Mount Lebanon girls basketball team embraces underdog role
Mt. Lebanon coach Dori Oldaker was able to joke a bit after her second-seeded Blue Devils knocked off Oakland Catholic 58-49 to win their third WPIAL title in four years.
Now, Mt. Lebanon begins the trek for a fourth consecutive PIAA Class AAAA title and fifth straight appearance in at state championship game against the winner of a play-in game between State College (11-11) and host Pine-Richland (15-9). That game begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday on the Rams' floor. The Blue Devils' first-round game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Chartiers Valley High School.
"I love (being the underdog)," she said as her team celebrated. "As you know, the bull's-eye has been on us for a long time, and that's a lot of pressure. That's a huge target on our backs. It's kind of nice not having that target."
Mt. Lebanon jumped out to a 20-6 lead over the Eagles, but Oldaker and her players knew it was just a matter of time before Oakland Catholic would come back.
"I think it was key for us to jump on them right from the get-go," she said "They are such a tough team, and you knew they weren't going to let up. They're senior-oriented, and you knew they were going to make a comeback."
And the Eagles did come back, actually taking a 47-45 lead on a 3-point field goal by Corey Taglianetti with 5:07 left in the game. Oakland Catholic took its last lead at 49-47 on a Bobbi Baker layup with 3:36 left.
The comeback didn't surprise Mt. Lebanon point guard Kelly Johnson either.
"We knew they would fight back, and some of the players would take over the game, especially Bobbi Baker (who led all scorers with 25 points). She's a key person to their offense and defense. We had to contain her (Liz Tommasi) does amazing defense. We knew we had to get off to a good start. Our coach said to stick the nail in the coffin and don't let them up."
One player who sparkled defensively was Jordan Holmes, who had six blocked shots, including a late block on Baker with about a minute remaining and the Blue Devils clinging to a 52-49 lead.
"It was a lot of fun; I wasn't doing too hot on the offensive side," Holmes said of her defensive effort. "(Coach Oldaker) always says that if you're not doing so well on offense, do it all on defense. That's what I tried to do."
The Blue Devils closed out the game with a 9-0 run, converting four out of eight free-throw attempts in the game's final 57 seconds.
"(I told them) not to lose their heads, (and) to not panic," Oldaker said. "At times, we started panicking and turning the ball over. We needed to settle down, play stronger defense (and) be stronger with the ball. They kept taking the ball off us. I would have liked to contain Bobbi a little more."
Holmes said the bitter taste of last year's loss to Shaler Area in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game motivated her and her teammates.
" My motivation from last year was that there are two seniors that didn't get gold medals (in their Mt. Lebanon careers), Mary Mulvihll and Courtney Kitchens. They wanted gold medals, and this is their senior year. This was their last chance. I really wanted to do it for them."
Now, Mt. Lebanon begins the trek for a fourth consecutive PIAA Class AAAA title and fifth straight appearance in at state championship game against the winner of a play-in game between State College (11-11) and host Pine-Richland (15-9). That game begins at 7 p.m. on Tuesday on the Rams' floor. The Blue Devils' first-round game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Chartiers Valley High School.
"I love (being the underdog)," she said as her team celebrated. "As you know, the bull's-eye has been on us for a long time, and that's a lot of pressure. That's a huge target on our backs. It's kind of nice not having that target."
Mt. Lebanon jumped out to a 20-6 lead over the Eagles, but Oldaker and her players knew it was just a matter of time before Oakland Catholic would come back.
"I think it was key for us to jump on them right from the get-go," she said "They are such a tough team, and you knew they weren't going to let up. They're senior-oriented, and you knew they were going to make a comeback."
And the Eagles did come back, actually taking a 47-45 lead on a 3-point field goal by Corey Taglianetti with 5:07 left in the game. Oakland Catholic took its last lead at 49-47 on a Bobbi Baker layup with 3:36 left.
The comeback didn't surprise Mt. Lebanon point guard Kelly Johnson either.
"We knew they would fight back, and some of the players would take over the game, especially Bobbi Baker (who led all scorers with 25 points). She's a key person to their offense and defense. We had to contain her (Liz Tommasi) does amazing defense. We knew we had to get off to a good start. Our coach said to stick the nail in the coffin and don't let them up."
One player who sparkled defensively was Jordan Holmes, who had six blocked shots, including a late block on Baker with about a minute remaining and the Blue Devils clinging to a 52-49 lead.
"It was a lot of fun; I wasn't doing too hot on the offensive side," Holmes said of her defensive effort. "(Coach Oldaker) always says that if you're not doing so well on offense, do it all on defense. That's what I tried to do."
The Blue Devils closed out the game with a 9-0 run, converting four out of eight free-throw attempts in the game's final 57 seconds.
"(I told them) not to lose their heads, (and) to not panic," Oldaker said. "At times, we started panicking and turning the ball over. We needed to settle down, play stronger defense (and) be stronger with the ball. They kept taking the ball off us. I would have liked to contain Bobbi a little more."
Holmes said the bitter taste of last year's loss to Shaler Area in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game motivated her and her teammates.
" My motivation from last year was that there are two seniors that didn't get gold medals (in their Mt. Lebanon careers), Mary Mulvihll and Courtney Kitchens. They wanted gold medals, and this is their senior year. This was their last chance. I really wanted to do it for them."
basketball