The visiting Spartans let a 44-38 fourth-quarter lead slip away on the final game at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic’s Don Graham Court in the nonsection clash between two WPIAL playoff participants. The Trojans (13-9) are a Class A school.

Laurel (12-10) trailed 32-31 entering the second half, but outscored North Catholic, 13-6, in the third quarter.

“It was a good game between two playoff teams,” Spartans coach Ken Locke said. “We needed to make a few more plays down the stretch. They made more plays than we did and that was the difference. A couple of missed box-outs here and a couple of missed shots there. That’s why the outcome was the way it was.

“This was a good test for us. We obviously wanted to win, but I’m happy with how the guys played. We’ll move forward and hopefully, we’re ready for the playoffs.”

Mason Mraz led Laurel with 19 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Josh Dando tacked on 15 points, four assists and three steals. Zachary Wilson totaled 12 points.

Dominic Robb netted 20 points to lead the Trojans.