The Mohawk High boys basketball team did almost everything right last night.

The Warriors put together their best performance in the 85-53 WPIAL Section 2-AA victory over visiting Riverside.

“It was definitely a win that we needed,” Mohawk coach Rob Fadden said. “We’ve been in a funk lately and the kids really earned it. In my three-year tenure, this is the best team effort we’ve put on the floor. At all times, we had five guys on the floor on the same page. We had a bunch of offensive standouts, but the guys played well on defense.”

Mohawk (2-7 section, 6-10 overall) stayed in contention for the section’s fourth playoff spot, but need some help. The Warriors trail the Panthers (4-5, 7-9) by two games for the final berth. Laurel (3-6, 7-8) and Shenango (3-6, 6-9) are a game behind Riverside.

The Warriors handed out 23 assists on 34 field goals and had four players in double figures. Travis Giardina posted a team-high 18 points and Jonathan Grim tacked on 16. Zach Shasteen contributed 15 and Gio Menichino tossed in 12.

“We shot the ball fantastic,” Fadden said. “That’s been one of our weaknesses. We had a lot of unselfish play. Guys were passing up a shot to pass to a teammate for an even better shot. That was nice to see. That was for the sake of the team. We couldn’t have been a better effort on both offensively and defensively.”

The Warriors limited Riverside’s Zach Gould to just 11 points and Logan Sheridan to 14.

“We switched up defenses between the triangle and two, the diamond and one and the man-to-man,” Fadden said. “Gould was coming off 45 points against Neshannock and we held Sheridan to below his average. The guys guarding them did a great job.”