There were police officers in each corner of the Mt. Lebanon High School gymnasium to quell any disturbances. But the crowd remained orderly even down to the final seconds of the Mt. Lebanon-Upper St. Clair boys basketball game -- a game that was decided in Mt. Lebanon's favor by one point Friday night.

Extra security and rules were in place for the rematch of the two teams because of an incident that followed their previous game on Jan. 12 in Upper St. Clair.

Matt Freed, Post-Gazette
Mt. Lebanon fans celebrate after their team defeats Upper St. Clair Friday night.
Click photo for larger image.

That night, the Mt. Lebanon student fan section rushed to the court after the buzzer to celebrate their team's 56-50 victory over Upper St. Clair. The young fans had been given several warnings over the public address system not to do so.

Several eye witnesses from Mt. Lebanon said that during that rush, a Mt. Lebanon student was knocked to the ground and kneed in the chest by Upper St. Clair Principal Michael Ghilani.

In addition, the student, Joseph Rodella, a senior and running back for the football team, told his father, Mt. Lebanon School Board President Joseph Rodella that he was "knocked to the ground dragged to his feet, body slammed back to the ground and then a knee went to his chest."

Mr. Rodella has asked for a public apology to his son and has considered filing an assault charge against Dr. Ghilani. So far no action has been taken.

Upper St. Clair Acting Superintendent Terrence Kushner, in a press release, said that Upper St. Clair witnesses to the Jan. 12 incident saw nothing inappropriate and that an internal investigation found that no district administrator or township police officer acted inappropriately. Dr. Kushner said that Dr. Ghilani reported the student ran directly at him with such force that they were both knocked to the ground upon impact.

Dr. Kushner said in his release that Upper St Clair officials didn't want the Mt. Lebanon students on the gym floor because of Mt. Lebanon students' actions the previous year when the two teams met in Upper St. Clair. He said that Mt. Lebanon students rushed the court and "attacked our players and taunted our fans."

But nothing like that happened Friday night. The two fan sections were set up on opposite sides of the gym and, other than the usual taunting chants that fan sections exchange during high school basketball games, there was little appearance of bad blood between the two sides.

In fact, before the game, each time a Mt. Lebanon basketball player or cheerleader walked in front of the Upper St. Clair fan section, the entire section cheered.

Dr. Ghilani did not attend the game. But he was there in spirit for a few seconds when the Mt. Lebanon student fan section held up an enlarged copy of his photo. However, Mt. Lebanon Athletic Director John Grogan headed immediately to the student section and took the photo away.

Early on Friday, the Upper St. Clair PTSO sent an e-mail message to its members asking them to "use your own discretion as to whether to allow your children to attend the game without adult supervision. Please advise your children that there will be no tolerance for bad sportsmanship and all USC code of conduct rule apply."

The e-mail said that any Upper St. Clair student who was ejected from the game would face school discipline.

There were four Mt. Lebanon police officers visible in the gym during the game and two outside. One officer came through with a police dog before the game. Officers were also visible in the parking lot after the game.

Lt. Ken Truver, of the Mt. Lebanon police, said two Mt. Lebanon students and one Upper St. Clair student who were visibly intoxicated were barred from the game. "Other than that there were no other incidents," Mr. Truver said.

He said the game sold out at 6:50 p.m. and officers were forced to turn fans away, but that everyone exited peacefully.

In addition to the police presence, the Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair districts filmed the fan behavior during and after the game, promising to discipline anyone caught displaying inappropriate behavior.

Just before the conclusion of the game, it was announced several times that no students were to rush the court and that Upper St. Clair students were to exit through the doors to their left.

The final seconds of the game were tense, with one point separating the teams, but after the buzzer, all of the fans followed the instructions.

The Upper St. Clair students exited in an orderly fashion through the designated doors. The Mt. Lebanon student fans remained in their section at the opposite end of the gym, and the team members rushed over to them after the final handshake of the game.

During halftime, cheerleaders for both teams collected donations in the stands for Sean Roche, an Upper. St. Clair senior who needs a heart transplant.

First Published: February 15, 2007, 5:00 a.m.