Mustangs hold on for close win over Trojans
It was a little closer than Laurel Highlands probably wanted, but behind the 13 points of Isaiah Dawson and 12 by Ron Fudala, the Mustangs put away a 64-61 win over Derry in Section 3-AAA action Tuesday night at the Harold “Horse” Taylor Memorial Gymnasium. The Mustangs (6-3; 12-8) were in backup mode for the Senior Night game as five starters, including Kaleb Ramsey, were out due to illness.
“Obviously with a couple of starters out, we knew we wouldn’t do as well as we would have hoped to,” Mustangs coach Rick Hauger said.
The Trojans (3-6) jumped on the ragged Mustangs early, and within just two minutes led 8-0, courtesy of a couple of Mustang turnovers and Tyler Malek baskets.
After a Mustang timeout, the LH was able to cut the lead to two after treys by Fudala and Nick Erminio.
The teams turned the last few minutes of the quarter into a shootout as they traded basket for basket, After the Mustang’s Mason Tupta scored five points to end the period, the Mustangs found themselves trailing, 21-19.
John Shull converted a couple of free-throws to tie the game at 21-21 to start the second quarter, and after Malek made a free throw to put the Trojans back up, the Mustangs went on a 14-0 run, capped off with a Shull bucket.
Finding themselves down 35-22, the Trojans tried to cut at the lead with a 6-2 run that featured free throws by Malek and Jake West, but as the teams went to the locker room at the half, the Mustangs were in control, 37-28.
“We started out well enough, but than we just couldn’t put it in the bucket,” Trojans coach Dave Regula said. “We wanted to press them; we just couldn’t do it. Without scoring, we couldn’t set our press, but in the end we were able to make some buckets and get our press.”
Derry came back in the early minutes of the third quarter to cut LH’s lead to 37-33 but watched as Dawson responded with nine points to put the Mustangs’ lead to 50-36.
Derry was listless, and buckets by Dawson and Mike Iannamorelli made the score look even worse, giving the Mustangs at 54-38 advantage.
However, Derry wouldn’t quit that easily, and capitalizing on Mustang turnovers and baskets by Ryan Hauser, Jordan Hope and Malek, proceeded on a 17-6 run that put them right back in the game.
“We were running out of energy and we made some decisions in the fourth we shouldn’t have,” Hauger said.
After a Tupta field goal, the Trojans clawed at the lead once more, getting within five at the 1:34 mark after a Hope basket put hope back into the Trojans night cutting the Mustangs’ lead to 62-57.
Erminio scored the final basket of the night for the Mustangs and watched as the Trojans cut the margin to five, and seconds later to three after twin Malek baskets.
“We were able to get a couple of shots and got back into it,” Regula said.
The Trojans were able to regain possession with 17 seconds remaining while trailing, 64-61, but were unable to score as the Mustang fans breathed a collective sigh of relieve.
“Our hat’s off to Derry,” Hauger said. “But at the same time I would like to give credit to our team, who despite being expended, really showed a lot of heart tonight.”
Hope’s 12 points led the Trojans, and Hauser’s and Malek and 16 and 17, respectively.
Despite the loss, the Trojans clinched a playoff spot courtesy of a 58-39 Greensburg Salem victory over Mount Pleasant and still have a date with the Greensburg Salem on Friday away.
“We just want to go to Greensburg and compete,” Regula said. “We’re still trying to reach our full potential, and at times it looks like were getting there.”
The Mustangs, meanwhile, secured third place in the section and now look to take on cross-town rival Uniontown, who defeated the Mustangs earlier in the season 66-45, on Friday.
“Uniontown is very strong,” Hauger said. “They proven that they are an outstanding team, and it’s going to be tough going down there. We’ll have to play our best effort game.”