Duane Johnson dunks so often, he usually does not think twice about it. The Penn Wood captain had to Wednesday night in the PIAA Class AAAA semifinal.

The senior forward, pictured, drew a technical foul when he dunked on Mt. Lebanon five minutes into the Patriots' 79-58 win over the Blue Devils. A second T would have made him ineligible for Saturday's title game, so Johnson had to pull back on his second dunk later on.

There's a chance that the tech was issued because the folks at Big Spring High School, the site of the game, don't see dunks all that often. Big Spring's public-address announcer Wes Bawer asked media members who cover Penn Wood, "Are we going to see some slamma-jammas tonight?"

According to Bawer, only one player had dunked in Big Spring's six-year-old gymnasium. It occurred during a holiday tournament and the slam was by a Muhlenberg High player. Wondering if there would be multiple dunks, Bawer concluded, "I don't think the backboards can stand more than one."

Johnson dunked once more, teammate Shawn Oakman threw one down and a Mt. Lebanon player softly rattled the rim in the second half, with the rout already in progress.

Penn Wood's opponent Wednesday in the PIAA Class AAAA semifinal has made a habit of rallying in games. Mt. Lebanon, of Pittsburgh and District 7, posted a comeback win over quarterfinal draw Erie Cathedral Prep, 51-41.

Here's how the Blue Devils (24-5) did it:
Exhibit A. Evan Pierce (pictured), a junior guard who scored zero points in the first half, went off for 15 in the final nine minutes of the game.

Exhibit B. Deion Turman, a junior 6-8 center, posted an all-around game - with seven points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. He also threw down a dunk with 2:57 remaining, one that broke open the game and broke Erie's hopes.

Apparently, Turman's size is not a fluke. The entire lineup has a lot of size, much like Penn Wood's. In that regard, the cross-state opponents will match up well.

And then there's that rallying thing. Let's not forget that Penn Wood erased Pennsbury's 16-minute lead midway through the third quarter to advance to this round, the Western State title game.