Mt. Lebanon stakes claim in 6A with win over rival Upper St. Clair
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Saturday, February 3, 2024 | 12:41 AM
The Mt. Lebanon student section celebrates after a 3-pointer during the fourth quarter against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer during the fourth quarter against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Brody Barber celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon head coach Joe David points from the bench after a 3-pointer during the fourth quarter against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Liam Sheely celebrates goes up to dunk against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
The Mt. Lebanon student section celebrates a dunk by Liam Sheely against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Riley Farabaugh blocks a shot by Upper St. Clair’s Christian Ito on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Liam Sheely scores against Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Upper St. Clair head coach Danny Holzer watches from the bench during the fourth quarter on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Liam Sheely scores against Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Liam Sheely celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod shoots a 3-pointer next to Brody Barber during their game against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer during the fourth quarter against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Upper St. Clair’s Christian Ito celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins blocks a shot by Mt. Lebanon’s Brody Barber on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Upper St. Clair head coach Danny Holzer fist bumps Mt. Lebanon’s Brody Barber during introductions before their game on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Brody Barber slows the pace during the fourth quarter against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod drives to the basket during the fourth quarter against Upper St. Clair’s Christian Ito on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon’s Liam Sheely celebrates after defeating Upper St. Clair on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024, at Mt. Lebanon.
Packed together tightly in a sold-out gym, the Mt. Lebanon student section chanted, “We run 6A,” in the final minutes of Friday’s win over rival Upper St. Clair.
Senior guard Nate Girod wasn’t ready to make that bold of a statement quite yet, but in a classification looking for a favorite, Mt. Lebanon made its case.
“We’ve got to wait for the playoffs to say that, but we definitely proved something tonight,” said Girod, who scored a game-high 23 points as No. 2 Mt. Lebanon defeated No. 1 Upper St. Clair, 60-43, to take possession of first place in the Section 2 standings.
“We knew that we were one of the best teams in 6A,” Girod added. “We knew that soon enough our hard work was going to pay off, and it certainly did today.”
Lebo sophomore Liam Sheely had 20 points and senior Brody Barber added 13, and the two combined with Girod for a decisive string of 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter that let the Blue Devils pull away. They’d entered the fourth with a slim one-point lead, but Sheely made two quick 3s, Girod made a third and Barber a fourth to surge ahead 50-39 with 3:40 left.
“Our coach ran some plays for us to get some 3s, and I’m always ready to shoot,” Sheely said. “That’s my favorite thing to do.”
In a game with 11 lead changes and seven ties, those four shots from beyond the arc provided the separation both teams had been searching for all night.
The result was a reversal from Jan. 9, when Upper St. Clair won 44-39.
“In the first one, we did a really good job defensively of keeping them in check,” USC coach Danny Holzer said. “They didn’t shoot the ball as well then, but I figure that’s partly because we did a good job defensively. This time they got a few more open looks.”
That was especially true in the fourth quarter, where Mt. Lebanon went 4 for 5 shooting from 3-point range. In the first three quarters, the Blue Devils made just 4 of 12 from beyond the arc.
Two of Mt. Lebanon’s late 3s also came after offensive rebounds.
“They caught us a couple of times and made shots,” Holzer said. “Sheely and Girod are both really good players. They made big shots, to their credit.”
Christian Ito led Upper St. Clair with 12 points and Brett Meinert had 11.
The victory put Mt. Lebanon (16-3, 7-1) in position to potentially win the section title outright with games remaining against Norwin (1-7) and Canon-McMillan (4-4). The Blue Devils won the first matchups against those opponents by 31 and 28 points.
Upper St. Clair (13-5, 6-2) falls into a second-place tie with Baldwin (15-4, 6-2), which the Panthers visit next Friday. USC hosts Canon-McMillan on Tuesday.
Nobody in 6A has emerged this season as a title favorite in the WPIAL’s big-school classification, but Mt. Lebanon could make that claim now, since it’s the only team with one section loss. Two of the top teams in Section 1 took a step back Friday with losses by Central Catholic and Butler.
So, with 10 days left in the regular season, Mt. Lebanon put itself into the conversation for team to beat in 6A.
“We proved that we’re one of the top dogs,” Girod said.
Upper St. Clair’s largest lead was five points in the third quarter. The Panthers led 33-28 on a layup by Meinert with 3:40 left in the quarter, but Mt. Lebanon scored the next six points. Sheely answered with a runner at the other end, Girod made two free throws and Sheely made two more.
Sheely scored 16 of his 20 points after halftime.
“We came out with way more confidence,” said Sheely, comparing this win to last month’s loss. “All throughout the week in practice, we said we’ve got to attack, attack, attack.”
The teams were tied 13-13 after the first quarter. Mt. Lebanon held slim leads of 26-24 at halftime and 36-35 after three quarters. The largest first-half lead for either team was a nine-point edge by Mt. Lebanon late in the second quarter. USC closed the first half with a 7-0 run to narrow the gap.
Upper St. Clair won the third quarter 11-10 but couldn’t answer the string of 3-pointers from Sheely, Girod and Barber early in the fourth. Mt. Lebanon went 8 for 10 from the foul line to extend its late lead.
“We had to do a good job of defending the 3-point line,” Holzer said. “We had to force them into rushed shots. We didn’t do that tonight and they made us pay.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: Mt. lebanon, Upper St. Clair
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