Bethel Park Knocks Off Blue Devils In Key Section 4 Contest
In a battle between two teams atop the Section 4-AAAA standings, the third-ranked Bethel Park Black Hawks earned a 52-38 home win over the second-ranked Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils on Monday night. The reigning WPIAL champions handed Mt. Lebanon its first section loss of the season and pulls a half-game in front of their South Hills rival. The two teams will play again in a rematch at Mt. Lebanon on Saturday afternoon.
On a bitterly cold night, it took a while for both teams to warm up at the outset. The game remained scoreless until Mia Mattes’ bucket 2:30 into the first quarter gave Bethel Park a 2-0 lead. Mt. Lebanon was held off the scoreboard until Madeleine Collins drained a three-pointer with two minutes remaining in the period to put the Blue Devils in front, 3-2. From that point on, these two Quad-A heavyweights concluded their probing jabs and began to score with more frequency the rest of the half.
Following a see-saw first half, Bethel Park held a 20-16 lead coming out of intermission. The Blue Devils stormed out of the gates in the second half for a 23-20 lead courtesy of a 7-0 run that was spearheaded by senior Christine Ehland. Ehland provided four points, and another three-pointer from Collins capped the run in the early stages of the third quarter. For Ehland, it was the lone bright spot in an otherwise frustrating night as the talented forward was held to six points for the game and fouled out in the fourth quarter.
Despite Mt. Lebanon’s opening salvo to begin the half, Bethel Park was up 28-26 late in third quarter. The Black Hawks took control of the game with a 12-2 run that swelled the home team’s advantage to 40-28 by the midway mark of the fourth. From that point on, the Black Hawks defense forced the Blue Devils into numerous turnovers and stonewalled Mt. Lebanon’s comeback hopes for a 52-38 victory. (Click here to listen to our post-game interview with Bethel Park head coach Jonna Burke).
A big reason for BP’s offensive and defensive success was Mia Mattes. The junior guard blanketed Mt. Lebanon on defense, and along with Samantha Simpson, scored a game-high 13 points. For her efforts, Mattes was named the Quad-A Network’s Player of the Game.
Joining Mattes and Simpson in double figures was sophomore Shannon Conely with 12 points. With the Blue Devils limited to a season low 38 points, only Collins touched double digits with 10.
With the win, Bethel Park improves to 14-1 overall and 8-1 in Section 4-AAAA. Mt. Lebanon drops to 12-4 overall and 7-1 in section play. The Black Hawks visit Allderdice on Thursday at 7:30 pm in a non-section contest. The Blue Devils host Chartiers Valley on Thursday with tip-off slated for 7:30 pm.
For our pre-game interview with Mt. Lebanon coach Dori Oldaker, click here.
For our pre-game interview with Bethel Park coach Jonna Burke, click here.
Seneca Valley at North Allegheny Game Summary
SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | FINAL |
Seneca Valley | 10 | 16 | 22 | 17 | 65 |
North Allegheny | 15 | 28 | 21 | 16 | 80 |
North Allegheny - Joe Mancini 15 pts, Will Sandherr 14 pts, Elijah Zeise 13 pts, Mike Carter 11 pts