Laurel Holds On, Downs Rival Delmar

The Laurel boys basketball team pulled out a gutsy 56-54 win Thursday night over their rivals Delmar. The win improves the Bulldogs to 12-3, while the loss drops the Wildcats to 10-5.

The teams would be in a battle early on with neither team ever grabbing much of a lead. The Bulldogs would use the support of a sold out crowd to grab a 15-12 lead. But KJ Trader would lead the Cats back in the second quarter, helping them tie the game at 24-24 at the break.

Delmar would come out of the locker room and continue to play with energy, building a 5 point lead going into the 4th. But August would lead the Dawgs back from there. he would get out into the open court to score, and attack the rim in half court sets to help his team to the lead. Up 2 with under 2 minutes to go, August would track down a long rebound and take it in for the score to give Laurel a 4 point lead. The Cats found the answer though, as Shane Leatherbury drove the lane and got a floater to drop. The Dawgs would then turn it over with 30 seconds left, giving the ball to Delmar down 2. After time wore down, Leatherbury would draw a foul and head to the line for 1 and 1. He would miss the front end, but the ball would be knocked out of bounds off Laurel with 3 seconds left. The Wildcats would be forced to throw the ball to half court, where Trader would have to throw up a desperation three that came up just off the mark. 

Laurel returns to the court Monday when they host Seaford, while Delmar host Lake Forest on Monday.