Mt. Lebanon boys' basketball coach Joe David is pleased with his team's unbeaten record against Section 4-AAAA opponents this season, but he believes the 25-1 Blue Devils' prowess against non-section opponents is just as crucial.

The WPIAL champs will try to continue that trend as they head into a first-round PIAA playoff game 5 p.m. Saturday at Baldwin High against McKeesport.

The Tigers (16-7) defeated State College, 65-50, Tuesday in a play-in game.

The Blue Devils defeated Mc-Keesport on Feb. 27 in a WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinal game, 56-44, also played at Baldwin.

"I always try to play the best teams," said David, an Upper St. Clair native who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1986 and played for the Panthers when they joined the Big East.

He has coached the Blue Devils for nine seasons.

"I'm not really concerned with my [won-loss] record as a coach," he said. "I want to prepare my teams for the playoffs, and to do that, you have to play the best teams."

In eight of the nine years that David has led Mt. Lebanon, the Blue Devils have advanced to both the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs.

"Two years ago, when these seniors were sophomores, they saw our team finish last in the section," the coach said.

"The past two years, they've lost just one section game."

The last section loss for Mt. Lebanon occurred Jan. 9, 2009, when the Blue Devils dropped a 56-40 decision to host Peters Township. Two months later, the same opponent knocked off the Blue Devils, 60-54, in the WPIAL Class AAAA championship game at the Palumbo Center.

This year Mt. Lebanon took its team, top-ranked regionally and No. 20 nationally, to a tournament in Florida along with one-day events in Morgantown, W.Va., Ambridge and Villanova, where it lost its only game of the year Jan. 30 to defending PIAA Class AAA champion Archbishop Carroll, 71-63.

"We welcome the opportunity to go to some nice places, and I think it helps our guys," David said. "I believe that's why we were WPIAL champions this year."

In four WPIAL playoff games this season, Mt. Lebanon's margin of victory was no greater than 12 points, with three of the games decided by nine points or fewer.

The team's closest challenge came in the tournament's first round when the Blue Devils survived a 33-31 victory over Shaler, which qualified as the fourth-best team from Section 3-AAAA and finished with a record of 11-11.

Mt. Lebanon's closest section games were 10- and 11-point margins of victory (54-44 and 52-41) against arch-rival Bethel Park.

"I would hope we wouldn't [have such close games], but my brain tells me it's going to be close," the coach said. "We didn't have many close games in the section this year, but I think [close games have] helped us out."

A big reason for Mt. Lebanon's success has been the team's defense. The Blue Devils surrender just 44.2 points per game while scoring an average of 60.6 ppg.

Just one Blue Devil, 6-foot-3 senior guard Evan Pierce (15.5), averages more than 15 points. In the team's 57-51 victory against Gateway in the WPIAL championship game last Saturday, Pierce scored all 21 of his points in the second half.

"We've challenged our team to be the best defensive team in the WPIAL," David said. "If you look at our section, you'll see that we had the best defense in that section and in Quad-A as a whole."

David's pride was confirmed as Plum, a member of Section 2-AAAA, was the closest defensive team to Mt. Lebanon. The Mustangs finished their season giving up 44.6 ppg.

Just three teams in the rest of the WPIAL -- Class AA Freeport (43.1) and Class AAA members Hopewell (43.4) and Hampton (43.6) -- had better defensive averages. Of the three, Hampton is the only team to qualify for the PIAA playoffs.

"[Defense] has really helped us in the close games," David said. "We've been successful with either the [man-to-man] or zone.

"We'll get a feel for what's working best during a game and go with that [particular defense]."

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