Over the last two seasons, the Central Catholic and Mt. Lebanon boys basketball teams have squared off in late February in the WPIAL Class 6A third-place game.
In the 2024 postseason, Mt. Lebanon eliminated Central Catholic and earned a berth in the PIAA playoffs with a close win, 62-57.
A year ago, the two played again in the 6A consolation game, this time to decide who would be No. 3 and No. 4 from District 7 in the state postseason. The Vikings beat the Blue Devils, 68-60.
Now the two teams collide again on the hardwood with at least an early share of first place in Section 2-6A up for grabs when Central Catholic visits Mt. Lebanon at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The Vikings split their first two game this season in their own Jack Twyman Tournament, beating Mohawk and falling to Moon.
Following a win over Allderdice, the Vikings opened up Section 2-6A action last week with a thrilling overtime victory over defending champion Upper St. Clair, 48-46.
Senior Owen Campfield led Central Catholic with 17 points.
Mt. Lebanon has yet to lose this season.
The Blue Devils won nonsection games over Allderdice, North Hills and Baldwin before winning their section opener on the road Friday at Hempfield, 68-63.
Senior Liam Sheely scored 24 points to pace Mt. Lebanon.
The Vikings and Blue Devils are tied with Canon-McMillan for first place one game into section play.
Cat fight at the ‘Port
One team had a strong finishing kick in Section 1-5A last season and earned a playoff berth; the other struggled down the stretch and was a spectator for the WPIAL boys basketball postseason.
We are a long way from talking about finishing kicks and stretch runs for this season; nonetheless, an early share of first place in the section is up for grabs when Franklin Regional visits McKeesport at 7 p.m.
Both teams are coming off a section opening victory Friday, as the Panthers are 4-1 overall this season and the Tigers check in at 3-1.
Junior Logan Walter had 25 points as Franklin Regional won at home over Penn-Trafford, 63-47, in the section lid-lifter.
For McKeesport, Lamont Perkins dropped 21 points in a narrow victory at Laurel Highlands, 54-52.
The teams split their two section games last season, but a 16-point victory for the Panthers over the Tigers at McKeesport proved to be the difference in the playoff chase as the Franklin Regional claimed the final postseason berth by two games over McKeesport.
If the Tigers would have beaten the Panthers in that second game at home, the two would have finished tied for the final playoff spot and McKeesport would have made it based on head-to-head tiebreaker.
Something has to give
After one section game, four teams are tied for the top spot in Section 1-2A with two of those schools set to clash on Tuesday.
Jeannette, Frazier, Bentworth and Clairton all sit atop the section with 1-0 records.
Tuesday, the reigning 2A champion Jayhawks will host the Bearcats at 7:30 p.m.
Jeannette beat Indiana, Windber and Summit Academy before a section-opening win over California by 46 points.
The Jayhawks’ lone loss was to Woodward County out of Kentucky in the Pittsburgh Basketball Classic.
Bentworth is 3-1 this season with victories over Carmichaels, Beth-Center and a section-opening win over Riverview by 10 points.
The Bearcats’ lone loss was at Jefferson-Morgan by five points.
Something has to give as Jeannette is tops in the section in offense, averaging 72 points per game, while Bentworth is a section best on defense, allowing 35.2 points per contest.