By JON GERAMITA
jgeramita@ncnewsonline.com

Let what happened last night serve as notice to any team that will be playing Laurel High later this season.

The Spartans are no longer a pushover.

Laurel appears to be getting better by the minute and it showed as the Spartans came very close to knocking off Union, before falling 65-63 in the Union Boosters boys basketball tournament last night.

If not for Adam Gibson’s twisting, turning baseline layup attempt that kissed off the glass and hit the rim before falling harmlessly to the floor with no time left, the contest might have been the one that could have turned Laurel’s season around.

Instead, it’s about how Jordon Rooney saved the day.

The Scotties senior point guard did nothing of significance all game until the game was on the line.

After Laurel’s Jake Dando calmly hit a turnaround jumper from the wing to give the Spartans (1-9) a 63-62 lead, Union’s Jason Burkes missed a three-pointer, allowing Laurel to get the rebound with 1:11 left in the fourth quarter.

On the other end, with the Spartans on a fast break, Rooney swooped in to make a steal. He alertly looked ahead and found a wide-open Matt Adamo, who gave Union (7-2) a 64-63 lead.

“(Rooney) sets the tone for us on defense,” Scotties coach Dave Smialowski said. “He locks you down when he needs to.”

Rooney was assigned to guard Dando all night. It was quite a chore as he scored 18 points for Laurel.

“Other teams are starting to get to know him pretty good now,” Spartans coach Mike Tinstman said.

After Adamo’s hoop, Anthony Thomas hit 1 of 2 from the line to make it 65-63 Union.

Laurel got possession with 28 seconds left in the game. Dando missed a baseline jumper, but the ball deflected off the Scotties with three seconds left.

“We weren’t here today,” Smialowski said. “Mentally we didn’t show up and it nearly cost us, but we will fix that.”

The Scotties led by as many as 13 points in the first half, but went cold from the field during the Spartans’ run in the third quarter.

Jordan Clingensmith hit a 3-pointer to give Union a 58-53 lead in the fourth quarter, but Laurel’s Tyler Masone answered with another 3-pointer. Rooney’s layup pushed the lead to 60-56, but Masone again knocked down a 3-pointer, 60-59 with three minutes left.

“I’m just proud of the effort tonight, really proud,” Tinstman said.

Clingensmith scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Scotties. Thomas scored 12, with Burkes and Donte Calhoun each adding eight.

Dando wasn’t the only threat for the Spartans, as Eric Wallas scored 16 points and Masone added 13 points.

Laurel plays Shenango at 4 p.m. today in the consolation game. Union will face Wilmington in the championship tilt at 8 p.m.

“If we play like this against Wilmington, we will get our butts handed to us,” Smialowski said.