Mt. Lebanon making the most of second chance
Jonny David proved too hard to guard as he fired in 27 points as Mt. Lebanon upended WPIAL champion Chartiers Valley, 50-48, in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.
Matty McConnell soars to the hoop for a basket during PIAA playoff action. He scored 14 points but that was not enough as Chartiers Valley dropped a 50-48 decision to Mt. Lebanon.
When Mt. Lebanon failed to beat North Hills and make it to the WPIAL semifinals, Joe David failed to believe it was the end for his boys’ basketball team.
“They are a great group,” he said of his players. “Not since we almost won a state championship (in 2011) have I had a group like this that is so cohesive, so fun to coach. They love each other. They are like brothers. Everywhere they go, they go together. When you have that, then that’s a real blessing because you know something special is going to happen.
“When we lost to North Hills, I said, ‘This can’t be it for these guys. It can’t be, because it always seems that guys who have been together like that seem to have something special in their back pocket.'”
Boy, did the Blue Devils ever. After beating rival Upper St. Clair and Hempfield to earn a spot in the PIAA Quad-A tournament, Lebo upset WPIAL champion Chartiers Valley, 50-48, in a first-round playoff game at Canon-McMillan.
David’s son, Jonny, provided the heroics. He scored the game-winning basket just before the final buzzer sounded. It was the second time this year that David did in the Colts. He scored a three-pointer to end a triple-overtime thriller in the teams’ final Section 4 fray. The two teams shared the section title and were on schedule to meet in the district semifinals until North Hills railroaded the Blue Devils.
Of the Colts, Jonny David said they were a very good team. “They are a team that we look forward to playing, especially a rivalry conference game. Also, after the North Hills loss and the fact that we got to play the WPIAL champions kind of helped us make a statement. It was a game that we were prepared for. All the guys wanted to win it and they gave their all.”
David gave the most, offensively. He finished with 27 tallies. Matt Hoffman followed with eight markers while Marc Lamendola and Patrick Ehland pitched in seven and six points. Eddie Jenkins also provided a bucket to complete Lebo’s scoring.
Poise proved the difference for the Blue Devils. Not only did they overcome a 12-point deficit, 33-21, midway through the third quarter, they also maintained their composure after Matty McConnell buried a 3-point field goal to tie the contest, 48-48, with 12 seconds to play. McConnell finished with 14 points as did Jake Riston. Eddie Flohr provided 12 tallies for the Colts, who finished the year at 23-4.
“Matty made a great shot there. You’ve got to give them credit. They are a good team,” said Coach David. “But, I was very proud of my guys as far as their poise. They were cool, calm, collected. We tried to give it back to them. We made some mistakes. We made some big-time blunders that could have really secured the win. But, that’s just my team. You gotta love them. They are a great group of kids.”
The Blue Devils are a smart enough bunch to know they must play great defense to beat teams. In rolling up a 21-6 record, they have limited teams to 47.1 points per game.
“Our defense is the key,” said Jonny David. “We are not a team that is going to score like 70-80 points. So we really have to control the pace. In order to beat teams, we have to play real good defense. Bring them down to our kind of scoring. Manage our defense and have everybody contributing, talking and moving. That really contributes to winning.”
Maintaining their cool and playing together as a team have also contributed to Lebo’s success. Those qualities certainly factored into the win against CV.
“We never really had our heads down. They are a team that we are familiar with. They hit a lot of shots in the beginning. We just knew in order to get back in the game we had to play real good defense,” said Jonny David. “And, everybody made real big plays. Eddie had a really good rebound and charge. Mark and Eddie clutch free throws. It came from everyone. Everyone kind of realizes that this is a team that we really wanted to come out and win and we weren’t going to just go away. So, you’re going to have to come back and fight.
“Everybody kept fighting,” he continued. “That shows a lot of character. We never get down on ourselves.”
That’s the main reason why the Blue Devils are still playing basketball. They take on Allderdice (24-2) at 8 p.m. March 11 at North Allegheny in the second round the PIAA tournament.
“We are taking it one game at a time,” said Jonny David. “But, I think this team can go pretty far. Make a nice run,” he added.
With each win, Coach David said the fun factor for Lebo goes up. After beating USC, the team went to Quaker Steak and Lube. After beating Hempfield, the Blue Devils stopped at Fiori’s Pizza in Peters Township. “We’re going for shakes at Sarris,” announced David enthusiastically after upending CV.
Whether the fun factor continues for Lebo against the Dragons, David said that he does not know. “But,” he added, “we are going to have fun trying.”