SHARON, Pa. -- Mt. Lebanon junior Evan Pierce didn't need a stat sheet at halftime yesterday.

He knew exactly how many points he had: "Zero, nothing, I couldn't do anything," he said.

That all changed for the 6-foot-2 Pierce as the most pivotal moments of the season faced him and his teammates. And as Pierce heated up, the Mt. Lebanon season was given a second life.

Pierce scored 12 points in the fourth quarter -- and all of his game-high 15 in the final 8:35 -- to lead Mt. Lebanon (24-5) to a 51-41 victory against District 10 champion Erie Cathedral Prep (17-10) in a PIAA Class AAAA quarterfinal at Sharon High School.

"My teammates were the ones who picked me up," said Pierce, who was 0 for 8 from the field in the first half and missed his first 11 shots. "They just kept telling me to not get down, to keep shooting."

So did Mt. Lebanon coach Joey David.

"Evan's a streaky shooter, but when he gets it going, he can get it going," David said. "I told him at halftime, I said, 'If you don't want to keep shooting, then you can come sit on the bench.' Because that is what Evan does for us. I was surprised that he passed up some looks. I'm not sure what was going on, but he finally got it going."

His shooting also has the Blue Devils going to the semifinals, where the WPIAL runners-up will play Penn Wood Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

Mt. Lebanon's season would have ended had it not been for Pierce, the catalyst in a 14-1 run in the final 2:57 that transformed a 40-39 Cathedral Prep lead into a Blue Devils victory. While Pierce was the main man in that run, it all sparked from a basket-support rattling dunk that did more than just score two points.It sent a message.

It came from Mt. Lebanon's 6-foot-8 junior Deion Turman (7 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks), who pulled in a pass on a break and threw the ball through the rim with 2:57 remaining. From there, Cathedral Prep scored just one more point.

"I thought the dunk was huge," David said. "No matter what, a dunk gets everybody excited and it might get overplayed sometimes. But, when you are the opponent, you have to respond to a dunk, there is no question about that. ... In the past, when teams have dunked on us, it has rattled us. I think that dunk was a big play in terms of what it did for us this time."

The Blue Devils played well for the first 13 minutes, matching every dive, hustle play, rebound and possession right with Cathedral Prep -- and the score yielded as much, as Mt. Lebanon took a 12-11 lead early into the second quarter.

Cathedral Prep then began to find a rhythm, leading by as many as eight in stretches in the second quarter, then 22-16 at halftime.

Again, Cathedral Prep went on a mini-run in the third, grabbing a 31-24 advantage with 1:21 remaining in the quarter.

But that was before Pierce made his first shot. And when he did -- in the waning seconds of the third quarter -- it was a preview of what was to come.