Canon-Mac girls overcome power outage, Mt. Lebanon
Big Macs qualify for PIAA playoffs
CANONSBURG – Madison Clair scored a game-high 18 points and Canon-McMillan survived a third-quarter power outage and a late comeback by Mt. Lebanon to beat the Blue Devils 36-34 Thursday night in the WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball third-place game.
The win advances Canon-McMillan (15-9) to the PIAA tournament. Mt. Lebanon (14-11) has its season end. The teams split a pair of section games during the regular season.
This time, Canon-McMillan never trailed. The Big Macs jumped out to an early 10-2 lead that had Mt. Lebanon playing catch-up all night. The Blue Devils were only able to get to within one point the rest of the way.
Canon-McMillan led 14-7 after one quarter before Mt. Lebanon trimmed the Big Macs’ lead to a single point in the second period. Canon-McMillan, however, moved out to a 20-17 lead at halftime.
The Big Macs remained up by three points, 26-23, with 2:45 left in the third quarter. That’s when a power outage hit the Canonsburg area and the gymnasium went dark, just after Clair was fouled.
Following an 18-minute delay for power to be restored, Clair stepped to the free-throw line and converted two shots, pushing the Big Macs’ lead to five points.
C-M led 30-23 after three quarters. Mt. Lebanon was able to take advantage of C-M turnovers and close to within 35-32 on a three-pointer by Shea McCarthy. With less than two minutes remaining, the Blue Devils missed consecutive three-point shots that would have tied the score. A fast-break layup by Liz Twyman pulled the Blue Devils to within 35-34 with 24 seconds remaining.
Canon-McMillan, however, turned out the lights on Mt. Lebanon’s season. Freshman Izabella Bobitski made one of two free throws to make it 36-34 and Mt. Lebanon missed a desperation shot from midcourt as time expired.
The win sends Canon-McMillan into the PIAA tournament Friday, March 7 at either District 10 champion Erie or Allderdice out of the Pittsburgh City League. Those two teams will play Saturday in Erie to see who will meet the Big Macs.