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When a three-time defending PIAA Class AAAA state champion gets stunned in an early-season game, it's crucial to put the game in the past and move ahead.

That's what Mt. Lebanon girls' basketball coach Dori Oldaker is teaching her team following a stunning 60-52 loss to defending WPIAL Class AA champion Seton-LaSalle on the Rebels' floor on Dec. 15.

"We talk about success being a stairway and not a doorway," said Oldaker, who is taking her 4-1 team to Miami for the Junior Orange Bowl Classic at Ronald Reagan High School in Doral, Fla., this week. "We're looking to improve each day."

The team that steps out onto the floor this season is quite a bit different than the one that celebrated a 57-56 victory over Archbishop Wood on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center at Penn State University last March in the state title game.

"Madison Cable and Anna Kestler have graduated, so we didn't have the same team we had a year ago," Oldaker noted. "(Seton-LaSalle) has very good team, and they know how to use that small floor very well over there."

Mt. Lebanon trailed Seton-LaSalle after three quarters by 15 points, but Oldaker hoped her team would make a quality comeback, and that's what happened.

"We were down by a lot of points, but we still had a legitimate shot to win the game," she said. "There were two possessions that could have gone either way. We had two players -- Alex Ventrone and Madeleine Collins -- who were out with injuries. But Seton-LaSalle does have a very good team."

Oldaker said she'd like to see the two teams play again next year and would like to see what develops after that game as far as possibly making it an annual tradition.

In the meantime, she and her team have flown to Miami for the three-day tournament that begins on Wednesday with a first-round game against Monsignor Pace High School of Miami. Five teams from Florida are in the event. Mt. Lebanon is one of three teams from outside Florida, joined by West Springfield (Va.) High School and E.B. Erwin High from Birmingham, Ala.

There will be familiar faces at the tournament, though, as the Mt. Lebanon boys are also taking part. Just like the girls' tournament, the boys' field consists of five entires from Florida high schools and three out-of-state entries. Mt. Lebanon is joined by Archbishop Moeller of Cincinnati and the Potomac School of McLean, Va.

Oldaker has warmed to the idea of taking her team on a yearly trip during the holiday break.

"I used to not be a fan of that," she said. "But you can't pass up the opportunity to go. The players are excited about it, and we have a total blast. It's a great opportunity for us to get to know our players."

Mt. Lebanon will play three games in the tournament and then return to Pittsburgh to open section play at Baldwin on Jan. 2.

Twelve days after the Baldwin game, Mt. Lebanon will step out of section once again for a trip across the state for a game with Archbishop Carroll in a one-day showcase in Philadelphia. It will be third time the teams have met in the past two seasons.

"The tournament directors asked if we'd come back," Oldaker said. "They are a great team, and they've helped us improve. If the tournament directors keep asking us back, then we will continue to travel there."

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