Jan 2, 2011 By Josh Herman for The 3 min read

Laurel Highlands trailed by as many as 10 in the second half, but the Mustangs rallied late in the fourth quarter to earn a tough 63-58 non-section win over visiting Bethel Park on Friday. Laurel Highlands’ Miami Call hit a three and knocked down a free throw that tied the game at 48 with 6:30 left to play.

Hauger’s reserves didn’t see a lot of action in the contest, but Call played valuable minutes down the stretch and was effective on both ends of the floor for the Mustangs off the bench.

“Depth is an area we are trying to expand on right now while still trying to work with our core group,” said Hauger. “Miami played well during the offseason and has been big for us so far this year.”

Partyka got out in transition and scored a layup at the 2:28 mark that gave the Mustangs their first lead since the first quarter.

The Laurel Highlands defense clamped down and point guard DiVonte Walton knocked down five of his six free throws in the final minutes to seal the win for the Mustangs.

Walton finished with 14 for the Mustangs and his clutch foul shots were a part of the 18-10 fourth quarter run that led to the LH comeback.

Zach Partyka got a steal and knocked down a three as the Mustangs (3-3, 2-0) jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Bethel answered with several buckets inside to take an 18-17 advantage heading into the second quarter.

After dropping two games in a row, Laurel Highlands coach Rick Hauger was pleased to see his team effective in the early going.

“Our guys came out strong today and that was a good sign,” said Hauger. “There have been times when we have hit some lulls and not been efficient early in games.”

Bethel Park’s leading scorer, Ken Klase, poured in 10 of his game-high 23 points in the second quarter, but Partyka continued to be productive adding six of his team-high 19 as LH trailed 33-29 at the half.

The Black Hawks (4-4, 1-1) utilized a 2-2-1 press that gave Laurel Highlands trouble and led to easy baskets for Bethel Park in the first half.

Klase was fouled on a 3-point attempt on the first possession of the second half and knocked down all three from the charity stripe to extend the Hawks’ lead, but when Bethel Park went to the press, Hauger’s team was much more prepared.

“Our kids settled down and didn’t force things in the second half,” said Hauger. “We wanted to stretch the court and our post players did a better job of helping us break the press from the middle instead of trying to beat them down the sidelines.”

Cody Gilchrist scored 12 and Alex Mace added 11 for Bethel Park.

The Mustangs will be back in action on Tuesday as they try to remain undefeated in Section 1-AAAA when they travel to Norwin.