Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week for week ending Jan. 17, 2021

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, January 17, 2021 | 10:46 PM

The Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils were the queens of Class AAAA girls basketball when they captured three straight PIAA championship in 2009, ‘10 and ‘11.

They have a lot of basketball left this season before they can be sized for a crown, but this group of Blue Devils is off and running thanks in part to the play of a junior gem of a player.

Ashleigh Connor scored 65 points in three victories last week as Mt. Lebanon improved to 4-0 for the season.

“Ashleigh is at her best when she lets the game come to her and she doesn’t force herself onto the game,” Mt. Lebanon coach Dori Oldaker said. “She realizes the more she does for her teammates, the more scoring opportunities will come her way. She realizes this is a team sport and no one individual is bigger than the rest of the team. Quite frankly, she is a great teammate.”

Connor scored 18 points apiece in nonsection wins over Oakland Catholic and Woodland Hills.

She really lit up the score sheet in the Blue Devils’ Section 2-6A opener, scoring 29 points in a victory over Peters Township.

“In the Peters Township game, she did it all for us,” Oldaker said. “A lot of those points were offensive rebounds and put backs. She hit four huge 3’s for us, but she doesn’t get enough credit for her defensive prowess.”

This is her third year as a starter for the Blue Devils. On a younger team, Oldaker feels Connor and some of her fellow junior teammates have done a nice job leading the team through the start of an unusual season.

“We have one senior and three outstanding juniors who have all stepped up to take leadership roles,” Oldaker said. “Ashleigh’s leadership style is she leads by example. She’s scrappy on defense, diving for loose balls and challenging herself and teammates to improve every day in practice.

“She hates to lose at anything.”

All four Mt. Lebanon wins have come since the three-week layoff. Oldaker credits Connor and her teammates for working hard on their own to be ready for when the season would resume.

“Ashleigh and her teammates were committed to getting in reps and conditioning on their own and finding fitness centers that had a hoop to work out in,” she said. “They didn’t use the lay off as an excuse to just hang out and wait.”

Connor has proven her overall basketball skills in her two-plus years in a Mt. Lebanon uniform, but her hard work has not only helped her game, but her teammates as well.

“The strength to Ashleigh’s game is a winning attitude and being a great teammate,” Oldaker said. “She is always helping the freshmen with drills and plays. Her biggest weakness coming off last season was her outside shooting, but she has improved that part of her game, being a 3-point shooting threat.”

Mt. Lebanon is ranked No.3 in Class 6A in the latest Trib HSSN girls basketball rankings behind defending champion North Allegheny and rival Upper St. Clair. Is this a Mt. Lebanon team that can reach the top of the mountain again in March?

“It’s too early to say, but the girls are working hard and are buying into the offensive and defensive systems,” Oldaker said. “Our game schedule is ever changing, but we are trying to schedule the best competition so that we can improve and learn from our mistakes.”

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