The Neshannock High boys basketball team came to play Saturday.

The Lancers started strong and cruised to an 81-55 nonsection road win over Wilmington in their regular season finale.

Neshannock (17-5) built a 25-10 lead after the first quarter and maintained a 45-18 advantage at the half. The Lancers earned a second-place tie with Riverside in WPIAL Section 2-AA action with a 55-47 win over Laurel.

“I made sure we didn’t look ahead,” Neshannock coach John Corey said of the upcoming WPIAL playoffs. “Wilmington always plays extremely hard.

“We definitely made sure the guys were focused. I’m really happy with how they responded. In the first half, I thought we played very well on both ends of the floor. Offensively, to score 45, we were clicking. We did a great job of sharing the ball and guys were playing extremely unselfish in that first half.”

The WPIAL will announce the boys and girls basketball playoff pairings at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Doubletree Hotel in Green Tree.

The game had a white-out theme, with fans wearing white, in honor of 15-year-old Wilmington High student Shane McQuiston. A sophomore and member of the Greyhounds’ boys golf team, McQuiston drowned following an automobile accident he was in along Valley View Road in Pulaski Township on Jan. 4.

“It was a nice showing by all the fans,” Wilmington coach Mike Jeckavitch said. “There were completely whited out sections in memory of the McQuiston family.

“It was very good support by all that showed up and it was nice to see both communities come out for a good cause. It was a good time for everyone to get together and remember Shane.”

Said Corey, “It was very nice that the two communities came together and showed their support for Shane.”

Ernie Burkes fired in 22 points with seven assists to lead Neshannock. Ethan Moose was next with 14 markers and Tyler Haswell chipped in with 10 and six rebounds.

Jim Medure contributed eight points and seven boards for the winners.

“We tried some different defenses, but they were on,” Jeckavitch said. “They hit open shots and they outmuscled us.

“It didn’t seem like we had our legs. We didn’t have energy and we were just going through the motions.”

No statistical information was provided by Jeckavitch.

According to Jeckavitch, the Greyhounds (4-6 region, 7-13 overall) are still alive for a playoff spot in District 10, Region 2-AA. Wilmington needs to at least split its two games this week, home to Greenville (1-9, 4-15) tomorrow and on the road against West Middlesex (10-0, 17-3) on Friday, to have a shot.

The Greyhounds likely need Sharpsville to lose a pair of games as well.

“Our record doesn’t indicate how well we’ve been playing,” Jeckavitch said. “We need a little bit of help and we need to take care of our own business as well.”