By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News

The Laurel High boys basketball team needed just one more stop last night.

But the Spartans weren’t able to get it.

New Brighton’s Jaelin Yellock made a field goal at the buzzer to force overtime and the Lions knocked off host Laurel in the extra session, 80-73, in WPIAL Section 2-AA action.

Yellock picked up an offensive rebound just above the foul line and drained a field goal as the horn sounded to tie the game at 67.

“We battled hard the whole game; I couldn’t be more proud of the guys,” first-year Spartans coach Ken Locke said. “We had opportunities, but unfortunately at the end they got a couple of chances and finally put it in.

“They made that key play and we didn’t.”

The Lions (5-5 section, 12-6 overall), who led the whole way in overtime, were 11 of 14 at the foul line in the extra quarter to seal the win.

Jacob Wilson fired in a career-high 31 points for Laurel (0-10, 4-14), 16 coming in the first half. His previous career high was 21, earlier in the season against Aliquippa.

Wilson pulled down four rebounds as well.

“Jake is doing a great job for us,” Locke said. “We couldn’t ask for too much more from him.

“He’s playing hard all the time and he does a great job.”

Josh Dando followed Wilson’s effort with 12 markers, seven rebounds and five steals for the hosts. Josh Finley added nine points and a team-high 10 boards.

Yellock paced New Brighton with 24 points, 19 coming in the second half.

The Lions won the first meeting, 78-54.

“We didn’t know what to expect considering the wins and losses,” Locke said. “We’ve been talking all year about getting better.

“These are the games we want to win and we have to win. We just let it get away. Hopefully the guys take it as a positive.”

New Brighton’s win forces a four-way tie for third place in the section standings with Riverside (5-5, 9-8), Mohawk (5-5, 7-10) and Aliquippa (5-5, 5-10).

(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com)