The postseason stage has been the site of many outstanding players taking their games to the next level.
With his team trailing by eight points in the third quarter, Mt. Lebanon senior Liam Sheely took over, and the results were jaw-dropping.
Sheely scored 21 of his 29 points in the second half as the Blue Devils pulled away to defeat visiting Pine-Richland in a WPIAL Class 6A boys first-round game, 55-42, on Monday night.
“I thought they did a really, really good job on him in the first half,” Mt. Lebanon coach Joey David said. “We had to make some adjustments, and I thought he did a great job moving around. He’s just a fantastic player.”
Sheely had eight points in the first half, including two 3-pointers. Despite his scoring onslaught, he had only had one 3-pointer in the second half, but he did add two conventional three-point plays and was 8 of 9 from the free-throw line.
“I think I was standing around a lot early on,” Sheely said. “I started moving around a lot more, and my teammates started looking for me. I feel most comfortable shooting 3s, but in the second half, I was able to get to the rim.”
Following a back-and forth opening quarter, Pine-Richland did a good job denying the lane on defense, forcing Mt. Lebanon to shoot a lot of 3s, which weren’t falling.
The Rams opened up a six-point advantage at halftime and increased that margin to eight when they went up 29-21.
However, thanks to a tenacious pressure defense by the Blue Devils, the Rams began turning the ball over in droves.
Pine-Richland only scored 10 more points until a late 3-pointer in the final seconds gave them their final total.
The Rams turned the ball over 18 times, but 16 of those were Blue Devils steals.
Leading the way for Mt. Lebanon in the theft department was sophomore Jacob Zaber, who had five points, six rebounds and seven steals off the bench.
“Jacob’s won some games for us already,” David said. “Now I’m getting him to play the way I want him to play and do the right things. He’s quick, he’s a really tough kid, he’s a good shooter and our best ball handler.”
Patrick Smith tipped home a missed shot at the buzzer to end the third quarter, ending a 12-1 run for the Blue Devils as they went from six down to five up in that game-changing quarter.
Another Blue Devils advantage came on the boards as they out-rebounded the Rams 36-22 with a chunk of those coming on the offensive glass.
“I think that’s just heart. I think that’s just will,” David said. “I think we felt some desperation in the second half and not wanting the season to end. I was proud of them with 13 offensive rebounds, especially against that team with the big guy in there.”
Mt. Lebanon scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and enjoyed its biggest lead of the game at 49-36.
The shot clock is coming, but it’s not here yet. Mt. Lebanon did a great job of playing keepaway in the final half of the fourth quarter.
On consecutive possessions, the Blue Devils killed nearly two and a half minutes with the help of two offensive rebounds when they finally did shoot the basketball.
It was a tough end of the season for Pine-Richland, which finished 11-12.
Following four straight wins, including handing New Castle its only loss of the season, the Rams lost their final three games.
Junior Nico Aiello led Pine-Richland with 15 points.
Mt. Lebanon improves to 15-8 with a second straight victory and a fifth win in its last seven games.
Sheely had 29 points and Smith added 10 for the Blue Devils, including six in the opening quarter.
With the win, Mt. Lebanon heads north Thursday to battle No. 2 New Castle (21-1).
“It’s going to take focus,” Sheely said of beating the Red Hurricanes. “We gave Upper St. Clair a game twice now and they’re the No. 1 team, so why can’t we do it again? I think we’re ready, but we have to really focus.”