State champions to battle in Rally Classic

Mount Lebanon girls' basketball coach Dori Oldaker is bringing her team across the state for a date Saturday with Archbishop Carroll, a team she says she knows little about. But she's expecting a great game.

Who wouldn't be with two defending PIAA champions going at it in the 10th annual Philly.com/Rally Classic at Carroll?

The Mount Lebanon Blue Devils, who won the Class AAAA championship last season, will meet the Patriots, the 2009 Class AAA champions, at 6 on Court 1. It is just one of 11 games scheduled for Saturday featuring some of the area's top girls' basketball teams.

"I don't know that much about Carroll," Oldaker said. "We've been so focused on our league play. Our game with Carroll will be our fourth this week. Hopefully, we'll be ready."

The Blue Devils, 31-0 last season, are coming off a 50-36 win over Bethel Park on Thursday night that ran their season record to 9-2. Both losses are to out-of-state teams.

Mount Lebanon returns four of its starters from last season, when it won the WPIAL Section 4 crown and the District 7 championship in addition to the state crown. The Blue Devils beat Cardinal O'Hara for the first state championship in the school's history. Mount Lebanon lost in the state finals the year before.

Oldaker has three state championships to her credit, having won two Class AAA titles at Black Hawk before going to Mount Lebanon.

Like Oldaker, Archbishop Carroll coach Chuck Creighton said his team is always looking for the best opposition it can find.

"When we go outside the Catholic League it doesn't matter who we play. We just want to have the great experience of playing the best," he said.

The Patriots, ranked No. 1 in The Inquirer's top 10, go into the game with an 9-1 record. The loss was to DuPont of Louisville, 57-47, in the Pickerington (Ohio) Tournament last month. They won two other games in that tournament.

"It's just another game in the season for us," Carroll senior Mary Kate McCann said, "but it's against a really good team. They have a lot of height, which we don't have. So we'll have to play our top game. I'm looking forward to it."

Senior Erin Shields is the Patriots' top scorer at 12 points a game.

The showcase opens with Archbishop Wood squaring off against Penn Charter on Court 1 and Central playing Chester on Court 2 in the opening games at noon.

In addition to Carroll, the No. 1 team in The Inquirer's weekly rankings, the tournament features four other teams in The Inquirer's area's top 10. Germantown Academy, ranked No. 2, is scheduled to meet No. 10 Cardinal O'Hara at 6 p.m. on Court 1.

Abington, ranked No. 6, is set to play Lower Merion at 4:30 on Court 2. Council Rock North, No. 4, meets Harvest Prep (Ohio) at 7:30 p.m. on Court 1.