No. 3 Bethel Park girls hold off Mt. Lebanon in Section 2-6A clash

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, December 20, 2018 | 10:33 PM

Madelyn Dziezgowski is perhaps the lesser-known of Bethel Park’s three returning starters.

But the junior asserted herself Thursday as the Black Hawks, ranked third among WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball teams, held off host Mt. Lebanon, 44-33, in Section 2 action.

Dziezgowki had a game-high 20 points as the Black Hawks (6-0, 3-0) stayed unbeaten on the season.

“I’m very pleased to see that from her,” Bethel Park coach Jonna Burke said. “(She is) establishing herself as a scorer, as a defender, as an all-around good player. She deserves it because she works really hard.”

Bethel Park never trailed in the game, but Mt. Lebanon cut the deficit to 24-23 with 4:40 to go in the third.

Then Olivia Westphal answered with a 3-pointer, and Dziezgowski scored nine straight points to run Bethel Park’s lead back to double digits. Her three-point play gave the Black Hawks a 36-25 lead with 5:40 to go in the game.

“I think that’s when we come together most,” Dziezgowski said. “We know that our section is real tough and we have to battle back a bunch, and we just really came together.”

Returning all-section guard Maria Cerro added 13 points while Mt. Lebanon held fellow returning all-section performer Westphal to just three points.

“We are more of a grind-it-out type of team,” said Burke, whose team entered the game averaging better than 60 points per game — a trend she does not expect to continue.

“Defensively, our goal is to try to hold teams down because, like you see tonight, it was a struggle,” Burke continued. “And credit Mt. Lebanon; their defense is good. They’re good year-in and year-out, and playing here is a difficult place to play. I certainly did not anticipate a high-scoring game tonight.”

Bethel Park led 22-18 at the half, and closed the third quarter on a 5-0 run to lead 29-23 through three quarters.

The Black Hawks continued to pull away in the fourth thanks to Cerro and Dziezgowski.

“Maddie really stepped up big for us, and Maria did a good job controlling the ball for most of the game and took her opportunities when she could,” Burke said. “It seemed like at the right times (Cerro) was able to get a layup or Maddie could get a layup and extend (the lead).”

Bethel Park led 15-9 after the opening quarter. Cerro opened the second frame with back-to-back layups to stretch the lead to 19-9 at 6:35, prompting a Mt. Lebanon timeout.

That was Bethel Park’s last field goal until Cerro hit a long 3-pointer with 1:03 to play in the half. That pushed the Black Hawks lead back to 22-16 after the Blue Devils had pulled within three points at 19-16.

“I think we really worked well, being patient for good shots against a scrappy team,” Dziezgowski said. “I think we played real well together, working to get the best shot we could.”

Mt. Lebanon (2-1, 3-3) received nine points from Ashleigh Conner and eight from Patrice Smith.

“They are a really talented team, a really disciplined team and a very experienced team and a well-coached team,” Blue Devils coach Dori Oldaker said. “I thought we hung in there with them. … We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

Jesse Geleynse is a freelance writer.

Tags: Bethel Park, Mt. lebanon