UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Mt. Lebanon girls' basketball team lost in the PIAA Class AAAA championship game, but one unsuccessful day shouldn't define this team.

Rather, a body of work in which the Blue Devils reached great heights should.

When the Blue Devils (28-4) let a second-half lead slip away before finally succumbing, 56-49, against Central Dauphin (28-7) on Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center, title hopes faded, medals changed from gold to silver.

But, again, just reaching the championship game is a dream that most players in the state will never realize.

For getting to the game, Mt. Lebanon coach Dori Oldaker understands all that was accomplished.

"The kids took us on this ride," Oldaker said. "It is tough to lose the last game of the year, but, I can't explain how proud of these girls I am."

And rightly so.

Mt. Lebanon was eliminated from the WPIAL playoffs in the semifinals, losing to section foe Peters Township.

But the Blue Devils regrouped to make a jaunt through the PIAA playoffs with wins against Erie McDowell, WPIAL champion Upper St. Clair, Schenley and West Lawn Wilson before falling short against Central Dauphin.

As it has been all season, the run to the title game came as a direct result of a multi-faceted Mt. Lebanon attack.

Senior guard Jackie Babe was the Blue Devils' leader, but players such as seniors Heather Dean, Angelina Liberi and Megan Quirk, junior Emily Miller, sophomores Jess Babe and Chelsea Apke and freshmen Madison Cable meshed to form one of Mt. Lebanon's most complete teams in school history.

It was a team that, seemingly, had few weaknesses.

But in the title game, the Blue Devils simply had no answer for Central Dauphin sophomore Alyssa Thomas, who scored 18 points and pulled down an impressive 18 rebounds.

As such, Thomas took the game over, turning an eight-point Mt. Lebanon lead late in the third quarter into a seven-point Central Dauphin victory.

There isn't a lot of shame in Thomas getting the best of you, though. As a 6-foot sophomore swing player, she's one of the finest in the state and a sure-fire Division I recruit.

"She's a phenomenal player and she did take over," said Oldaker, who formerly won two PIAA Class AAA titles coaching at Blackhawk. "She wanted it and she went after it hard ... she hit her shots. She's a tough matchup and I thought Emily Miller and [Angelina] Liberi did a good job on her for the most part. But she is such a great athlete and, even with very good defense on her, she knocked down some tough shots."

On top of that, it seemed that Mt. Lebanon started to slide dramatically just as Central Dauphin (and more precisely, Thomas) heated up.

"We just got cold," Jackie Babe said. "It seemed like everything was falling for us in the first half and nothing was falling for them.

"But then, in the second half, it was just completely opposite. They got a little bit of momentum and things didn't fall our way. And both things happened at the same time, you know, they got hot and we got cold at the exact same time."

As Jackie Babe addressed a few media members following the disappointing loss, she spoke of how much the 32-game season had taken out of her -- and not just from a physical standpoint.

"I've never been this emotionally drained," she said. "Physically, too, I am worn out. My legs are just dead. But I think this took the biggest toll emotionally and having to prepare for everything. I am just drained."

The Mt. Lebanon players might feel drained. But they should also feel something else -- a huge sense of accomplishment.