Dave Mislan

In basketball, scoring 1,000 points is a milestone, a cause for celebration. But when rivals reached the goal 6 seconds apart, it was more than a coincidence. It was magic, thanks to a little Musial pixie dust from Coach Dave Mislan.

West Allegheny’s Brandon Bell and South Fayette’s Mike Plasko have known each other since playing AAU basketball together in the Pittsburgh area. Although they found themselves playing for rival high schools, Brandon still refers to his opponent as “Mikey.” In a spectacular twist of fate, before the final meeting of their senior years, each player was achingly close to 1,000 points. Neither, however, knew about the other’s point total. “Mikey” needed 24 points but had two more games the following week. Brandon needed 13 in the final game of his high school career. Neither South Fayette’s Mislan nor West Allegheny Coach Ben O’Connor knew, either.

“I knew how close Mike was, but we couldn’t think about it because the score was close,” Coach Mislan says. “We had two great student sections in a packed house.” When South Fayette stretched the lead to 8 in the final 15 seconds, “that was the first chance to breathe.”

Brandon still needed two points; Mike needed 3. With 8.2 seconds remaining, Mike hit a 3-pointer that put South Fayette ahead 60-49. After the shot fell, Brandon’s teammates quickly inbounded to him. He was blocked, though, by jubilant South Fayette fans storming the court. “I realized then that Mikey was in the same place as I was, only he had made his 1000th point,” Brandon says.

Coach Mislan wanted to apologize to the officials and Coach O’Connor and explain why he attempted a 3 with a comfortable lead. Only then did O’Connor reveal that Brandon was two points shy of the mark. And, as Coach O’Connor says, “Dave is a class act.”

As the court was cleared, Coach Mislan gathered his team: “Being our rival, we played Brandon eight times and double-teamed him every time. I thought about how that double-team prevented him from getting so many points. So, the best thing we could do is let him have his moment. The team understood.”

With order restored, Brandon got the ball, then made a layup with 1.9 seconds remaining. Once again, chaos ensued; this time, jubilant West Allegheny fans stormed the court.
On the one hand, Brandon says, “It was surprising that he’d give me the opportunity. But all my career, nothing was handed to me. I had to work hard. So, it was special to get the 1,000 points. At first, the attention from others was surprising. But then, I realized it really wasn’t. We don’t really see acts of kindness like Coach Mislan did too often. And we all need it more often.”

Even though both players have graduated, they remain in touch. Mike was recruited to play at Washington and Jefferson College, a Division III program in Washington, Pennsylvania. Brandon plays at Division III La Roche University in Pittsburgh.

Coach Mislan’s son just finished his playing career at LaRoche, so he continues to be amazed at the coincidences. Among them: South Fayette is just 40 miles from Stan Musial’s boyhood home in Donora. Though he and his dad were die-hard Pirates fans, his dad’s second favorite team was the Cardinals, and his favorite player was Stan. “We watched so many Cardinal games together,” he says. “I even have a signed ball from Stan.”

So, he is even more humbled that doing the right thing set in motion so many coincidences and garnered so much good will. “I believe this is what lot of people would do,” he says. “It wasn’t just me, but the whole team. It’s what should happen, especially with good kids.”

And good coaches.