Dec. 18 seems so long ago.

It was the week before Christmas when Mt. Lebanon handed Butler's boys basketball team a Grinch-like 87-60 defeat on the Blue Devils' home floor.

Much has changed since then.

“What happened in that game doesn't mean much now,” Mt. Lebanon coach Joey David said. “Both teams have changed. Both teams have evolved.”

Indeed, they have.

Butler (20-4) has won 13 of its last 15 games. Mt. Lebanon (21-3) has won 14 of its last 15. And the two will meet at 9 p.m. Saturday for the WPIAL Class 6A championship at the Petersen Event Center.

Both are coming off radically different-looking semifinal wins.

The Blue Devils polished off Canon-McMillan 58-39 while the Golden Tornado hung on for an emotional 70-68 win over top-seeded Pine-Richland after seeing one their best players, Luke Patten, leave the court on a stretcher with less than a second to play.

Other than physical soreness, Patten is OK, though he did not practice Thursday.

“After the trauma he went through the night before, I wasn't going to allow him to practice,” Butler coach Matt Clement said. “Even if he doesn't practice today (Friday), it doesn't mean he won't play Saturday night.

“If he's cleared to play by the trainers, I'll talk to his parents Saturday and we'll make the call. We'll have a package in place with Luke and a package without him.”

No matter who plays, Butler will face full-court pressure from Mt. Lebanon.

“That's the way we play,” David said. “Our starting five are in good condition for that style and we can bring help in from off the bench.

“It's so hard to get to the finals. These are two excellent teams and I expect a very good, entertaining game.'

The Blue Devils' starting five are junior point guard Blaine Gartley, senior guard Mike Palmer, 6-foot-2 senior forward Hayden Mitchell, 6-4 senior forward Sean Loughran and 6-3 junior forward Jake Hoffman.

Hoffman leads Mt. Lebanon with 17 points per game. He netted 27 against the Tornado in their regular season meeting. Loughran scored 23, Gartley and Mitchell 14 each.

“They probably have four guys averaging in double figures and they've got six or seven guys who can shoot the three,” Clement said of Mt. Lebanon. “This is an extremely balanced team.

“We have to take care of the basketball. Ethan (Morton) is our main ballhandler, of course, but we can bring the ball up the floor without him. Luke, Mattix (Clement), Devin (Carney) ... They can all handle the ball. Against that pressure, they may have to.”

Morton was held to 12 points by Mt. Lebanon in that regular season game. He is coming off a 40-point, 14-rebound performance against Pine-Richland despite fouling out with 31 seconds left.

“He's a phenomenal player,” David said of Morton. “We're going to try to make him feel uncomfortable, make him work hard for his shots. But he's a great player with very good players out there with him. It's going to be tough.”

Butler is looking for its first WPIAL boys basketball title since 1991. The Tornado lost in the finals in 1993, 2001 and 2017.

“This is our fifth trip to the finals and I will have been on the bench for four of them,” Clement said. “I was at (Major League Baseball) spring training for the other one (2001).”

Clement played for Butler's 1991 and 1993 teams.

David has been coaching Mt. Lebanon for 18 years and won his 300th game last season. He guided the Blue Devils to WPIAL titles in 2006 and 2010, to the finals in 2005 and 2009. His team lost the state championship game in 2011 and bowed out of the WPIAL semifinals in overtime to Penn Hills last year.

“He's one of the best coaches in the WPIAL,” Clement said. “When I first became a coach, he was one of the people I'd try to watch, to learn from.”

David respects the Tornado as well.

“I'm looking forward to seeing our compete level in this game, because we're going to have to compete hard to win,” he said.