MOHAWK, N.Y. (WKTV) - Senior stars John LeClair and Josh Pugh did not disappoint.

Neither did their teams.

In a non-league battle of unbeaten state-ranked boys squads played in front of a standing room-only crowd at Mohawk on Tuesday, Pugh led a late charge to give Mt. Markham a hard-fought 61-55 victory.

After Mt. Markham held Mohawk to a season-low 18 points in the first half for a 26-18 lead and increased it to 28-18 at the start of the third quarter, LeClair--who became the first Mohican ever to score 1,000 career points in the first quarter--scored 12 of his game-high 32 points during a 13-3 run to tie it at 31.  Mohawk went ahead for the first time in the game on a free throw at the end of the quarter to lead 36-35 going to the 4th.

Early in the final period the teams went nearly basket-for-basket with three lead changes and two ties putting the score at 46-46 with 3:37 left.  That's when Pugh took over, scoring eight of his team-high 23 points in a 12-1 surge to put the game away.

The big difference in the game was rebounding, with Mt. Markham claiming a dominant 43-18 advantage.  Pugh grabbed 12 boards in addition to three assists and three steals and teammate Tyler Mattox grabbed 11 rebounds.  LeClair also notched a double-double with 10 boards and Mike Scudder also had 10 and two blocks for Mohawk.

Mt. Markham, ranked No. 20 in the state in Class B, is now 8-0 overall; Mohawk, ranked No. 9 in Class C, drops to 8-1.