Practice prepares Mt. Lebanon for victory over Taylor Allderdice
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Michael Palmer weaves his way around his defender to score a basket during Mt. Lebanon’s 64-58 victory over Allderdice. In the PIAA second-round playoff game, Palmer finished with 19 points, including a 6-for-6 showing from the charity stripe in the decisive second half.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Blaine Gartley soars to the hoop for two points. During Mt. Lebanon’s 64-58 victory over Allderdice.
Gartley tossed in 13 points, six off a pair of 3-point buckets in the first frame.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jake Hoffman puts up a shot. Despite the defensive efforts of Taylor Allderdice, Hoffman scored 10 points, including a critical 3-point basket with 3:42 to play that lifted Mt. Lebanon into a 53-49 lead it never relinquished. The Blue Devils slew the Dragons, 64-58.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Hayden Mitchell goes up against Dalen Dugger for a basket during Mt. Lebanon’s 64-58 win against Allderdice. Mitchell fired in nine points, including two critical free throws down the stretch, to help seal the victory.
Mt. Lebanon (24-3) prefers playing opponents like Taylor Allderdice (22-6) over practice any day. It’s easier.
For after days, even weeks of the Joe David 6-on-5 drill, the Blue Devils are prepared to handle foes like the Dragons, who succumbed, 64-58, in a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff contest on March 13 at Canon-McMillan High School.
After weathering Allderdice’s third-quarter run, Lebo vaulted into the lead for good, 50-49, when Blaine Gartley converted a basket, assisted by Michael Palmer, with 7:09 to play. The Blue Devils held the ball and worked for a 3-point bucket by Jake Hoffman with 3:46 to play and then cashed in on 11-of-12 free throws to seal the victory.
“We practice for situations like that every day against six guys,” said David, the Lebo floor boss. “We let those guys foul. We let those guys push us. So when we go against five, it makes it a little easier. They can breath more. They can say, hey, it’s only five out there. I’m used to two guys on me, two guys rushing me.”
David also added that the players have to be right there on the ball for their teammates and the Blue Devils certainly were that. They made sure of every pass and often found their teammates for easy layups even against a taller line-up that featured 6-7 center Dalen Dugger and 6-5 forward Terrell Childs not to mention the talented shooting guards Bobby Clifford and Jakson Blaufeld. All scored in double digits with Clifford and Childs leading with 18 and 17 markers and Blaufeld and Dugger supplying 13 and 10 tallies.
“We have five good ball handlers and they are all good passers,” David said of his starting five.
They also are precise shooters and unselfish teammates. Four of them scored in double figures: Palmer (19), Gartley (13), Sean Loughran (10) and Hoffman (10). Hayden Mitchell followed with nine markers. He grabbed five rebounds while Hoffman added seven boards. Palmer dished up six assists.
Lebo buried six, 3-point field goals in mounting a 34-29 halftime advantage but the Dragons, who won the Pittsburgh City League championship, used an 11-0 run to erase that margin and soar into the lead to start the third quarter. A pair of 3-point field goals by Hoffman and Andy Sapp as well as four points from Palmer and a bucket from Mitchell knotted the contest at 46 heading into the final frame.
“They made that big run, which we knew they would,” David said, “but to finish that third quarter even was fantastic for us.”
Lebo capitalized further on its ball-handling skills as once the team overtook the Dragons at the seven-minute mark it forced the foe to foul.
Gartley kicked off the procession to the charity stripe, connecting on the front end of a 1-plus-1. Palmer converted four straight while Loughran, Mitchell and Loughran cashed on both of their shots once Lebo reached the bonus. The Blue Devils were 13 of 14 from the line.
“We have five guys who can knock free throws down,” David said. “We don’t care who it is. They are all clutch. They all shoot the ball very, very well. So if you are going to play that game, if we are up, we are going to do what we do. There is no reason to chance it.
“Our guys are gamers and they are going to knock their free throws down. That’s the best way for us to win a basketball game.”
The win put the Blue Devils in the quarterfinals where they faced District 10 power Kennedy Catholic (24-3) on March 16. The No. 1 ranked team in the state defeated Pine-Richland, 82-63, in its second-round contest.
David and his squad embraced the challenge.
“Our goal is always to be the best possible basketball team we can be and that means to try and play the best teams. If they are No. 1 in the state, then let’s see what we can do. If they get us, they get us. If not, they don’t. But it is nice to have that opportunity to play that team. A blessing for a team like ours because we talk about being better and trying to play the best teams. They are obviously a very, very good team.”