The latest Athletes of the Week spotlight in Western Pennsylvania high school sports belongs to two guards who have turned big moments into habit: Mt. Lebanon's Liam Sheely and Greensburg Central Catholic's Erica Gribble. Both have become central figures in the WPIAL, carrying their teams with scoring bursts, leadership and a level of resilience that goes far beyond the box score.
Liam Sheely: Mt. Lebanon’s Sharpshooter Who Wouldn’t Sit Down
For Mt. Lebanon, a program that expects to play deep into February, this season nearly took a very different turn. Junior guard Liam Sheely entered the year as the Blue Devils’ leading scorer, but a run of injuries – a broken hand, a dislocated shoulder and a later wrist issue – forced him to miss around half the season.
His latest setback, a shoulder aggravation in the final regular-season game, briefly raised the possibility that he would miss the playoffs altogether. Instead, Sheely worked his way back with the help of a unique advantage: his head coach, Joe David, is also a physical therapist. That combination allowed Mt. Lebanon to carefully manage his recovery and return him to the floor just in time for the WPIAL Class 6A run.
After a limited return in the first round, Sheely’s statement came in the quarterfinals against Imani Christian, one of the most hyped teams in the classification. In a game described locally as a Class 6A thriller, Sheely scored a game-high 23 points, including a flurry of second-half threes and clutch free throws that helped Mt. Lebanon erase a deficit and close out a 64–61 win.
It wasn’t a one-off. Reports from earlier in the season noted Sheely dropping 30 points in a bounce-back win, and he has consistently been referenced as an 18-point-per-game scorer when healthy. Local recaps highlight his ability to stretch the floor, hit contested shots in late-game situations and draw defensive attention that opens up space for teammates.
The bigger story, though, is the way he has turned a difficult year into momentum. From missed time and rehab sessions to leading Mt. Lebanon into yet another WPIAL semifinal, Sheely embodies the kind of persistence that makes an Athlete of the Week nod feel like the summary, not the headline, of his season.
Erica Gribble: Record-Chasing Star and GCC’s Engine
If Sheely’s story is about fighting back to form, Erica Gribble’s is about sustaining excellence at an elite level. The Greensburg Central Catholic guard has spent the last three seasons rewriting what is expected of a small-school player in the WPIAL.
Gribble, a 5-foot-11 point guard committed to the University of Richmond, opened her senior year within touching distance of multiple school scoring records. With more than 1,700 career points and averages hovering around 20 points per game, she is chasing both the girls’ and overall career scoring marks at GCC, as well as the rare milestone of 2,000 career points.
Her resume already includes first-team all-state honors, a run of three straight WPIAL Class 3A title pushes and a reputation for delivering when the lights are brightest. In last season’s championship game, she poured in 28 points to help secure the title, and more recent highlight clips show her dropping 30-plus in big games and calmly controlling tempo from the point.
That consistency has made her a regular feature in local coverage. Trib HSSN listed her as Girls Basketball Player of the Week during the 2024–25 season and recently framed her senior campaign as a ""record-breaking season in the making,"" driven by the goal of three consecutive WPIAL championships.
For Greensburg Central Catholic, Gribble is more than just a scorer. Coaches and scouts regularly highlight her court vision, decision-making in pick-and-roll sets and the way defenses are forced to track her on every possession. That gravity opens space for teammates and allows GCC to play a free-flowing, confident style built around her ability to read the game in real time.
Two Paths, One Weekly Honor
Bringing Sheely and Gribble together under the same Athletes of the Week banner underscores how diverse elite performance can look, even within the same sport and region.
- Sheely represents the comeback storyline: a shooter who has battled injuries, embraced rehab and returned just in time to swing playoff games for a program with a championship standard.
- Gribble represents the record-chaser: a four-year impact player whose steady production has turned into school records, state recognition and a Division I future.
Both, however, share a few essentials: the ability to elevate their teams in high-leverage moments, the trust of coaches who run key possessions through them, and the capacity to turn local high school gyms into stages where the stakes feel much bigger than a regular-season schedule might suggest.
For Nowleb readers, their stories also broaden the idea of ""Lebanon"" in sports. Mt. Lebanon – the Pittsburgh-area township whose name often confuses those outside Pennsylvania – and a small Catholic school in Greensburg are now part of the same weekly spotlight, adding fresh chapters to the wider narrative of how basketball talent emerges from local communities and finds bigger platforms.
As the season moves toward conference titles and state brackets, expect to keep hearing their names. Whether it’s Sheely hitting big threes for Mt. Lebanon or Gribble pushing scoring totals toward historic territory at GCC, these Athletes of the Week have already shown they are built for the moments that matter most.
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