Mt. Lebanon boys beat Canon-Mac to advance to finals
Eleanor Bailey/thealmanac
Jake Hoffman goes up for a basket against Elliot Waller (33) during WPIAL Class 6A boys’ semifinal basketball action.
Eleanor Bailey/thealmanac
Blaine Gartley (11) and Will Sapp (31) celebrate after Mt. Lebanon defeated Canon-McMillan to advance to the WPIAL Class 6A boys’ basketball championship.
Threes are wild for the Mt. Lebanon boys’ basketball team.
In reaching the WPIAL championships for the third time under head coach Joe David, the Blue Devils buried 10, 3-point field goals during their semifinal win against Canon-McMillan, 58-39, at Moon High School.
After having limited success from beyond the arc and battling to a 21-21 deadlock at intermission, the Blue Devils lit up the Big Macs in the third quarter.
Lebo made five three-pointers during a 17-4 run. Jake Hoffman’s buzzer-beater afforded the Blue Devils a 38-28 lead.
“That was absolutely a dagger,” C-M skipper Rick Bell said of Hoffman’s bucket. “It was huge.”
Hoffman led all scorers with 17 points. Blaine Gartley and Sean Loughran also contributed double figures with 15 and 12 tallies for Lebo.
The trio combined for all 10 of the Blue Devils’ three-pointers, all in the first three quarters. Ten of their first 13 field goals were from behind the arc.
“I told them at halftime that I believed in them,” David said. “The next shot is always going in. Forget the ones you miss and remember the ones you make.”
The win marked the third time this season Mt. Lebanon beat the Big Macs. The teams compete in the same section and the Blue Devils won the banner with only one blemish, a loss to rival Upper St. Clair.
With the victory, Lebo made its third trip to the WPIAL finals under David. The Blue Devils won championships in 2006 and 2010. Nine years ago, they also advanced to the PIAA finals, only to lose in overtime.
Mt. Lebanon (21-3) played Butler (20-4) in the Class 6A final on March 2 (after deadline). The Golden Tornado reached the finals by upsetting No. 1 seed Pine-Richland, 70-68, in the semifinals and No. 3 Upper St. Clair, 75-70, in the quarterfinals. Ethan Morton had 40 points against the Rams and 32 against the Panthers.
In the loss, Chris Pantelis (14), Ben Sandusky (14), Tanner Gensler (13) and Luke Gensler (10) scored in double figures. A Butler win in the WPIAL final would pull the Panthers (19-4) into the PIAA playoffs.
Previously, Pine-Richland ended Peters Township’s season (16-8) when the Rams overcame a 17-point deficit to win, 66-64, in the quarterfinals.
In the loss, Sam Petrarca (22), Tom Melonja (17) and Dax Ploskina (14) were in double digits.
In Class 5A, Mars (23-1) prevented Charters Valley (18-6) from reaching the finals. The Planets defeated the Colts, 53-44. Brayden Reynolds (17) and Joe Pipilo (11) paced CV.
The Chartiers Valley (24-0) girls reached the Class 5A finals by beating Penn Hills, 45-37. In the triumph, Mackenzie Wagner exploded for 25 points.
Visit www.thealmanac.net for further coverage of the championships games.