Mt. LEBANON, Pa. – Mt. Lebanon girls basketball coach Dori Oldaker doesn’t pay much attention to rankings or outside thoughts about her team. She can’t afford to.
That’s because those expectations are high, really high, and why won’t they be? The Blue Devils return many of the key players from a PIAA Class AAAA championship team that went 31-0 last season, and most of those players were also members of Mt. Lebanon’s PIAA runner-up squad in 2008. With all the returning players, Mt. Lebanon is ranked No. 1 in Pennsylvania, regardless of classification, by MaxPreps and No. 17 in the nation.
"Most of these kids don’t know anything other than getting to the state title game," Oldaker said. "That’s all our juniors know. But it’s hard to get there. You can’t put that much emphasis on it. You have to emphasize the small goals. Goals like winning the Section title and winning the WPIAL title, if we get to the playoffs."
This year is already different than last season for Mt. Lebanon. The Blue Devils have tasted defeat, twice in fact (7-2).
But don’t be fooled into thinking that makes them a lesser team. In fact, those loses have come to two of the highest-ranked teams in the nation in Brea Olinda, Calif. (58-47) and St. Mary’s of Stockton, Calif. (61-52). Brea Olinda is ranked fourth nationally by MaxPreps and St. Mary’s third. The Blue Devils also have some key wins over great competition, having beaten Memphis (Tenn.) Central, the 39th-ranked team, 58-47, Christ The King (N.Y.), the 90th-ranked team (58-40) and ThunderRidge, Colo., the 162nd-ranked team, 51-37.
"I’m pretty pleased with how we’ve played with the type of schedule we’ve played," Oldaker said. "The losses and the type of completion could really help us down the road.
"But we don’t focus on the teams we’ve played as much as we focus on ourselves. We have to get better, we have to improve. Our competition has been at a higher level, and we have to get to that level. We aren’t where we need to be. We are pretty darn close, though."
The biggest adjustment for this year’s team has been replacing leading scorer Emily Miller, who graduated.
"Obviously, she was a huge factor for us," Oldaker said about the player who led Mt. Lebanon in the PIAA title game with 21 points and seven rebounds. "But a lot of kids have stepped up for us. It has been a team-minded approach. My philosophy is who has an open look should shoot it. Not one person has filled her shoes; it has been filled by everyone."
Key returning players for Mt. Lebanon this year include senior point guard Jess Babe, senior forward Lauren Arbogast and junior guard Emily Cable. The Blue Devils have one more regular-season road trip this season when they travel to Philadelphia on Jan. 16 to take on Archbishop Carroll, currently ranked 19th in the state by MaxPreps.
"The players can’t wait," Oldaker said. "These road trips have been perfect for us. They have brought us together as a team."
Three District 9 school basketball scoring marks fall
Three District 9 career basketball scoring marks have fallen since Dec. 23.
West Forest’s Geena Sneeringer broke the school record Dec. 23 vs. Tidioute Charter and after a 24-point effort Tuesday vs. Venango Catholic, she had 1,633 career points. The previous school record was 1,607 points set by Pam Novosel, who graduated in 1983. Novosel, who is now a doctor in Tennessee, was on hand for Sneeringer’s record-breaking performance. Sneeringer is also 56 points shy of moving into the Top 10 in District 9 history.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Union (Rimersburg) boys record fell when Scott Booth threw in 39 points in a win over Redbank Valley, giving him 1,326 career tallies, bettering the previous mark of 1,299 set by Kyle Hilliard, who graduated in 2006. The fact Booth scored 39 in his record-setting performance shouldn’t have come as a surprise, considering he had 35 in the game, in which he went over 1,000 career points last season.
Also on Tuesday, St. Marys’ Kayla Hoohuli, only a junior, broke the school scoring mark when she scored 27 in a win at Brookville, giving her 1,430 career points, bettering the previous mark of 1,418 set by Kali Carovale, who graduated in 2004. Hoohuli scored a career-high 44 points earlier this season and is averaging 29.5 points per game.
Penn-Trafford hires football coach
Penn-Trafford has hired John Ruane as its new head football coach. Ruane had served as the offensive coordinator for the Warriors' section rival Gateway and helped the Gators go 12-1 while averaging 45.3 points per game, including a 51-14 win over the Warriors. Ruane replaces T.J. Wiley, who coached one season at P-T, going 3-7 with wins over the Warriors' two top rivals, Norwin and Hempfield.
