Nothing is ever given when it comes to section play.

That much was evident Saturday night, as the Laurel High boys basketball team edged Mohawk, 73-69, in a WPIAL Section 1-AA matchup.

“It was a typical section game,” Laurel coach Ken Locke said. “When you get in the section, you can throw the records aside. I think it’s one of the toughest from top to bottom. (Mohawk) proved it, they’re well coached and they were prepared. We had to earn everything we got and we’re thankful to get out of it with a win.”

The Spartans (5-1 section, 9-3 overall) used a 22-12 advantage in the final quarter after trailing by six.

Scott Siddall was lights out for Laurel, scoring 31 points while adding six boards and four steals.

“He played well, he made some big shots for us,” Locke said. “We struggled a little bit, especially in the first half. I thought Scott definitely picked us up and came through for us. In the second half, we fought and battled back in it and got the win.”

Mason Mraz followed with 16 points, 14 coming from the charity stripe.

Zach Shasteen paced the Warriors (0-5, 1-11) with 20 points. Ricky Malutic contributed 13 points and Michael Kurtz tallied 12.

Both sides were successful from the free-throw line, as the Spartans hit 85 percent of their free throws (29 of 34) and Mohawk connected on 90 percent (18 of 20).

“When you look at it in perspective, it’s different,” Locke said. “Thankfully we shot it well and it worked well for us.”

Mohawk suffered another close loss following a 78-67 defeat to Neshannock, but coach Rob Fadden is encouraged by the team play that the Warriors have shown in the past week.

“This is back-to-back games where we’ve put in a really solid team effort,” Fadden said. “Hopefully we can continue and catch a break and turn it into a win.

“I think we’re playing more as a team right now. It was a very good team performance.”