If Joey David had it his way, every playoff game his team played would be against a squad it had opposed in the regular season.

Even if that previous game came just over a week earlier.

David and his Mt. Lebanon team will get exactly that opportunity this weekend, when the No. 3-seeded Blue Devils (19-4) tangle with No. 6-seeded McKeesport (14-9) in a WPIAL Class AAAA quarterfinal at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at North Hills.

Last Monday, on the final night of the regular season, Mt. Lebanon played host to McKeesport in a non-section game, and defeated the Tigers, 46-35.

So, with that game still fresh in everybody's minds, the same two teams go at it again, but with so much more on the line.

It's a knowledge of one another that doesn't bother David.

"I'd rather do that than run into a new team and have to figure out a bunch of different things about them. It's just a familiarity that makes the game a lot easier to scout and play."

Now, that's not to say David is "happy" to be playing McKeesport.

Despite owning a previous win against the Tigers, the Blue Devils are well aware of the problems they will present them, particularly a 7-foot quandary in the middle -- Zeke Marshall.

Therein lies perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the rematch: Marshall, a University of Akron recruit and the most dominating post presence in the WPIAL, against Mt. Lebanon's Deion Turman, a 6-8 junior center with Division I talent who could be the best post opponent Marshall has faced all season.

David said Turman more than held his own in the earlier meeting, in which both players impacted the game much more defensively than offensively.

"I thought him and Zeke went at it pretty good at our place," David said. "He's probably the biggest kid whom Zeke has seen [this season]."

Turman scored a game-high 18 points in a 60-45 first-round win against Kiski Area that earned the Blue Devils their eighth consecutive win. Turman moves very well for his size and, according to David, plenty of Division I schools have taken notice of a breakout season that has seen him average a double-double.

As far as how Turman's game compares with Marshall's, David said: "Their games aren't that much different. I think Zeke has more offense. He shoots the ball well, and can hit those turnaround jump shots and quick hooks whereas Deion is still developing offensively. Both are shot blockers and provide inside presences."

Marshall started the postseason with a 16-point outing in McKeesport's 52-38 first-round victory against North Allegheny. Junior guard Ty-Meer Brown also scored 16 for the Tigers, who had dropped five of their final six regular-season games.

David said that limiting those two players will say a lot in regard to how the Blue Devils fare this time around. The 35 points they surrendered in the previous meeting was a season low for McKeesport.

"I think if our last game gives us any clues, we have to hold their scoring down," David said. "We have to hold Ty-Meer under control. And, obviously, with Zeke, we just have to try to keep him off the boards."

Offensively, David said the Blue Devils will try to work inside-out and hurt the Tigers from the perimeter. It was a game plan that worked the first time, particularly because of the standout play of junior guard Evan Pierce, who knocked down seven 3-pointers among his 31 points.

Pierce also had a big game when the two teams met last season, hitting five from beyond the arc and scoring 24 points.

David said the Blue Devils played far from their best ball against Kiski Area, trailing by as many as five in the first half and leading by just one at halftime.

Thus, he knows a much better effort will be needed against a McKeesport team that has the thought of payback fresh in its mind.