Feb 1, 2019 3 min read

McMURRAY – The Peters Township boys basketball team gave way to Mt. Lebanon’s suffocating full-court pressure defense that turned the tide and helped the Blue Devils earn a come-from-behind, 69-65, win Friday evening.

The Blue Devils (17-2, 9-0) forced 16 turnovers, eight of which occurred in the third quarter, leading to a 24-12 scoring spurt.

“Our rotations were not as sound in the first half,” Mt. Lebanon coach Joey David said. “I challenged our guys in the locker room at the half to come out and be more aggressive and rotate to the ball harder. I think we did a good job of that in the second half.”

The win clinched the Section 2 Class 6A title for the Blue Devils.

Sean Loughran led all scorers with 22 points. His consecutive layups in the game’s final 30 seconds iced the contest. Blaine Gartley and Mike Palmer chipped in 15 and 13 points, respectively, for the Blue Devils.

The Indians were led by Colin Cote’s 19 points. Sam Petrarca contributed 15, and Thomas Melonja and Dax Ploskina chipped in with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Peters Township (4-5, 12-6) held a 39-31 lead at the half on the strength of Cote’s 14 first half points. The Indians controlled the pace and play for much of the first half and appeared poised to avenge the 61-49 loss to the Blue Devils at Mt. Lebanon on Jan. 11.

A Cote three-pointer that was followed by a Melonja put-back pushed the Indians advantage to 37-24 late in the second period while a Petrarca running layup gave the hosts an eight-point lead heading into the break.

“We did a good job getting good shots in the first half,” Indians coach Gary Goga said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t finish the job.”

Perhaps Goga sensed a storm was coming when he signaled timeout a mere 10 seconds into the second half when he saw the Blue Devils trap going to work.

“We’ve had issues with the turnovers all year,” Goga lamented. “We’re just going to have to work hard and correct it.”

The Blue Devils used the trap to get steals and easy baskets in transition. Jake Hoffman (11 points) led the way in the quarter with nine points on a perfect four-for-four shooting from the field. Mt. Lebanon shot a sizzling 10 of 12 from the field in the decisive third quarter.

“That’s who we are when we are playing well,” David noted.

Peters Township fought back in the fourth quarter to take the lead when Melonja scored a put-back to give the Indians a 61-59 edge midway through the frame.

Following a Mt. Lebanon miss, Ploskina drove in for a layup to push the advantage to 63-59.

A Palmer free throw cut the Indians lead to three on the Blue Devils next possession. Following a Blue Devils stop, Loughran drained a three-pointer that tied the score at 63 at the two-minute mark.

Cote then split two of four free throws to push the Indians back in front, but Mt. Lebanon responded when Hayden Mitchell knocked in a short jumper to tie the score again.

Mt. Lebanon had the tide swing back in its favor for good when Petrarca and Ploskina miscommunicated on the ensuing inbounds pass, giving the ball back to Mt. Lebanon at the 27 second mark that eventually set up the winning score by Loughran.