It’s said there is no such thing as a perfect basketball game.

The Mohawk High girls, however, wanted to prove otherwise in a dominant 54-24 WPIAL Section 1-AA victory over Neshannock.

“I just think, overall, you’re never going to play a perfect game,” Mohawk coach Mike O’Lare said. “But that was as close as you can get on both ends.”

The Lady Warriors (7-2 Section 1-AA, 13-3 overall) opened the floodgates in the second quarter, holding Neshannock to just one point and taking a 31-12 lead into the break.

“Everybody on that floor tonight stepped up,” O’Lare said. “That’s what we talk about. When we play Neshannock, it comes down to a couple points every time. They just played phenomenally defensively.”

That defensive presence held the Lady Lancers (7-1, 13-2) to shoot 23.5 percent from the field in their lowest scoring output on the season. Their previous was 37 points against Mohawk in their first meeting.

“They had a great game plan,” Neshannock coach Luann Grybowski said. “We didn’t get many open looks. We didn’t play well defensively at all. They pulled away in the second quarter.

“I’d call it a good ol’ fashioned butt whooping.”

Aliya Gage led the Lady Warriors with 18 points, while Samantha Carr totaled 15.

Madison McHale, Lawrence County’s leading scorer, was held to just six points. O’Lare credited guard Ashley McConnell for her second-straight game of defensive dominance.

“Defensively, she’s the one that gets us going,” O’Lare said. “Holding Madison to six points tonight is the reason we win the game.”

McConnell also held Beaver Falls’ Mahkaila Bonomo to just five points in a win on Monday.

Melissa Verlotte added nine points for the Lady Warriors, but it was her duty in dictating the tempo that helped Mohawk regulate the game.

“She did a good job of controlling the pace for us,” O’Lare said.

Mohawk, along with Riverside, now trails Neshannock by a half-game in the section.