Learning how to win a basketball game can often be as tough as making a 25-foot jumper against two defenders.

“Last year, we didn’t know how to win games,” Laurel High School boys coach Mike Tinstman said. “Often it’s the little things that help you win.”

After last night, the Spartans already have half as many victories as they did last season when they finished a dismal 2-20.

Laurel did enough of the little things in the fourth quarter to pull out a 56-53 victory against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart from Coraopolis in the first game of the Ellwood City Tipoff Tournament. Laurel will meet Ellwood City Lincoln in the tournament’s title game at 7:30 tonight.

The Spartans outscored OLSH, 22-16, in the final frame and, 7-4, in the last two minutes to gain the win with hard-working forward Jake Dando leading the way.

A 6-foot-4 junior, Dando finished with a career-high 29 points and scored five of those in the final two minutes. But perhaps the biggest basket of the contest for Laurel was a short jumper by Eric Wallas with 36 second left. The shot gave Laurel a 54-51 lead. Dando then made two of four free throws to keep the Spartans in front.

The game ended in dramatic fashion. OLSH got off a pair of 3-point attempts in the final 10 seconds, with both shots rimming out.
“I thought we played well defensively,” Tinstman said. “They’re a good team and when we got down by six a couple of times we could have let down, but we didn’t.”

Laurel trailed 15-9 at the end of the first quarter, but closed to within 27-25 at the half. Going into the fourth quarter the Spartans were behind, 37-34.

Midway through the final period, Laurel ran off nine consecutive points to take a 47-41 lead and was on top 49-43 with 2:40 left. But OLSH made four consecutive free throws and scored on an offensive rebound to tie the score, 49-49, at the 2:04 mark.

After a timeout, Dando drove the lane for a layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play with 1:08 remaining. Two free throws by James Orie, who scored 24 points for OLSH, cut the lead to one, but that’s when Wallas connected on his jumper.

“We’re learning to play as a team,” Dando said. “At the end, I was just trying to make sure I made at least one of my two free-throw attempts so we’d be ahead by at least three.”

“We’re still a young team,” Tinstman said. “I’m hoping a win like this will help boost our confidence.”