Just in a nick of time, the New Castle High boys gained some momentum to take into section play.

Nick Klein buried a 3-pointer with one minute left last night to break a tie and propel the Red Hurricane to a 58-54 victory over Hampton.

New Castle (1-2) rallied to tie the game at 50, setting up Klein’s heroics.

The ’Canes heading into section play had squandered second-half leads in each of their first two games.

New Castle opens WPIAL Section 2-AAA play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Ne-Ca-Hi Field House against defending section champ and district runner-up Hopewell.

“This is the hardest the guys have played since I got here,” New Castle coach Mark Stanley said. “We really got after it defensively and it’s a huge win.

“You want to go in (to section play) with a win. But, win or lose, we have to move on and get better. Friday is everything for us. Hopewell is one of the top teams in the WPIAL.”

Tyrone Steals paced the ’Canes with 17 points and Klein followed with 15. Steals registered a trio of steals and Tonio Fulena snared a team-high seven rebounds.

Bill Luther had 20 points for the Talbots, who are coached by former Westminster College standout Joe Lafko.