Feb 6, 2015 By Eleanor Bailey 2 min read

For the second game in a row, the Mt. Lebanon boys’ basketball team went down to the wire to register victory.

One game after Jonny David knocked down a 3-point field goal to silence Chartiers Valley in triple overtime, 58-55, Matt Hoffman did the honors against rival Upper St. Clair. The Penn football recruit barreled his way to the hoop and scored the game-winning lay-up with under five seconds to play to seal a 33-31 victory.

The bucket came on the heels of a 3-point field goal by Andrew Wheeler. The long-range shot from the corner tied the game at 31 with 23.5 seconds to play. Wheeler fired in nine points.

Wheeler’s 3-pointer gave USC its first points of the game. Those tallies came at the 5:21 mark in the second stanza. The Panthers went scoreless in the first frame and trailed Lebo, 10-0, before rallying. They trailed, 18-11, at halftime.

In the game, David was the lone player in double figures, finishing with 10 markers. He tossed in eight tallies in the first half. His 3-point field goal accounted for the only points in the first quarter. David, who went over the 1,000-point mark for his career in the win against CV, added another trey in the second stanza. He scored his only other points off four free throws. Two shots from the free throw line afforded Lebo a 31-23 lead with 4:39 to play.

Zachary Pateras and Marcus McGinnis finished with six points each for USC. Mark Lamendola added eight for Lebo, six coming in third quarter.

With the triumph, Lebo clinched the Section 4-AAAA title. The Blue Devils just don’t know yet whether they must share it. They must await the outcome of Chartiers Valley’s battle Feb. 7 against Bethel Park as the Colts also have two losses in the league.

CV is 11-2 in the section and 17-3 overall after posting a 108-93 victory against Moon. Meanwhile Bethel Park improved to 10-3 in the division and 14-6 overall with a 62-58 win against Baldwin.

While Lebo finished the regular season 17-5 overall and 12-2 in the section, the Panthers dropped to 9-5 in the division and 16-6 overall. USC qualifies for the WPIAL playoffs as the fourth-place team out of the section.

USC honored its senior players before the game. They included McGinnis, Zack Cherup, Nick Beeler and Garrett Dabat.