Mt. Lebanon coasts into semifinals to play Penn Hills
After coasting to victory against Latrobe, 89-52, top-seeded Mt. Lebanon (20-3) will battle Penn Hills (21-3) at 6 p.m. Feb. 28 at Baldwin for the right to play in the WPIAL Class 6A boys’ championship game.
“We are anxious to see how we do,” said Lebo skipper Joe David. “It’s a good test for us.”
The Indians, indeed, are a good test for the Blue Devils. They boast Daivon Stephens. The 6-5 senior averages 17.6 points per game. They also feature Corey Fulton (6-0), who tossed in 25 in a 59-49 win against Central Catholic, Cam Wiley (6-2) and Adams Keyshawn (6-6) in their starting line-up. All are seniors.
“Penn Hills is a very good team. They are talented and well-coached,” said Joe David. “To beat them we have to play our game and do what we have been doing all year.”
The winner will play for the championship at 9 p.m. March 3 at the Petersen Events Center.
The Blue Devils have played all season much like they played in scoring their big win against the Wildcats in a quarterfinal contest held at Canon-McMillan High School, the site of their lone section defeat.
Lebo, which averages 72 points per game, converted 66 percent of its shots from the field as they soared to a 51-26 halftime advantage. They converted 6-of-17 shots from beyond the arc.
“We can shoot better even better,” said David of their 35 percent accuracy rate from 3-point land against the Wildcats.
Antonio Garofoli is the team’s best. He averages 17 points per game. He tossed in 17 markers against Latrobe.
Caden Hinckley led all scorers. The 6-6 senior center exploded for 21 tallies against the Wildcats.
Mike Palmer finished with 10 points. He helps handle the offense along with Brice Miller, a team leader in the assist department. Add Hayden Mitchell into the starting mix then the Blue Devils sport a fearsome five that has dominated the district competition this winter. Lebo has lost only once in WPIAL competition, falling in their two other instance to a team from Texas and the City of Pittsburgh’s Taylor Allderdice.
“I’m proud of my guys,” said David. “They have gotten better and better all year. I like where we are. We had good practices leading up to the Latrobe game and I felt pretty confident against them. They were a good team but we did a nice job defensively against them and we attacked as well.”
SF falls
In the Class 4A playoffs, South Fayette could not survive a second-half surge by New Castle. Outscored 22-10 in the third stanza, the Lions succumbed to the Hurricanes, 55-45, in a quarterfinal contest played Feb. 24 at Geneva College. For the ‘Canes, which advanced to the WPIAL semifinals for the eighth year in a row, Marcus Hooker led with 17 points. For the Lions, who held a six-point lead at halftime, Tim Locher led with 13 tallies. Previously, the Lions defeated Freeport, 48-45, at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic. Conner Mislan (14), Drew Franklin (10) and Noah Plack (10) finished in double digits for the Lions. Mislan scored 9 of his 14 points in the final eight minutes of action.
SLS wins
In Class 3A action, Seton LaSalle (18-5) defeated Shady Side Academy, 74-52, at Sewickley Academy to advance to a semifinal showdown against North Catholic (13-11) George Mike led with 24 points. Jakob Richardson followed with 20. Frankie Fuhrer chipped in 11.