Basketball season has been twice as nice this year at Mt. Lebanon and North Catholic high schools. Together, the two schools are making history for the WPIAL.

The boys' and girls' teams from Mt. Lebanon and North Catholic have made it to the PIAA semifinals. That has never happened before at either school.

On top of that, this is the first time in the history of the PIAA playoffs that two schools from the WPIAL have their boys' and girls' teams in the semifinals. The PIAA has staged boys' and girls' playoffs since 1973.

"I can get weak in the knees and emotional before a game even starts," North Catholic boys' coach Dave Long said. "You go to the mail slot at school and see congratulatory notes and letters from people. You try to explain to the kids that this isn't just about this game and this season, it's about the whole history.

"North Catholic has always been proud of their athletics. Many people are saying this might be our high-water mark. So what's not to get emotional about?"

The North Catholic boys and girls play in a semifinal doubleheader tomorrow at Hempfield. The boys play Washington and the girls meet Bishop Guilfoyle.

The Mt. Lebanon girls play Cheltenham tonight at Shippensburg University, and the boys play Penn Wood tomorrow night at Big Spring High School in Newville.

"I think it's a tribute to the kids, the community and the kids at Mt. Lebanon," Mt. Lebanon boys' coach Joe David said. "I think the school has taken the basketball programs very seriously the last few years."

The previous time a WPIAL school had its boys' and girls' teams in the semifinals was Moon in 2004. But it happened three other times in the past 10 seasons (Blackhawk 1999, Blackhawk 2000 and Monessen in 2002).

Blackhawk and Aliquippa are the only two WPIAL schools to send boys' and girls' teams to PIAA championship games in the same year. Blackhawk actually did it twice in 1999 and 2000. Aliquippa did it in '89. Blackhawk won boys' and girls' titles in '99 and Aliquippa also in '89.

Mt. Lebanon and Blackhawk have a connection. Mt. Lebanon's girls' coach is Dori Oldaker, who was Blackhawk's girls' coach in 1999 and 2000.

The Mt. Lebanon girls have been to the PIAA semifinals a few times before, and you need more than two hands to count how many times the North Catholic girls have been to the PIAA semifinals.

But this is the first time the North Catholic boys have made the semifinals and only the third time for the Mt. Lebanon boys (the others were 1961 and '90).

"Once you get to this point, it's really a neat feeling. It actually puts the WPIAL in perspective," said David, whose team lost in the WPIAL final. "It's kind of like, 'Hey, this is the big show now.' When people start talking that you're the only team left from the West [in Class AAAA], it's kind of neat."