Championship win, earning the team’s first state title in school history. The team took fourth place in this 2017-2018 WPIAL Class 5A Girls Varsity Basketball Championship and tied for the Section 4-5A title.

During the 2016-2017 season, Petruska earned her 400th career win, a combined record that includes more than 290 wins she compiled as head coach of the Lady Planets from 1986 to 2005, then 2015 to present. In the interim, she earned 111 wins as a coach of Deer Lakes High School Girls Varsity Lady Lancers Basketball Team. This season, she was also named Butler Eagle Girls Basketball Co-Coach of the Year.

This season, Carmody led the Fightin’ Planets to earn the 2017-2018 WPIAL Class 5A Boys Varsity Basketball Championship Title, a first for the team. The team took second place in the 2017-2018 PIAA Class 5A Boys Varsity Basketball Championship and also clinched the Section 2-5A title.

In his 20th year as coach, Carmody has a combined record of 298-195; has earned five straight section titles; and took the team to the state playoffs in six consecutive years. This season, he was also named Butler Eagle Boys Basketball Coach of the Year and, in 2015-2016, he was selected as a Pennsylvania Sports Writers’ Coach of the Year.

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