Mt. Lebanon holds off Butler, reaches WPIAL semifinals for 5th time in 6 years

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, February 24, 2023 | 12:01 AM

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Three times in the fourth quarter, Mt. Lebanon’s Riley Farabaugh was sent to the foul line for a crucial one-and-one.

In his mind, he was the right guy for the job.

“I call myself a good free throw shooter, but you’ve got to have that confidence in yourself no matter who you are,” Farabaugh said. “Even if you actually aren’t, you’ve got to lie to yourself a little bit.”

Everyone was completely convinced.

The junior went 6 for 6 from the foul line in the final four minutes Friday night and scored a team-high 17 points as No. 4 Mt. Lebanon held off No. 5 Butler, 55-50, in a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal win. Farabaugh’s last free throws came with 10 seconds left, two clinching shots that pushed the Blue Devils’ lead to five.

His big night helped spoil Butler’s plans.

The Tornado’s defensive strategy was to focus most on slowing seniors Lucas Garofoli and Michael Pfeuffer, two of the Blue Devils’ top offensive threats. The plan worked, in that those two combined for only two points, but Lebo found scoring elsewhere.

Junior guard Brody Barber added 12 points off the bench.

“We knew we were a deep team from the beginning of the season,” Farabaugh said. “If you look back to those early games, Mike Pfeuffer and Garofoli were going off. Those are my guys, but we’re a hard team to beat because you can’t game plan against us.”

Farabaugh and Barber combined to make four of the team’s eight 3-pointers. Barber also made two free throws in the fourth quarter.

Freshman guard Liam Sheely added two 3s off the bench.

“I have faith and confidence in a bunch of guys on that team,” Mt. Lebanon coach Joe David said. “Lucas didn’t have any points … but we won because we have other guys who can score.”

Mt. Lebanon (16-7) advances to face No. 1 New Castle (21-2) in a semifinal Tuesday at a site and time to be announced. This is Mt. Lebanon’s fifth trip to the semifinals in six years.

Braydon Littlejohn scored 19 points for Butler (14-8), and Donovan Carney had 18. The loss was season-ending for the Tornado.

Butler had led 47-46 with 3 minutes left but was outscored 9-3 in the final stretch.

“It’s really tough to leave a place with a loss, when you feel like you executed a game plan well,” Butler coach Matt Clement said.

Mt. Lebanon had a four-point lead in the third quarter and was ahead by five early in the fourth, but never could pull away.

A 3-pointer by Carney narrowed Mt. Lebanon’s lead to 51-50 with 2 minutes left. The Blue Devils then slowed the pace and ran clock against Butler’s 1-3-1 defense.

With 55 seconds left, Mt. Lebanon’s Tanner Donati cut into the lane, took a bounce pass from Garafoli and scored for a 53-50 lead.

“We weren’t really trying to hold it,” David said, “but we said, ‘Move the basketball, move the basketball and then somebody find the basket.’”

Butler, trying to rally back, missed two 3s in the final minute. Farabaugh sealed the win with his last two free throws.

There were six lead changes and three ties in the second half alone. In the locker room afterward, Clement told his team that they didn’t lose, but rather, Mt. Lebanon won.

“As a coach, it’s hard to say that, but they did,” Clement said. “They made the foul shots at the end.”

Butler’s largest lead was 19-8 late in the first quarter, but Mt. Lebanon rallied in the second with a 13-2 run. A layup by Farabaugh forced a 21-21 tie with 4 minutes until half.

Mt. Lebanon led 28-27 after three.

Butler lost the rebounding battle by five, but it was Mt. Lebanon’s offensive boards that hurt most. The game’s first basket was a putback by Farabaugh.

“They missed shots and got extra chances,” Clement said. “He got three offensive boards the first possession of the game.”

David called Farabaugh the hardest worker on the team. He said the 6-foot-1 guard was in the auxiliary gym before Friday’s game shooting around. After the game, Farabaugh shot some more.

“It’s no accident that your hardest worker ends up doing really good things in big events,” David said. “We were very confident when he went to the line. He’s one of our best free throw shooters.”

As a team, Mt. Lebanon went 9 for 11 from the foul line. Farabaugh was 7 for 8. He said his technique is to imagine shooting free throws somewhere relaxing, maybe on an outdoor court.

”Maybe the wind’s blowing a little bit,” Farabaugh said. “Envision yourself anywhere but here. Get that calm in the chaos and make those shots.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Butler, Mt. lebanon