Mt. Lebanon matches rival Upper St. Clair shot for shot in double-overtime win
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Tuesday, January 10, 2023 | 11:35 PM
Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod celebrates with the student section after defeating Upper St. Clair in double overtime on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Tanner Donati celebrates with Nate Girod after scoring against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Lucas Garofoli battles Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem for a loose ball during their game on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
The Mt. Lebanon student section section celebrates a score by Tanner Donati during overtime against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Brody Barber (32), Riley Frabaugh (25) and Liam Sheely celebrate a 3-pointer by Michael Pfeuffer during their game against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Lucas Garofoli scores against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Michael Pfeuffer watches one of his second half 3-pointers against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Tanner Donati scores against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Michael Pfeuffer shoots a 3-pointer against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod celebrates during overtime against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Riley Frabaugh (25) and Michael Pfeuffer celebrate as time expires in double overtime against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer late in double overtime against Upper St. Clair on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Mt. Lebanon’s Michael Pfeuffer battles Upper St. Clair’s Matthew Gaither for a loose ball during their game on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023, at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Two dozen 3-pointers made the score higher than a typical Mt. Lebanon-Upper St. Clair grind, but the dramatic finish still fit this gritty rivalry’s history.
The teams answered shot after shot from beyond the arc Tuesday night, until Mt. Lebanon’s Nate Girod made a go-ahead 3-pointer with 90 seconds left in the second overtime, letting the host Blue Devils defeat Upper St. Clair, 74-69, and break a first-place tie in Section 2-6A.
Each team made a dozen 3-pointers, including 16 combined after halftime.
“They’d hit a 3, and we’d come down and knock a 3 down,” Mt. Lebanon coach Joe David said. “And to their credit, when we went up, they hit it.
”It was a fun game.”
Girod delivered the final counterpunch.
With Mt. Lebanon trailing 67-65 late in the second overtime, his 3-pointer from the right wing gave the Blue Devils a one-point lead. They went 12 for 26 shooting from beyond the arc.
“I felt like maybe I pushed off, but they didn’t call anything,” Girod said of his go-ahead 3. “I was confident in the second half, so I took it and made it.”
No. 2-ranked Mt. Lebanon (8-4, 3-0) leads the section, ahead of No. 5 Upper St. Clair (7-6, 2-1) and Baldwin (7-5, 2-1).
Before thinking about overtime, Mt. Lebanon first had to overcome an early 15-point deficit. The Blue Devils trailed 18-3 in the first quarter but rallied with a 22-2 run.
They took their first lead, 25-20, on a layup by Girod in the middle of the second quarter.
“You start thinking, ‘Here we go. This might be a blowout,’” David said. “I don’t have a lot of experience out there. Only one guy had played significant minutes in a St. Clair-Lebo game. So I was happy with the way they responded.”
Mt. Lebanon’s Michael Pfeuffer scored a game-high 24 points with six 3-pointers and made a pair of clinching free throws with 7.4 seconds left. Tanner Donati had 15 points, and Girod added 14 with four 3s.
“We’ve got shooters everywhere,” said Pfeuffer, who went 6 for 7 from 3-point range. “On the bench, starting five, everyone can shoot it. When we’re hot, we’re hard to beat.”
Upper St. Clair had four scorers in double figures. Matthew Gaither led with 20 points, Julian Dahlem scored 14, Christian Wieczenski had 12 and Nick Sukernek added 10.
The Panthers went 12 for 25 from 3-point range.
“Both teams were throwing haymakers at each other,” USC coach Danny Holzer said. “We’d made a 3 and they’d make one. We’d make one. They’d make one.”
The second-half score was tied at 37, 40, 43, 45, 47, 55 and 58.
“It was an amazing high school game,” Holzer said.
A season ago, their two regular-season matchups produced scores of 48-46 and 41-30. This time, the teams were tied at 58 after regulation and 63 after the first overtime.
Each team had a possession to take the lead in the final 45 seconds of regulation, but both chances ended with a turnover.
Tied at 63 late in the first overtime, USC held the ball for more than a minute on the final possession before Wieczenski’s 3-pointer hit the rim at the buzzer.
In the second overtime, Gaither scored USC’s first four points and the Panthers led 67-65 with two minutes left.
Girod answered with a go-ahead 3 at the other end to lead 68-67. Missed shots by USC and four consecutive free throws by Mt. Lebanon’s Riley Farabaugh and Lucas Garofoli pushed the lead to five with 25 second left.
Lebo’s lead was 72-69 after Gaither made two free throws with 11.3 seconds, but Pfeuffer clinched the win with two of his own at the 7-second mark.
“It was back and forth for a while there,” Girod said. “We stayed in it, played some good defense at the end and came out with a W.”
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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