Moon’s Nick Machusko hits an RBI single against Upper St. Clair on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. it was one small step for Moon’s chances of playing meaningful baseball next week and one giant leap for the Tigers’ playoff hopes The Tigers came into their Section 2-5A matchup against Upper St Clair having lost four games in a row with fading playoff hopes but left with an extra hop in their step after defeating USC The game was played at EQT Field in Washington because the power was still out near Boyce-Mayview Park in Upper St Clair a day after a massive storm damaged neighborhoods through Western Pennsylvania “We talked about it before we got here that we’re just going to come out here and have some fun,” Moon coach Rich Rowe said “We’re talking about young men facing a lot of adversity trying to get them to turn that stuff off and focus on a baseball game.” The Tigers answered the call with a near flawless game They struck first in the second inning when Taylor Ebner led off with a walk against USC starter Nolan Wilson Owen Amey singled and both scored on a two-run double by Nick Machusko “He’s only a sophomore,” Rowe said of Machusko “We have quite a few really talented sophomores who we are looking forward to the future with When they figure out picking out your pitch and understanding the men on base situation when you step in the box they’re going to really take off.” The Panthers cut the lead to one in the third inning when Josh Burlingame singled home Finn Baird the middle of the Moon order struck again in the fourth inning Taylor Ebner reached on an error by the USC third baseman Andrew Cross walked and on a bunt attempt by Amey Wilson tried to get the lead runner at third base but threw it away but Amey was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first base Machusko delivered an RBI single to score Amey and increase the Tigers lead to 4-1 Moon closed out the scoring with single runs in the fifth and seventh innings Taylor Ebner doubled to score Angelo Fachet who had walked and stole second base in the fifth inning who had reached base on an error by the Panthers first baseman junior Tyler Ebner was shutting down Upper St allowed only one run on six scattered hits with two walks and five strikeouts in seven innings pitched “I can’t say enough about Tyler,” Rowe said “He’s been fantastic for us all year Our entire pitching staff has done a good job having only given up one run all year coming into this game His teammates had a lot of faith in him that he was going to go out there and do the job.” Moon improves to 4-6 in the section and 4-10 overall as the Tigers try to rally for a second straight year to make the playoffs Moon won its final four section games to tie Mars for the fourth and final playoff spot and the Tigers won the tiebreaker to qualify Moon ends the section next week with a series against Trinity which also sits tied for fifth place at 4-6 Clair falls to 5-5 and is deadlocked with South Fayette for third place in the section The Panthers conclude section play next week against Chartiers Valley If Javascript is disabled browser, to place orders please visit the page where our photos are available to purchase Pittsburgh Union Progress Clair fans held up two fingers during the closing seconds of Friday’s WPIAL Class 6A championship signaling that their team was about to win a second consecutive title Fueling the Panthers’ race to a repeat wasn’t two Clair enjoyed a significant height advantage Friday against No that propelled the Panthers to a 65-43 win at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center It was the third WPIAL title in five seasons and fifth overall for Upper St which became only the fifth team in the past 40 years to repeat as champions in the largest class The last to do it was Pine-Richland in 2016 and 2017 with one of its titles coming in Class 4A (before the expansion to six classes) and the other in Class 6A Nobody has done it at the 6A level and nobody has done it at St so we’re the first,” said senior center Tyler Robbins “I’ll obviously hope they do it again next year and get a three-peat which also started 6-6 Kaamil Jackson and brought 6-7 Ryan Robbins off the bench New Castle’s tallest players were 6-4 and 6-3 which was looking to break a tie with Aliquippa and win a record 15th title devoted a lot of attention to defending Upper St That allowed the Panthers to get some clean looks from the perimeter and they took advantage of it by going 8 of 17 from 3-point range with Nico Gidas accounting for three of them “That’s the one thing that can’t happen,” said New Castle coach Ralph Blundo “You hate to go into a game giving something up and to some degree you are because it requires so much help and so much attention.” Clair’s 3-pointers came during a first half that saw the teams deadlocked following a 3-pointer by New Castle’s Damian Harrison with 1:33 left using a 6-0 run to close the half as the Panthers surged to a 29-23 lead on Gianni Disora’s steal and layup in the final seconds and we carried that momentum into the locker room and brought it back out with us,” Robbins said but we just kind of played well in the third quarter Clair limited New Castle to 6 points on 2-of-14 shooting in the third quarter and led The Red Hurricanes got no closer than 11 points the rest of the way Clair’s accuracy from 3-point range might have surprised some but its outstanding play defensively should not have stunned anyone The Panthers came in with one of the WPIAL’s top scoring defenses at 39 points per game They would hold New Castle to 32% shooting (17 of 53) and limit the Red Hurricanes to their fewest points since scoring 39 in a loss to Imhotep Charter in the PIAA final in 2022 Ralphie Blundo led New Castle with 13 points and Harrison added 11 who was averaging a team-high 17 points per game “When we shoot well and we can go inside out who won his fifth title in the same season he picked up his 500th career win “There’s no doubt we’re a pretty good high school team I think our half-court defense is just tremendous but [Julian Dahlem] and the rest of our perimeter guys are athletic and tough We have two levels on defense that are pretty tough to beat when we are playing together and we’ve pretty much done that the entire year.” Clair got 11 points from Gidas and 10 from Jake Foster and we came out and dominated,” Dahlem said Holzer had a big smile on his face when speaking about this team and the way it ended the WPIAL season as it started “and that’s hard to do at any level in any sport.” Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 23—One person was killed and four were injured following a massive blaze that destroyed a home in Upper St Clair police officers were among those injured and were taken to a local hospital and treated for smoke inhalation the department said in a statement posted to social media Information about the other two people injured was not immediately available The fire on Country Club Drive started around 6 a.m. and continued smoldering into the afternoon Smoke billowed through the neighborhood while fire crews from Upper St and Bethel Park worked to extinguish it Officials have not released the identity of the person who was killed. Upper St Clair Fire Chief Ted Hale was unable to be reached for comment told the Post-Gazette when he returned home after dropping off his son at school he saw "significant" fire out of the back of the home who lives next to the home that caught fire said he and his wife were asleep Thursday morning when they awoke to a loud noise "We thought it was a car accident or something," Mr "I looked over and saw flames coming out of the house." Meston said he has lived in the neighborhood for more than 20 years and knew the family living in the home calling them "great neighbors and great people." "Our thoughts and prayers are with them and their family at this time," he said Their world is turned upside down right now." The Allegheny County Fire Marshal's office is investigating Officials have not yet provided any information about the cause of the fire © 2025 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit www.post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay works against Perkiomen Valley’s Lena Stein during the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. Upper St. Clair head coach Pete Serio presents his wife, assisant coach Suzie McConnell-Serio, with her silver medal after the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. Perkiomen Valley’s Quinn Boettinger scores against Upper St. Clair defenders during the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay drives to the basket to score between Perkiomen Valley’s Quinn Boettinger and Grace Galbavy during the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. Perkiomen Valley’s Grace Galbavy grabs a rebound next to Upper St. Clair’s Meredith Huzjak during the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. Upper St. Clair head coach Pete Serio watches from the bench during the PIAA Class 6A championship game against Perkiomen Valley on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. Perkiomen Valley’s Grace Galbavy blocks a shot by Upper St. Clair’s Meredith Huzjak next to Quinn Boettinger during the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. Perkiomen Valley’s Grace Galbavy scores over Upper St. Clair’s Claire Rosenberry during the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. Upper St. Clair assisant coach Suzie McConnell-Serio hugs Ryan Prunzik after the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. Upper St. Clair head coach Pete Serio gets a hug from his wife, assisant coach Suzie McConnell-Serio, as he is presented with his silver medal by Danny Holzer after the PIAA Class 6A championship game on Friday, March 28, 2025, at Giant Center in Hershey. “I was going to get emotional whether we won or lost because I knew it was over,” Serio said after Upper St. Clair lost to powerful Perkiomen Valley, 58-27, in the PIAA Class 6A girls final at Giant Center. “Yeah, it hurts to lose like that. But to me, it’s about the six seniors, and it’s over. Upper St. Clair is losing an accomplished senior class led by Kent State recruit Rylee Kalocay, and Serio shared after the game that he also is stepping down as coach after 11 seasons with the Panthers. It comes a month after winning a WPIAL title. “I love these kids,” Serio said. “What a ride they’ve given me this last year. I’m so glad they talked me into coming back. We’ve had so much fun. I know that’s why we’re so upset.” But their ultimate storybook ending wasn’t to be. Upper St. Clair made only nine baskets against a fierce Perkiomen Valley defense, a tough scoring night that quickly doomed the Panthers’ state title hopes. The District 1 champion led 30-12 at halftime and brought on the 30-point mercy rule late in the third quarter. The Panthers were held to quarter totals of seven, five, seven and eight points. “Our goal was to play until we couldn’t anymore,” Kalocay said of stretching her senior year. “Sure, it didn’t end up the way we wanted, but we played until we couldn’t. That’s really all you can ask for.” This was USC’s second matchup this season with Perkiomen Valley. The Panthers lost by six points when they hosted the team from Montgomery County in December. This time, the Perkiomen Valley upped its defense and Upper St. Clair shot only 23% from the field (9 for 38). The Panthers went 3 for 17 from beyond the arc. Kalocay led with 10 points on 3 of 17 shooting. “The way they played against us in December and from the film I’ve watched, that’s the best defense I’ve seen them play all year,” Serio said. “They were all over the place. They were everywhere.” This was the first PIAA title for Perkiomen Valley (28-3), which was making its state finals debut. Upper St. Clair (23-7) was there for only the second time after winning a Class 4A title in 1999. Quinn Boettinger, a 6-foot-3 senior and Navy recruit, led Perkiomen Valley with 16 points. Senior Grace Galbavy, a 6-foot guard headed to Wake Forest, scored 14 points. “That team is really good,” Serio said. “I knew it. I didn’t want to say it and have a defeatist attitude going in, but they’re really good. They have two Division I players and two Division II players. They have four scholarship players, and they shot the crap out of the ball tonight.” Boettinger went 8 for 14 shooting, and Galbavy made 7 of 13. Perkiomen Valley coach Jon Russo said he used that early season visit to Upper St. Clair as essentially a scouting trip. Russo said he considered the Panthers to be a top four team in the state, so he was anticipating a playoff rematch. “I knew we might see them again, so I told the girls we weren’t game planning, we’re just playing basketball,” he said. “Let me get my eyes on them and figure out what I can do to help you next time we see them.” Russo said his team’s defensive focus was on limiting Upper St. Clair’s looks at 3-pointers. Perkiomen Valley decided it would rather USC face Boettinger in the paint. “We figured if Kalocay can beat us going to the basket over and over again, we lose,” Russo said. “But if we can take away their 3s, we feel like our team can outscore anybody with 2s. You have to hit 3s to beat us.” Perkiomen Valley had a 36-12 edge in points in the paint. But the Vikings also had a 16-3 advantage in second-chance points and led 17-2 in fast-break points. “Once things started going poorly, we never seemed to recover,” Serio said. “We never got that momentum boost that we kind of needed.” Serio, 65, went 152-104 in 11 seasons at Upper St. Clair, where his wife Suzie McConnell-Serio was his top assistant for the past seven years. He previously coached at Bishop Canevin, Mt. Lebanon and Peters Township, compiling 299 career wins. “He tried to get loose last year but we wouldn’t let him,” Kalocay said. “We wouldn’t let him leave without a gold WPIAL medal. It’s been our goal for the longest time.” If Javascript is disabled browser, to place orders please visit the page where our photos are available to purchase. Upper St. Clair celebrates beating New Castle and winning back-to-back WPIAL championships Friday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins is fouled by New Castle’s Kai Cox during the WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball championship game Friday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Qualin Davis blocks the shot of New Castle’s Kai Cox during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Friday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Kaamil Jackson is fouled by New Castle’s Damian Harrison during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Friday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Gianni Disora scores past New Castle’s Jayden Shaffer during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Friday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins grabs a rebound from New Castle’s Qualin Davis during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Friday at Petersen Events Center. New Castle’s Ralphie Blundo defends on Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Friday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Kaamil Jackson drives on New Castle’s Damian Harrison during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Friday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair celebrates beating New Castle and winning back-to-back WPIAL Class 6A championships Friday at Petersen Events Center. The top-seeded Panthers used their height advantage, physical defense and rebounding, plus timely outside shooting to defend their Class 6A boys basketball title Friday night with a 65-43 victory over No. 2 New Castle at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center. It was Upper St. Clair’s fifth WPIAL championship, all under coach Danny Holzer. “It is different because it’s back to back,” Holzer said. “It’s basically the same team — we only lost two kids from last year’s team. All these guys were here last year. They’re all special. It doesn’t get old, but certainly this one was different.” Upper St. Clair (23-2) became the first team to win back-to-back WPIAL titles in Class 6A since the sport expanded in 2017. “It’s special because we’ve been playing together since third grade,” said senior Julian Dahlem, while wearing a back-to-back champs T-shirt. “The 10 seniors have been on a team together since third grade; we stuck with it. That’s the most special part about it. To do it twice like no one else has, it’s something special. It will never be forgotten.” New Castle (21-4) remains tied with Aliquippa for the most WPIAL titles in district history at 14. The Panthers allowed just 39 points per game this season and kept up that stingy trend in the final, limiting New Castle to 17 of 53 shooting (32.1%), including 7 of 22 from 3-point range. Upper St. Clair also held a 39-23 rebounding advantage, fueled by the Robbins brothers. Senior Tyler Robbins, a 6-foot-10 Miami (Ohio) recruit, had 12 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. Sophomore Ryan Robbins, a 6-7 forward, added nine points, two rebounds and two blocks off the bench. Niko Gidas had 11 points, and Jake Foster added 10 for the Panthers. Dahlem had eight points and eight assists. Coaches and players from both teams said it was Upper St. Clair’s outside shooting that proved to be the X-factor as the Panthers converted 8 of 17 from beyond the arc. “When we shoot well and we can go inside-out, it’s difficult to beat us,” said Holzer, who surpassed 500 career wins this season. “There’s no doubt. We’re a pretty good high school team. I think it all starts with our defense. Our half-court defense is just tremendous. “We have two levels of defense that are tough to beat when we’re playing together.” Upper St. Clair finished the first half on a 6-0 run to break a 23-23 tie and didn’t give up the lead. After a Ryan Robbins free throw, Tyler Robbins knocked down a corner 3-pointer off an out-of-bounds play, and Gianni Disora capped the first half with a steal and breakaway layup to give the Panthers a 29-23 lead at halftime. “If we close that half the right way, we’re potentially going into halftime up one,” New Castle coach Ralph Blundo said. “That was the turning point in the game. For them, the way that they play, once they stretch that lead and get it to nine or 10, now we have to change the way we play.” USC outscored New Castle 13-6 in the third quarter to pull away. The Red Hurricanes worked the perimeter offensively but shot just 2 of 8 from behind the arc in the quarter and were unable to close the gap. “We carried that momentum into the locker room and brought it back out with us,” Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins said. “They’re typically a good third quarter team. … We just played well in the third quarter.” For New Castle, Ralphie Blundo scored 13 points, and Damian Harrison had 11. The Red Hurricanes were in foul trouble for most of the physical game. Qualin Davis, Kyrell Harris and Blundo fouled out. New Castle also advances to the PIAA tournament and will host District 3 seventh-place finisher Cumberland Valley (21-5) on March 8. “My job is to get my guys together,” Ralphie Blundo said, “and keep it going as long as we can.” Upper St. Clair will host District 3 eighth-place finisher William Penn (19-8) in the PIAA tournament first round March 8. Clair’s boys team has been its chemistry “Our team really fought for each other,” coach Danny Holzer said I think it was our team chemistry definitely helped us do that.” That chemistry helped the Panthers win the WPIAL title and reach the PIAA Class 6A semifinals Saturday the Panthers’ chemistry and willingness to play for each other against steep odds was apparent already had a 33-19 lead at intermission and scored the first six points of the third quarter the Cahillites took a 21-point lead with 5:32 left in the third ignited by a putback from Tyler Robbins and capped off with a dunk in transition by Kaamil Jackson Clair to within 46-35 in the last 30 seconds of the third quarter though Shareef Jackson helped Roman Catholic get a bit of momentum back with two free throws with 25 seconds to go in the period The momentum carried into the fourth period when Sebastian Edwards hit a 3-point basket and C.J The Panthers had a couple of mini-runs in the fourth quarter but never came closer than 11 points when Robbins made two free throws with 45 seconds remaining to make it 57-46 The Cahillites’ 10-2 run in the second quarter put them up 28-17 and allowed them to stay up by double figures the rest of the way and they didn’t need to shoot so well,” Holzer said about what needed to happen for the Panthers to win “(Sammy) Jackson hit two 3-pointers and (Semaj Jackson) also hit two of them That’s four 3s out of those two players and that really made the difference.” The Panthers also had 10 of their 18 turnovers in the first half while Roman Catholic had just three giveaways in that time “We had to shoot better and control the ball better,” Holzer said “It was just too many turnovers.” Shareef Jackson led Roman Catholic with 19 points and six rebounds Robbins had a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds a 69-58 winner over Imhotep in the other semifinal for the gold medal at Hershey’s Giant Center next Saturday at 8 p.m Clair has never been to a PIAA boys basketball championship game Upper St. Clair’s Jake Foster celebrates after hiiting a 3-pointer against Imani Christian on Jan. 7. the lights completely went out for a few moments in the gym at Peters Township their hopes of gold for the second time in three years went to black a lot earlier Clair grabbed an early lead and then did what it does best: play suffocating defense in a final four win The victory clinches a second straight trip to the WPIAL title game for USC as it tries to become the first WPIAL boys basketball team to repeat as 6A champion and I’m proud of my team,” Upper St I’m looking forward to watching the film of this game because I think we did a lot of things well.” The Panthers took control of the game in the first half thanks to a couple of big finishes to end the first two quarters USC led in the final minute-plus of the first quarter by one point but a couple of 3-pointers by senior guards Gianni DiSora and Nico Gidas who beat the buzzer with his long-range shot put the Panthers up 15-8 after one quarter Clair scored the last seven points of the first half to go from up eight to leading by 15 points at the break The back-breaker was a steal by USC junior guard Jake Foster as the Vikings were trying to take the last shot that led to a layup at the buzzer for junior Luke Marchinsky Central Catholic worked hard in its half-court offense and got plenty of open looks outside the arc and in close but could not finish and we found the spots we wanted to shoot the ball,” Central Catholic coach Brian Urso said The Panthers came into the game allowing only 39 points per game and hit that total on the bull’s-eye against Central Catholic showing why they are one of the top defensive teams in the district “I think our defense dictated the game,” Holzer said It helps to have Tyler (Robbins at 6-foot-10) they’re athletic and we have a system and it’s been our backbone for several years now.” but he scored the first six points for USC early on When Central Catholic 6-4 junior forward Ryan Hower got into foul trouble in the first half While that slowed down the Panthers inside game it opened things up for the guards to start hitting shots from the perimeter Nico (Gidas) made a couple of 3s and even Tyler hit one in the second half which makes it difficult to do that (zone) to us We had to make some shots because we knew that 1-2-2 was coming we did a really good job against it.” every time Central Catholic tried to get some momentum and chip away at the deficit “The toughest part is really not knowing what the game could have been like,” Urso said of his team’s missed opportunities “The name of the game is to put the ball in the basket and we didn’t do it (Monday).” Junior Christian Williams led the Vikings with 10 points Central Catholic (14-10) will play in the 6A consolation game against Mt Lebanon for a second straight year on Wednesday Both teams have already qualified for the state playoffs Friday at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center but Holzer said getting back to the title game has not been easy “It’s been a lot for these kids and our coaches,” Holzer said of his team’s lofty expectations you’re going to win it again next year.’ It’s so hard to do but I’m proud of my team to get back and have a chance to do it again It’s going to be a tough game.” Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins gets ready for the opening tip against William Penn in the PIAA Class 6A first round Saturday. Clair boys basketball team’s offense They can play zone in an effort to shut down the Panthers’ big men inside or they can go man to man to defend their talented guards On Saturday in a PIAA Class 6A first-round playoff game Neither game plan worked as the Panthers stormed out to a big early lead and cruised into Round 2 of the state playoffs with a convincing win over the Bearcats “To come out and shoot the ball well was really big,” Upper St we’ve been shooting the ball really well the last part of the season All of those guys are capable and each one of them can shoot it.” York William Penn came out in a tight 2-1-2 zone to limit USC’s height advantage with 6-foot-10 senior Tyler Robbins underneath the hoop the Panthers guards said thank you very much and took advantage of the space behind the arc and started drilling 3-pointers Four 3s before the midway point of the opening quarter put Upper St Junior Jake Foster hit two 3s while seniors Julian Dahlem and Nico Gidas also connected on outside shots “That’s what makes us a really special team We have multiple guys who can shoot it,” Holzer said “That’s what makes us tough to guard It really makes it difficult when we have both the inside and outside game going.” the Bearcats switched to a man-to-man defense and the Panthers started to get the ball to Robbins The lead for USC by the end of the first quarter was 21-4 “Our guys hit a lot of 3s and that helps a lot,” Robbins said “Jake Foster had a good (game) shooting Hitting those 3s definitely opens things up inside.” The icing on the cake near the end of the big opening quarter for Upper St Clair was a sweet alley-oop slam dunk by Tyler Robbins off a lob by Dahlem to cap off a two-on-one break that erupted the big home crowd “Julian kind of got loose like he typically does and just threw it up,” Robbins said “I will usually just point to let him know to throw it up.” Tyler wasn’t the only one in the Robbins household to enjoy the 37-point mercy rule rout for USC “Little” brother Ryan Robbins enjoyed a big game off the bench for the Panthers The 6-7 sophomore just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds “We call him the monster because he plays like that,” Holzer said laughing and he has good feet and hands for his size Clair offense seems to be improving each game The Bearcats were limited to only 10 first-half points and were 3 of 23 for 13% shooting from the field in the first half and we work hard on our half-court defense,” Holzer said and the kids know how important it is to us.” Senior Tyson Smith and junior Jalen Swope each had eight points for the Bearcats who end their season losing their last four games and finishing 19-10 Twelve USC players contributed to the scoresheet in the state first-round win led by Tyler Robbins with 15 points Clair improves to 24-2 and will battle Governor Mifflin (20-8) Upper St. Clair’s Ethan Dahlem prepares to shoot a free throw in a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal against Woodland Hills on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. it would appear the 13-day layoff for WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball top seed Upper St Clair played a role in the very slow start to its quarterfinal playoff game against visiting Woodland Hills on Thursday the Panthers were able to find their scoring touch and slowly pull away from the Wolverines Both teams struggled in the opening eight minutes missing shots from the perimeter as well as layups and putbacks Clair leading Woodland Hills by the paltry score of 4-3 USC coach Danny Holzer did not think rust had anything to do with his team’s blah start on offense because (the layoff) was the same type of thing we faced last year We kept it to the script of the same thing we did last year,” he said we had some jitters and missed a couple of layups our defense kept us in it until we loosened up and hit a couple of shots.” Both teams picked up the offense in the second quarter the Panthers and Wolverines combined for nine points in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter after scoring only seven points in the entire first stanza the Panthers went on a 7-0 run that put them in front for good There was concern three minutes into the game for USC when 6-foot-10 senior forward Tyler Robbins had his hands on a defensive rebound He walked off on his own but was a spectator the rest of the first quarter he was a “big” reason why the Panthers took control by outscoring the Wolverines 21-12 in the quarter The USC guards were able to distribute the basketball to him down on the blocks where he was impossible to stop altered shooting angles and created several turnovers with his long reach “He’s a game changer for us,” Holzer said “He does a really good job with his body and his length so he’s not making contact and picking up fouls “We have a lot of different components to our defense I think we pressure the ball well and do a good job of defending people’s actions Plus we always have Tyler to take care of the paint area.” The Panthers had four players in double-digit scoring led by Tyler Robbins with 17 points Senior guard Nico Gidas was perfect at the foul line and hit two 3-pointers to finish with 14 points Younger brother Ryan Robbins had a strong third quarter and senior forward Kaamil Jackson tallied 11 points as well Electric Wolverines junior guard Scoop Smith led all scorers with 22 points leaving him 12 points shy of 1,000 for his career He’ll have to wait until next year for that milestone as Woodland Hills’ season — and five-game winning streak — ends with a 12-12 record Clair returns to the 6A final four for the third straight year and the fifth time in six years this decade 5 Central Catholic (14-9) for the third time this season Monday at a site to be determined The Panthers beat the Vikings twice this season Upper St. Clair’s Olivia Terlecki drives to the basket against Baldwin on Jan. 18. Clair could not quite put away Garnet Valley in Friday’s PIAA Class 6A girls basketball semifinals the Panthers were tied with the Jags at James Buchanan High School But outside shooting by Meredith Huzjak and Olivia Terlecki finally gave the WPIAL champions the margin they needed in a 53-49 victory Huzjak’s second 3-point basket of the game put Upper St Clair up 40-37 one possession in the last quarter and Terlecki followed with her fifth 3-point basket of the game to extend that lead but 8-for-12 free throw shooting in the last two minutes did as the Panthers held on to clinch their first PIAA championship game appearance since winning the title in 1999 including 5-for-6 shooting from beyond the arc “I wasn’t feeling it in wamups,” Terlecki said “But sometimes when you don’t feel it in warmups Rylee Kalocay was keeping warm on both sides of the court Clair’s last hoop with 3:59 to go for a 45-39 lead But just as important was her steal by the defensive baseline in the final minute to protect a 51-46 lead She hit the last two free throws for the Panthers with 10.5 seconds to go to seal the win Ryan Prunzik provided four of the points in between Kalocay’s scores to keep Garnet Valley at bay “Playing for each other,” was how Kalocay described the Panthers’ fourth quarter “We get more excited when our teammates score than when we score.” Awaiting the Panthers in the state championship game is Perkiomen Valley (27-3) next Friday at Hershey’s Giant Center who held Hershey’s chocolate bars with her teammates during the postgame celebration said the Panthers have to make sure they get the five-pound version that comes with the state championship trophy “We need to get one of those,” Kalocay said Terlecki added that she felt playing against a taller team like the Jags was a good tuneup for the championship contest a good team to play against now,” Terlecki said The Panthers had a slow start and found themselves down 13-5 midway through the first period but Terlecki’s putback got them within 13-10 at the end of the opening stanza Terlecki stayed hot through the second quarter with three 3-point makes The Jags scored the last four points of the half to knot it 23-23 at intermission The game was again tied at the end of the third quarter who had been held scoreless in the first half A free throw by Kalocay with 4.7 seconds left in the period evened the score Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay holds the trophy as she celebrates beating Norwin in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Norwin’s Ava Christopher defends on Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay fights for a loose ball with Norwin’s Averi Brozeski during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Norwin’s Kendall Berger grabs a rebound over Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Prunzik scores the go-ahead basket past Norwin’s Ava Christopher during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Prunzik steal the ball from Norwin’s Bella Furno to score the go-ahead basket during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Norwin’s Alexis Heller fouls Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Ekaterina Polstyanko fouls Norwin’s Elizabeth Yarosik during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Prunzik (5) celebrates with Rylee Kalocay after Kalocay iced a victory over Norwin in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Norwin accepts its second-place medals after losing to Upper St. Clair in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay steals the ball from Norwin’s Ava Christopher during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Ekaterina Polstyanko scores past Norwin’s Elizabeth Yarosik during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Claire Rosenberry blocks the shot of Norwin’s Bella Furno during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair assistant coach Suzie McConnell-Serio celebrates with Rylee Kalocay after beating Norwin in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay ices the game past Norwin’s Averi Brozeski during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center. Coach Pete Serio, denied titles in two of the last three years as the Panthers were stricken by injuries to star players — most recently Rylee Kalocay — was able to celebrate with his team after a 45-40 victory over defending champion Norwin in the Class 6A girls basketball final Saturday night at Petersen Events Center. Pete was in his glory at “The Pete” as his go-to guard made good on her promise to her tough-luck coach. “I told coach we’d win one for him,” said Kalocay, who missed most of last season with a knee injury. “He had a lot of confidence in us.” And the No. 2 seeded Panthers (19-6) had a lot of faith in Kalocay, who scored a game-high 13 points and dished five assists as USC overcame a late rally by No. 1 Norwin (15-8) to win their seventh championship. The Panthers had been to four finals in the last five years. “Two years ago, we sat here (in the press room), and Rylee told everyone she would be back and we would win one,” Serio said. “Here we are.” A Kent State commit, Kalocay came up with a rebound off a Norwin missed 3-pointer and went in for a layup with 11 seconds left to ice it. The Panthers had to push back Norwin, which trailed by 13 in the first half but took its first lead with 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the fourth on a 3-pointer by Bella Furno. Norwin went on a 9-0 run to finally pull ahead. But the Panthers scored the game’s last eight points to claim the title. “This is everything I thought it would be,” Serio said. “It’s very rare for a team to lead the entire game like that, lose the lead with two minutes to go, then come back to win. We had to fight and claw and dig deep.” Two years ago, USC point guard and captain Samantha Prunzik broke her arm in the WPIAL semifinals and the top-seeded Panthers lost to North Allegheny in the championship game. “After the last couple years, this is a lot more special,” Serio said. Ryan Prunzik, who made her first appearance in these playoffs after resting her own knee injury, came up big this time as she added 11 points for the Panthers, who beat Norwin in two of three meetings this season. “Ryan worked her butt off,” Serio said. Kalocay called Prunzik the team’s rock. Ava Christopher was the only Norwin player in double figures with 11 points. She helped spark the comeback. Furno’s go-ahead 3 followed a pull-up jumper from Christopher that tied it 37-37 with 2:53 left. But Kalocay delivered a 3 of her own and Prunzik made a layup as the Panthers regained the lead at 42-40 with 57.8 seconds to play. “Kalocay is a nice player and we knew that,” said Norwin coach Brian Brozeski, who had been 3-0 in WPIAL title games. “But some of their other girls played well, too. Their forwards gave them a spark.” Kalocay then grabbed a rebound in traffic and went the distance for a layup to make it 45-40. Norwin was out of time. Norwin nearly overcame a bad first half in its bid for a repeat like the 2014-15 and ‘15-‘16 teams did. The Knights shot 30.4% from the field before halftime (7 of 23), including 0 for 6 from 3, as they fell behind 23-15. Upper St. Clair, meantime, got hot from behind the arc and made five 3s in the opening 16 minutes. The Panthers made 14 3s against the Knights in a section game earlier in the season. Norwin was much better in the second half — 10 for 22, 45% — but couldn’t hold on to its late lead. “They played is hard man-to-man,” Brozeski said. “They are a gritty defensive team. “This was the closest (6A) bracket I have ever been involved with.” Meredith Huzjak had eight points, all in the first quarter, for the Panthers. Norwin made a push in the third, finally solving its 3-point dilemma as Furno and Christopher made back-to-back 3s, Christopher at the buzzer, to close the gap to 33-27. Averi Brozeski scored off a steal, and Liz Yarosik made a layup to get Norwin within 35-31 in the fourth. Norwin’s leading scorer, Kendall Berger, was held in check with six points. “They prioritized me and didn’t let me get open,” Berger said. USC cooled off after a hot start — it shot 37.8% (17 of 45) — but made defensive stops and kept its composure when Norwin encroached. Serio and Brian Brozeski showed mutual respect for one another. “I’m glad for Pete after all he has been through,” Brian Brozeski said. “He is a great guy and deserves this. “This is going to be tough on our girls for a while.” Both teams will open the PIAA playoffs Friday. USC will host Manheim Township (19-8), while Norwin travels to play Altoona (23-2). Upper St. Clair’s boys team won a WPIAL championship Friday night. Since the WPIAL started crowning girls champions in 1971, only four times has one school swept the boys and girls titles in the largest classification. Upper St. Clair joins Mt. Lebanon in 2010, Upper St. Clair in 1996 and Penn Hills in 1987 on the list. Norwin was trying to make it a Westmoreland County sweep at the Pete. Three county teams, the Greensburg Central Catholic girls and Belle Vernon and Jeannette boys, won WPIAL titles over the last three days. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Robbins reacts after scoring against Central Catholic on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Robbins scores over Central Catholic’s Enzo Khalil during their game on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Robbins blocks a shot by Central Catholic’s Owen Campfield during their game on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Jake Foster celebrates after scoring against Central Catholic on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins scores against Central Catholic’s Owen Campfield during their game on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins blocks a shot by Central Catholic’s Enzo Khalil during their game on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Robbins works against Central Catholic’s Jaydan Brown during their game on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Robbins celebrates with Gianni Disora after scoring against Central Catholic during their game on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Kaamil Jackson scores over Central Catholic’s Xxavier Thomas during their game on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem drives to the basket against Central Catholic’s Jaydan Brown during their game on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Robbins works against Central Catholic defenders during their game on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Robbins is greeted at the bench after scoring against Central Catholic on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair head coach Danny Holzer celebrates with Gianni Disora during their game against Central Catholic on Friday, Jan. 17, 2024, in Oakland. Upper St. Clair was off to a slow start until Robbins scored a season-high 22 points off the bench. With him and his 6-10 brother on the court together, the top-ranked Panthers capitalized on their height advantage to defeat No. 3 Central Catholic, 57-43, at Alumni Hall in Oakland. Upper St. Clair was held scoreless until midway through the first quarter, when Robbins entered and made three straight baskets in a 63-second span. “They don’t have enough people to guard both of us,” Ryan Robbins said. “If they’re guarding one of us heavily, they can’t guard the other.” Central Catholic’s defensive focus was clearly on slowing down his Miami (Ohio)-bound older brother, who was held scoreless in the first half. Yet Ryan Robbins scored 16 points before the break, and USC overcame its sluggish start to lead 23-20 at halftime. Ryan Robbins is a capable contributor off the bench, but this time he carried the offense. “I don’t know how we were up three at halftime,” Upper St. Clair coach Danny Holzer said. “We had 12 turnovers in the first half. We weren’t playing well. Tyler didn’t score a point. The reason was Ryan Robbins.” In all, Ryan Robbins made 10 of his 12 shots, most from within a few feet of the rim. He scored back-to-back baskets in the paint midway into the second quarter to flip a two-point deficit into a 21-19 lead that USC never lost. At times, Tyler Robbins became the WPIAL’s tallest point guard, tossing lob passes to his brother. Tyler Robbins took only three shots in the first half, leaving room for Ryan. “We put a lot of focus on having weak-side help and really hammering Tyler off the block or whenever he would receive (the ball),” Central Catholic coach Brian Urso said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have the same type of plan for his younger brother.” Niko Gidas added 10 points for Upper St. Clair (15-1, 8-0), which remained alone atop the Section 2-6A standings. Tyler Robbins had eight points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. Jake Foster also scored eight points. Calvin Vento had 12 points for Central Catholic (9-5, 6-2). Upper St. Clair earlier won, 46-31, on Dec. 13 and swept the section series from Central Catholic. The Vikings players and coaches had a long talk in the locker room after this one. “The message was: We don’t want to feel this way anymore,” Urso said. “We want to make sure we do everything we can to beat that team on a daily basis until we see them again. That’s the goal. … If we can be better and keep fighting, I believe we will see them a third time.” The teams combined for only four points in the first four minutes, all scored by Central Catholic. But Upper St. Clair recovered to lead 13-11 after one quarter and 23-20 at half, thanks in large part to Ryan Robbins. “They had a lot of momentum, and I just wanted to turn it around,” he said. Upper St. Clair scored the first seven points after halftime to take a 10-point lead early in the third. A 3-pointer by Gidas and consecutive baskets by the Robbins brothers gave the Panthers a 30-20 edge. Listed at 270 pounds, Ryan Robbins is also a talented offensive lineman for Upper St. Clair’s football team. That sport seems likely in his college future, but he’s much more than a lineman playing basketball. “For his size, he can guard people,” Holzer said. “He’s so deceiving. He knows how to keep people in front of him. Teams try to go small against us. We’re still able to play man-to-man because Tyler and Ryan are able to.” Central Catholic trailed 37-28 after three. The Vikings didn’t shoot well and made only 30% of their attempts (15 of 50) from the field. That included a 6-for-26 night from beyond the arc. Upper St. Clair scored 11 of the first 16 points in the fourth including a 3-pointer by Gidas to lead 48-33 with 2:52 left. “This is definitely a big win to show we can play on the road,” Ryan Robbins said. “We’ve had a lot of home games and played good teams there. Playing away and winning the same way just proves we’re a very good team.” Clair’s defense smothered Penn Hills on Friday night earning a 24-3 victory in the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals “Our defense really made a number of big plays tonight,” Panthers coach Mike Junko said “They were the reason we got this win They put a lot of pressure on the quarterback and contained the run game.” Angelo Baleno got Penn Hills (7-5) on the board first with a 34-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive The 3-0 lead for the Indians lasted until the late stages of the first half Charlie Bywalski had a first-half interception for the Panthers “All night long our defense did a great job of getting off the field,” Junko said “We were a little out of sync offensively in the first half We played better in the second half.” A 1-yard touchdown run by Dante Coury gave the Panthers a 7-3 halftime lead They scored again to start the third quarter on a 26-yard touchdown run from Julian Dahlem The game-changing play occurred late in the third quarter A fumble by Penn Hills quarterback Jaymere Ellis was returned 36 yards by John Banbury for a touchdown Ellis was injured on the play and did not return “I knew it was going to be deflating with one of our leaders and one of their brothers going down” Penn Hills coach Charles Morris said “It was just about responding to adversity.” Despite being unable to crack the Panthers’ defense Penn Hills held the line for the remainder of the game Clair’s Jacobo Echeverria provided the fourth quarter’s only points Penn Hills had won seven of its last eight after starting 0-3 Morris was proud of his team’s effort “Our kids are resilient,” he said “They fought all year and did everything I asked them The Indians will graduate a group of talented seniors including Ellis and star running back Naytel Mitchell Morris’ message to his seniors was strong “They’re the reason why the culture in our program is going in the trajectory that it is They’re going to be the foundation for the young guys that are coming after them.” Clair will look ahead to next week’s semifinal round where a rematch with Allegheny Six conference foe Peters Township awaits “Until they’re knocked out of the tournament they’re still the defending champ,” Junko said “It should be a physical battle between two really good football teams.” Imani Christian coach Khayree Wilson talks with Kieshaun Demus during their game against Upper St. Clair on Jan. 7. winning 63-58 to hand the Panthers their first Section 2-6A loss of the season RJ Sledge added 11 points for the Saints (12-6 Clairton 49 – Ben Hays and Christopher Harper each put up 22 points and Lucas Burt finished with 10 as Bentworth (8-9 Valley 54 – Brayden Fisher led all scorers with 30 points and Kelenn Ward finished with 18 as Carrick (9-8) beat Valley (5-14) in nonsection play Taireke Davis dropped 23 points and Mike Allen posted 11 for the Vikings Portersville Christian 66 – Brady Rochkind scored a career-high 36 points and added 12 rebounds and Joseph Rosio finished with 26 points to lead Cheswick Christian (7-0) in a non-division matchup of teams undefeated in division play Christian Palmer added 17 and Eli Hahn had 14 for Portersville Christian (7-0) Greensburg Salem 41 – Both teams lit it up from beyond the arc as Penn Trafford made 14 3-pointers and Greensburg Salem hit 10 Tyler Anthony added 13 and Evan Gross put up 10 for Penn-Trafford (10-8) in a nonsection win Tyler Martin produced 20 points and sank five 3-pointers for Greensburg Salem (4-14) Steel Valley 27 – Cam Epps led all scorers with 23 points Drew Cook finished with 19 and Josh Jackowski added 11 as South Allegheny (16-2 Ryan Stoker had nine points to pace Steel Valley (3-14 Hampton 46 – Jacob Dunkle recorded his 1,000th career point and finished with 21 in a nonsection win for Trinity (9-8) Jonha Williamson sank four 3-pointers and added 16 points for the Hillers Griffin Jarrell scored 21 points and Gavin Guinn followed with 14 for Hampton (10-9) Laurel 21 – Carla Brown poured in 26 points and Denim Odom added 12 for Aliquippa (13-3 7-1) in a Section 1-2A win over Laurel (7-13 Leechburg 16 – Carly Bezila put up 14 points while Kay Chufo and Rebecca Guiilen each scored 12 for Aquinas Academy (11-6 Addie Zanotto had 10 points to pace Leechburg (2-13 East Allegheny 13 – Greta O’Brien dropped 23 points to lead Avonworth (9-7 6-4) to a Section 2-3A victory against East Allegheny (1-15 Uniontown 23 – Lynsey Bernotas led all scorers with 19 points and Mary Vargo added 13 for Baldwin (11-8 Charley Murtha scored 13 to lead Uniontown (5-14 Mohawk 29 – Taylor Pullen put up 20 points Tamera Eastelle followed with 18 and Dreana Haskins added 12 for Beaver Falls (10-6 Gigi Pezzuolo posted 10 points for Mohawk (6-13 Carmichaels 29 – Callie Dorsey lit up the scoreboard with 31 points while Violet Trump put up 12 for Beth-Center (12-7 Avery Voithofer scored 14 points for Carmichaels (2-16 West Greene 25 – Natalie Kirsch posted 14 points to power Bishop Canevin (10-7 Kendra Tharp scored 14 for West Greene (11-7 Lincoln Park 27 – Aubree Hupp dropped 24 points Andrea Kinger and Ava Pagani each contributed 15 and Alivia Rabick had 10 as Blackhawk (17-2 Patty Wesoloski scored 11 for the Leopards Bentworth 30 – Leah Hartley led all scorers with 13 points while Haley Gibson and Olivia Gibson each added 11 points in a Section 3-2A win for California (9-6 Elizabeth Wade had 10 points to lead Bentworth (7-12 Trinity 39 – Rachel Boehm led all scorers with 13 points to pace Chartiers Valley (14-6 Gabby Rieg tallied 12 points and Sutton Williamson had 11 for Trinity (8-9 Jefferson-Morgan 26 – Allison Wingard scored 13 points and Ava Kolovich added 12 to lead Chartiers-Houston (14-4 Ava Wood scored 10 points for Jefferson-Morgan (1-16 Ringgold 11 – Kaylin Staszak dropped 23 points Kaelynn Settles added 15 and Mia Sostaric finished with 10 as Elizabeth Forward (14-3 Sto-Rox 39 – Kayla Jones scored 15 points to hit the 1,000-point mark for her career and Caitlin Kreitzer finished with 20 points for Ellwood City (11-7 Kamiyah Thompson scored 16 points and Rae Johnston had 13 for Sto-Rox (7-11 Hampton 37 – Addison Musto put up 14 points while Anna Novelli and Alyssa Bridges each scored 10 as Franklin Regional (14-5) defeated Hampton (9-8) in a nonsection game Harper Gibbons dropped 15 points for the Talbots Burgettstown 33 – Jazlyn Martino scored 16 points Brooke Cornali had 13 and Olivia Kemp added 10 to lead Fort Cherry (16-2 Paige Klodowski scored 15 points and Savanna Rush had 12 for Burgettstown (7-12 Armstrong 35 – Natalia Schaffer led all scorers with 23 points Bella Urso dropped 15 and Lyla Jablon had 12 in a Section 1-5A win for Fox Chapel (12-6 Mapletown 16 – Emma Larkin led with 26 points and Mallory Clemmer followed with 16 for Geibel Catholic (19-1 11-1) in a Section 2-A win over Mapletown (3-17 Ligonier Valley 24 – Erica Gribble scored 23 points and Jayla Peterson and Avery Jones added 13 points apiece for Greensburg Central Catholic (14-3 9-1) in a Section 2-3A win over Ligonier Valley (5-13 Caylee Sundy and Avery Boyd each totaled 11 points as Hopewell (5-12 Nevaeh Cox had 10 points for Ambridge (1-12 Latrobe 57 (OT) – Emily Betsinger and Addy Hutton put up 17 points apiece and Julia Antonacci finished with 11 as Indiana (15-3 Maggie Maiers scored 17 and Carley Berk followed with 16 for the Wildcats Brownsville 34 – Laney Wagner led all scorers with 17 points and Hannah York followed with 15 for Keystone Oaks (15-1 8-1) in a Section 3-3A win over Brownsville (11-7 Skylar Gates produced 16 points for the Falcons Derry 24 – Karlee Buterbaugh dropped 17 points as Knoch (10-9 Belle Vernon 20 – Miya Harris scored 17 points Aryianna Sumpter added 11 and Aierra Jenkins followed with 10 in a Section 3-4A for Laurel Highlands (14-5 Saylor Lee scored eight points to lead Belle Vernon (8-11 Waynesburg 14 – Faith Ealy scored 14 points and Taylor Schumacher added 13 in a Section 3-3A win for McGuffey (12-7 Peyton Cowell had seven points to pace Waynesburg (8-9 Southmoreland 25 – Kayla Rumbaugh scored 14 points Morgan Gesinski posted 12 and Ryleigh Drzal added 10 as Mt Leah Moore tallied seven points to lead the Scotties Nazareth Prep 15 – Laurai Jones scored 12 points to lead Neighborhood Academy Neveah Jefferson led Nazareth Prep with nine Highlands 30 – Brady Wehner dropped 15 points and Kate Vislosky contributed 10 as North Catholic (15-3 Tyarah Woody put up 18 points and Bella Bonnett added 12 for the Golden Rams Lebanon 43 – Ava Christopher poured in 15 points Kendall Berger finished with 14 points and Averi Brozeski had 11 in a Section 2-6A win for Norwin (11-6 Valley 37 – Josie Fontana scored 18 points and Makayla Canty added 14 to power Oakland Catholic (15-3 Janelle Norman scored 18 and Trinity Ingram finished with 14 for Valley (2-17 Riverside 40 – Leah Parker scored 14 points Lola Garner tallied 13 and Claudia Ierullo finished with 12 as OLSH (17-2 Emma Meyer made four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points and Ava Cummings added 15 for the Panthers McKeesport 23 – Torrie DeStefano scored 12 points and had 10 steals while Kamryn Pieper finished with 11 points to lead Penn-Trafford (19-0 Emily Isenberg posted eight points for McKeesport (5-15 Albert Gallatin 26 – Bri Morreale scored 13 points Taylor McCullough and Maddyn Mehl had 12 points apiece and Natalie Wetzel added 10 points to lead Peters Township (16-2 Grayce Panos scored 13 points for Albert Gallatin (7-10 Penn Hills 20 – Riley Stephans dropped 15 points while Serena Carnahan and Tamia West scored eight points apiece as Plum (7-11 Milani Oliver scored 11 points for the Indians New Brighton 6 – Mimi Thiero scored 19 points and Lily Millet and Mia Floro added 10 points apiece for Quaker Valley (10-8 8-4) in a Section 1-3A win over New Brighton (0-16 Frazier 27 – Katerina Tsambis scored 24 points and Lily Bauer added 15 to lead Riverview (12-3 Shenango 33 – Tia Yellock scored 22 points and Kamryn Newman followed with 11 to help Rochester (9-8 Amara DeFrank scored 13 and Ella Ferrell had 10 for Shenango (1-17 Monessen 45 – Bella Dumbroski scored 31 points and Abby Genes added 17 to lead Serra Catholic (12-6 Madison Johnson scored 27 points and Na’Jaziah Carter had 14 for Monessen (4-12 Deer Lakes 31 – Karis Thomas led all scorers with 24 points and Cassie Sauer poured in 23 as Shady Side Academy (19-0 Anna Clark scored 14 to lead Deer Lakes (12-7 Steel Valley 28 – Jaz Farnan scored 30 points and Ella Lotz added 16 to lead South Allegheny (4-14 Amari Randall scored 11 points for Steel Valley (2-16 New Castle 22 – Haylie Lamonde and Cierra Rexrode each put up 12 points and Alexa Ankrum added 11 as South Fayette (18-1 Rihanna Boice posted 18 points to lead New Castle (7-12 Yough 18 – Hayley Bennett produced 19 points and Nika Contakos finished with 11 as South Park (13-4 Hailey Bock led the Cougars with seven points Sewickley Academy 22 – Ashlyn Ferderbar put up 20 points to power Springdale (9-10 6-5) to a Section 1-1A win over Sewickley Academy (4-12 Joseph 31 – Kylie Fruehstorfer scored 18 points 12-0) picked up a Section 1-A win in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL Class A championship game Mia Preuhs added nine points and 11 rebounds for the Scotties Connellsville 38 – Rylee Kalocay led all scorers with 21 points and Ekaterina Polstyanko scored 11 for Upper St Elizabeth Painter put up 15 points and Maggie Orndorff added 10 for Connellsville (3-15 Ellis School 19 – Sky Still scored 15 points and Aleah Cooper added 11 to help Winchester Thurston (15-2 Butler 6 – Cooper Powell had four goals and an assist Conner Ralston added two goals and an assist and Jack Dolan finished with a goal and two assists for Avonworth (14-3-1) in Class A Anthony Trombatt and Brayden Hardsock each had hat tricks for Butler (3-11-3) Wheeling Catholic 1 – Dylan Lieper scored a hat trick and Bryce Lieper added a pair of goals to lead Blackhawk (9-8) to a Class A win Max Jansto and Logan Enders each added a goal for the Cougars Maddox Ochap scored the lone goal for Wheeling Catholic (7-10-1) Canon-McMillan 2 – Tucker Kinnear scored two goals as Cathedral Prep (10-4-2) defeated Canon-McMillan (6-10-1) in Class 2A Chris Bruschi scored a goal and had an assist for the Ramblers Ayden Heinen and Carson O’Donoghue each scored for the Big Macs Beaver 2 – Darien Strosnider and Ryan Kumpf scored hat tricks and Noah Callender collected two goals and three assists to lead Chartiers Valley (15-1) in Class A Mike Derda scored twice for Beaver (4-11-1) Sewickley Academy 3 – Bobby Boord Jr collected three goals and two assists and Cameron Napoli had two goals and an assist to lead Elizabeth Forward (9-8) to a Division 2 win CJ Wright and Cole Carson had goals for Sewickley Academy (0-17-1) Baldwin 4 (OT) – Nino DiPietro’s second goal of the game was the overtime winner for Hempfield (4-9-1) in Class 2A Austin Herron also scored twice and Evan Dunlap had a goal and an assist Mack Dempsey scored a hat trick and Nate Buys had a goal and an assist for Baldwin (3-10-2) Carrick 0 – Cooper Cox had a hat trick and added an assist Jacob Hollander piled up two goals and three assists Geno Valenti added two goals and two assists and Lincoln Cox made 30 saves to lead Morgantown (16-1) past Carrick (6-6-3) in Division 2 Lebanon 2 (SO) – Joey Mitchell had a goal and an assist Justin Hai also scored and Cam Junker made 43 saves to lead North Allegheny (9-6) to a Class 3A shootout win Xavier Bias scored a pair of third-period goals for Mt Armstrong 1 – Aiden Drotos scored four goals Cam Kiste had a goal and two assists and Drew Hall and Brody Parsons added a goal and an assist apiece for Penn-Trafford (14-2-1) in a Class 2A win Clair 1 – Cole Neupaver scored the winning goal in the third period Luca Maietta also scored and Jack Fazio made 33 saves to lead Peters Township (5-9-2) to a Class 3A win Eli Rankin scored and Owen Laurent made 22 saves for Upper St Matthew Stelitano and Brendan Fitzgerald scored for Shaler (13-3-0-1) in a Class A victory Ryan Yunick scored a hat trick for Meadville (7-9-1) Thomas Jefferson and Neshannock topped their preliminary groups and advanced to Friday’s finals in Hershey the Lions led their group with a score of 91.70 Penn-Trafford also advanced to the finals and Franklin Regional Mars and Plum moved on to the semifinals in the division The Lancers led the Class 2A Large Varsity division with a score of 82.23 Hempfield was second in preliminaries and Norwin and Seneca Valley also moved on to the finals North Allegheny and Baldwin made the semifinals Central Valley and Ambridge advanced to the finals and Hampton and Elizabeth Forward made the semifinals Butler was third in preliminaries to advance to the finals Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay shoots a free throw against Manheim Township in the PIAA Class 6A first round Friday. Clair for a PIAA Class 6A first-round playoff game Friday The team stopped at an arcade for some afternoon fun before arriving an hour before tip-off It didn’t take long for the Blue Streaks’ hoop game to go tilt Clair scored the game’s first 20 points and never looked back “Best way we could start off,” Upper St “Coach Pete (Serio) had warned us about the WPIAL hangover enough to the point where I don’t think it could get to us Everyone contributed and gave us big minutes.” Manheim Township was very deliberate to start winning the tip and passing around the perimeter for the first 68 seconds of the game before a steal by USC junior guard Ryan Prunzik led to a free throw and a lead the Panthers never relinquished “We watched enough film where that’s what their offense does and it keeps them in games,” Serio said 50 seconds off the clock or more if you don’t give them a shot and they will keep working it and that’s why I started to press and trap because I wanted the game to get up and down which I thought that would be in our favor.” The Panthers spread the wealth and were hitting lights out in the opening quarter two field goals and a free throw in building up a 20-0 lead The Blue Streaks didn’t dent the scoreboard until there were 30 seconds remaining in the first quarter Kalocay and senior guard Olivia Terlecki each hit two 3-pointers in the first quarter and senior Meredith Huzjak also added one behind the arc “It gives us confidence and the carryover is there,’ Serio said about his team’s shooting especially when you get an offensive rebound and kick it back out and make a 3 it’s kind of deflating to the other team.” Manheim Township started having some success on offense in the second quarter Clair kept scoring as well and led at the half When the Blue Streaks scored five of the first seven points in the third quarter the Panthers finished the third quarter on a 17-2 run to put the game with the mercy rule for the fourth quarter Clair finished the game with 13 total 3-pointers for 39 of its 65 points “We knew we had to shoot it well against them,” Kalocay said “They’re a team that contests drives and knows how to limit penetration but we figured out how to play through it.” Manheim Township was led by senior guard Brooke Weaver The Blue Streaks finish their season 19-10 with four straight losses Clair has won five straight and eight of its last nine to improve to 20-6 “Over the last four or five weeks since that three-game losing streak (in late January) Rylee has been a completely different player,” Serio said “She has focused on winning and focused on her teammates when they’re open She knows she’s the conductor and she’s driving it which moves on to the second round to play section rival Canon-McMillan on Tuesday The Panthers and Big Macs split in the regular season with Upper St Clair winning at home by 22 points in December and Canon-McMillan claiming a home victory in late January by seven points TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need Here are a few morning news items from across the region for Tuesday A fire Monday afternoon in Upper St. Clair left a massive hole in a home’s roof, according to TribLive news partner WTAE Fire crews were dispatched just after 6 p.m to the 440 block of Lorlita Lane for the fire Bystanders reported smoke coming from a large hole in home’s roof An altercation Monday led to a man being shot in Pittsburgh’s Marshall-Shadeland neighborhood to the intersection of Woods Run Avenue and Brighton Road for reports of a shooting public safety spokeswoman Emily Bourne said a man arrived at a hospital by private vehicle with gunshot wounds to his arm Early investigations revealed the man was in an altercation before the shooting took place UPMC closes Penn Hills fertility clinic for repairs The UPMC Magee-Womens Center for Fertility and Reproductive Endocrinology along Rodi Road in Penn Hills will be closed for at least two weeks for “essential building maintenance,” UPMC officials told WTAE “We understand this could alter a patient’s IVF treatment and schedule where protocols and procedures are dependent on timing,” the statement from UPMC said Kellen Stepler is a TribLive reporter covering the Allegheny Valley and Burrell school districts and surrounding areas. He joined the Trib in April 2023. He can be reached at kstepler@triblive.com Stay up-to-date on important news from TribLIVE 1-800-909-8742 © 2025 Trib Total Media | All Rights Reserved About Us Advertise Career Opportunities Contact Advertising Contact Circulation Contact Newsroom Contact Us Feedback Request Correction Resource Center Scholarship Opportunities Send Letter to the Editor Send News Tip Subscribe Subscriber Services Blog eFeatures Email Newsletters eTrib Facebook Home Delivery Instagram LinkedIn Marketing Minute Store Locations TribLIVE App - App Store TribLIVE App - Google Play X (formerly Twitter) Arts & Entertainment Best of the Best Business Directory Circulars Contests Coronavirus Lifestyles Local News YaJagOff Obituaries Opinion Our Publications Photos Real Estate Sports Video Weather Cookie Settings Privacy Policy Terms of Service Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins dunks against Baldwin during the 2024 WPIAL Class 6A championship game. who was roughed up by McDowell’s defense for four quarters and nearly all of overtime Kaamil Jackson blocked a shot at one end of the court Robbins finished a fast break with a dunk at the other and Upper St Clair celebrated a 51-49 victory over Erie McDowell in a PIAA Class 6A quarterfinal Saturday at Slippery Rock USC coach Danny Holzer called it the perfect ending for his team even if the game-winning pass to Robbins wasn’t actually intended for the 6-foot-10 forward but rather a teammate “It was so apropos that we ended the game with a Tyler Robbins dunk,” Holzer said “I feel like he got beat up the entire game physical battle … and Tyler kept fighting and fighting and fighting ”To get an easy dunk at the end like that “It was definitely frustrating,” said Robbins admitting that he might’ve lost his cool a couple of times “I was struggling offensively the whole game Niko Gidas scored a team-high 17 points with five 3-pointers Clair (26-2) advances to face Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic in a PIAA semifinal March 22 at a site and time to be announced McDowell (23-5) was the District 10 champion Here’s a full look at Upper St. Clair’s game-winning play. Kaamil Jackson makes the block. Julian Dahlem gets the rebound. Gianni Disora makes the assist. Tyler Robbins delivers the last-second dunk for a 51-49 win pic.twitter.com/DrsRrOZ95c — Chris Harlan (@CHarlan_Trib) March 15, 2025 This is Upper St. Clair’s second trip to the state semifinals, joining a 2021 appearance. The Panthers lost in the quarterfinals last season. “We needed to clear this hurdle,” Holzer said. “This team had so much desire to do that. Today’s effort, under the circumstance, was amazing.” Blayze Myers led McDowell with 17 points and Stephon Porter had 11. The Trojans had nobody taller than 6-3 on their roster, so they tried to match USC’s size with strength. The teams combined for only six points in overtime. “District 10 basketball is gritty and defensive,” McDowell coach Kevin O’Conner said. “Our guys emptied the tank today. I want tip my cap to the officials. They let us play basketball. I know both sides were a little, whatever, but you’ve got to credit the officials.” Upper St. Clair had a chance to win in regulation but a rushed buzzer-beater by Jake Foster missed in the fourth quarter left the score tied at 47. The teams traded baskets to start overtime. Robbins scored on a putback with 2:20 remaining, and McDowell’s Porter answered with a tying layup with 1:04 left. The teams went 3 for 11 shooting in OT. Tied 49-49 with less than 30 seconds remaining in overtime, McDowell decided to hold for the last shot. With about 12 seconds left, Porter drove into the lane and passed to Myers, who was cutting toward the basket. Jackson blocked Myers’ layup, and USC’s Julian Dahlem got the rebound. Dahlem passed to Robbins, who passed to Gianni Disora, who passed back to Robbins for the dunk. It was like clockwork, except Disora was trying to pass to Gidas, who was open in the corner. “I saw Niko Gidas in the corner jumping up and down,” Disora said. “He’s our best shooter, so I know he’s going to knock it down. … T-Rob intercepted it, slammed it down and we won.” Regardless of intent, the pass was successful. “KJ made a great play with the block. That was the play of the game,” Robbins said. “Jules gets the rebound. He’s a great rebounder for a guard. He pushes the court, finds me, I find Gi, and Gi finds me. All credit goes to Disora.” Upper St. Clair had fallen behind early and trailed 15-6 after one quarter. The teams were tied 21-21 at the half after the Panthers won the second quarter 15-6. Three 3-pointers by Gidas in the third let Upper St. Clair enter the fourth with a 38-33 lead. A putback basket by McDowell’s Leo Finazzo forced a 45-45 tie with 2:30 remaining in the fourth. USC’s Ryan Robbins answered with a layup about 20 seconds later to retake the lead. But the last points of regulation belonged to McDowell, a tying layup by Porter with 1:09 left. Upper St. Clair held the ball for the final 50 seconds of regulation without breaking the tie. The game was tense throughout, and Holzer drew a second-quarter technical for slapping the scorer’s table. He said it was only the third technical of his career. “I understand the referee had to do that,” he said. “I get it. But it was a very emotional game.” Holzer was dancing in the locker room with his players afterward. “It feels amazing,” he said. “We’re on a two-year run and the kids have been phenomenal. We were ranked No. 1 in the preseason and here we are going to the semifinals. We haven’t skipped a beat.” Norwin’s Averi Brozeski (left) battles Mt. Lebanon’s Emily Smith for possession earlier this month. the start of the final two weeks of section play Now the focus just isn’t on the battles for section championships it is also on securing the needed positioning in a section to secure a district playoff berth The fight for first place in Section 2-6A became a lot more interesting following a Canon-McMillan victory over Upper St USC had been alone in first place since beating Norwin on Jan 3 Now the Panthers have slipped into a tie for the top spot with the Knights heading into their first-place showdown Monday at Upper St USC had won nine straight to improve to 12-2 but then last week lost two in a row to Shaler in a nonsection contest and to the Big Macs for their first section loss Norwin was 4-5 overall after losing to Upper St Clair earlier this month 63-53 but since has won five games in a row Both teams are 5-1 in section and have clinched postseason berths They are one game ahead of third-place Canon-McMillan (4-2 Watch the Norwin at USC game on Trib HSSN at 7 p.m They are not only the top two teams in Section 1-2A they are also the top two teams in WPIAL Class 2A girls basketball Top-ranked Aliquippa tries to take a giant leap toward an outright conference title when it visits No The Quips are alone in first place with a 6-0 section record and they are 12-2 overall with victories in seven straight games The Lancers are in second place with a 5-1 section mark They are 15-2 overall and are on a six-game winning streak since losing at Aliquippa the second day of the New Year seniors Carla Brown and Aunesty Johnson each scored 21 points to lead the Quips to the 65-61 overtime victory Junior Jaidon Nogay and sophomore Ainsley Allison had 13 points each for the Lancers capturing back-to-back 2A titles in 2021 and 2022 Aliquippa is on a quest for district gold for the first time since winning four straight 2A crowns between 1987 and 1990 The first district winter sports team postseason begins Monday with eight preliminary-round matches in the WPIAL boys team wrestling playoffs There are four playoff matches scheduled in each of the two classifications to determine the No • Ringgold (9-1) at Shaler (6-1) at 7:15 p.m 1 Connellsville in the first round Wednesday 2 Franklin Regional in the opening round Wednesday • Penn-Trafford (7-8) at North Hills (8-3) at 7:15 p.m 3 Thomas Jefferson in the first round Wednesday 4 Bethel Park in the opening round Wednesday • Knoch (4-3) at Greensburg Salem (7-3) at 7:15 p.m • Avella (9-11) at Bentworth (6-6) at 7:15 p.m 4 Quaker Valley in the opening round Wednesday Chartiers-Houston and the Avella at Bentworth matches can be viewed on Trib HSSN Clair held Haverford to single-digit point totals in three quarters and rolled to a 51-35 victory in the PIAA Class 6A girls basketball quarterfinals Friday night Meredith Huzjak put up 17 points and Rylee Kalocay produced 14 for the Panthers (22-6) Natalie Wright and Megan Kelly each scored 10 for Haverford (23-6) Clair advances to face District 1 runner-up Garnet Valley in the semifinals Friday Camp Hill Trinity 43 – Down a point heading into the fourth quarter Shady Side Academy (27-1) outscored District 3 champion Camp Hill Trinity 10-6 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a Class 3A quarterfinal win Karis Thomas led all scorers with 17 points and Leah Buford chipped in nine points for the Bulldogs Bella Dupes scored 11 points and Ashley Berkheimer added 10 for Camp Hill Trinity (21-6) Shady Side Academy advances to play OLSH in the semifinals Friday LaAcademia Charter 44 – Courtney Wallace had 22 points and 15 rebounds and Kedron Gilmore and Syncer Nicholson added 10 points apiece to lead Neighborhood Academy (27-1) to a Class A quarterfinal win Quinnes Hawkins scored 13 points for LaAcademia Charter (14-13) Neighborhood Academy will face Otto-Eldred in the semifinals Friday Cathedral Prep 75 (OT) – Jude Rottmann dropped 28 points Owen Maddalon followed with 20 and Jason Fredericks had 16 for North Catholic (22-6) which rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to come away with a Class 4A quarterfinal win Michael Thompson produced 15 and Cormac Thunel finished with 13 for the Ramblers (19-9) North Catholic advances to the semifinals on Friday and will take on District 3 champion Berks Catholic Aquinas Academy 68 – Ray’shene Thomas scored 21 points and Manning Spain and Landon Francis added 19 apiece to lead Otto-Eldred (28-1) to a Class A quarterfinal win David Zaharko had 18 and Sam Duer added 14 for Aquinas Academy (20-8) Otto-Eldred will face Neighborhood Academy in the semifinals Friday Upper St. Clair head coach Danny Holzer celebrates with his team after defeating Norwin to earn his 500th career victory on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair head coach Danny Holzer high-fives Kaamil Jackson after defeating Norwin to earn his 500th career victory on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem scores past Norwin’s Mario Csukas during their game on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins scores against Norwin on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Kaamil Jackson scores over Norwin’s Alex Graney during their game on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem drives through Norwin defenders during their game on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins scores over Norwin’s Nate Kuch during their game on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem brings the ball upcourt against Norwin on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins dunks against Norwin on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair head coach Danny Holzer gives a thumbs up to the sudent section after defeating Norwin to earn his 500th career victory on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair head coach Danny Holzer acknowledges his wife and mother while addressing the crowd next to team after defeating Norwin to earn his 500th career victory on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair head coach Danny Holzer stands with his team after defeating Norwin to earn his 500th career victory on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at USC. Clair boys basketball coach Danny Holzer is starting to get used to this milestone thing he began his 30th season as head coach of the Panthers he guided his top-ranked USC team to a victory over Norwin in the Section 2-6A opener 500 for the Thomas Jefferson High School and Alliance College grad “I’m really proud of the program,” Holzer said afterward All the kids we’ve had over the last 30 years have done such a great job for us I’ve played such a small part in this “I’ve been very fortunate and don’t take it for granted that we’ve had a great run of support from many people and most of all They’ve always done what we ask them to do and they’ve done so collectively.” While the victory and the celebration were nice it didn’t come easy against a Knights team that played with poise moved the ball effectively on offense and hung with the defending champions for most of the game Norwin became the first opposing team to score 30 or more points against Upper St The Panthers defense entered the game allowing an average of 24.6 points per game “My biggest disappointment was our defense,” Holzer said “We had a game plan to make sure (Mario Csukas) didn’t get open looks and that was one of the things we wanted to take away and we did not accomplish that goal and as a result they scored early and stayed in it.” hit two 3-pointers as the Knights trailed by only two points after the opening quarter Csukas hit three free throws in the second quarter and had 12 points by halftime and I give Norwin credit,” Holzer said ‘We’re getting everybody’s best shot.’ They came in here wanting to battle and expecting to do well and they did.” The Panthers did not shoot the basketball well but their rebounding edge was a big factor in slowly pulling away While the Knights’ two tallest starters were 6-foot-2 juniors Alex Graney and Chris McKnight the Panthers come at opponents with waves of size with 6-10 senior and Miami (Ohio) commit 6-6 senior Kaamil Jackson and off the bench “We didn’t shoot the ball well but our size did help us,” Holzer said “We can overcome a bad shooting night but we can’t overcome a bad defensive night.” scoring 13 of his game-high 19 points in the first half who was a demon on defense in the second half scored 13 points with 11 of them coming in the second half Norwin falls to 2-2 overall and will visit Connellsville on Friday Clair improves to 4-0 overall and now Holzer will look for win No 501 in another home section game when Central Catholic visits Friday “People always ask how much more (I will coach) and I say 15 or 20 more years if God is willing and I’m healthy and they will continue to have me,’” Holzer said “I love this place and I love this program.” Players from Upper St. Clair take the field before their game against Peters Township on Sept. 27, 2024, at Upper St. Clair. Players from Peters Township take the field before their game against Upper St. Clair on Sept. 27, 2024, at Upper St. Clair. Players from Upper St. Clair head to midfield with Steelers long-snapper Christian Kuntz for the coin toss before their game against Peters Township on Sept. 27, 2024, at Upper St. Clair. Fans fill the stands as Peters Township takes on Upper St. Clair on Sept. 27, 2024, at Upper St. Clair. Players from Peters Township head to midfield for the coin toss before their game against Upper St. Clair on Sept. 27, 2024, at Upper St. Clair. Clair snapped Peters Township’s 17-game regular season winning streak Friday night as Julian Dahlem ran 24 times for 191 yards and two touchdowns in a 21-7 victory at Panther Stadium Dahlem’s signature moment came with the Panthers leading 14-7 with 5:29 left in the game Dahlem took it to the house on a draw play for 71 yards “I honestly didn’t think it was going to go for anything but our O-line played excellent,” lineman Nate Stohl said “We (worked) through all four quarters and we got the win.” it’s just the O-line,” Dahlem said Those dudes work their butt off every day at practice 0-1 in the Class 5A Allegheny Six Conference) contained Dahlem in the first half but he was more patient in the second half and picked his holes Julian let things open up a little bit more and he did a great job of breaking some tackles and finding the end zone,” coach Mike Junko said The Indians got the ball into Panthers territory six times but only notched one touchdown on a play-action pass from Nolan DiLucia to Eli Prado for 44 yards and Anthony Rozzo tallied interceptions and Carter Stein recovered a fumble They also turned the Indians over on downs three times The Panthers took a 7-0 lead in the first half when a relentless Stohl pressured DiLucia to roll out right “I rushed my end and I got to the quarterback,” Stohl said “I made a deflection and my secondary came and he caught it.” Dahlem said the play gave the Panthers momentum “The crowd went absolutely wild,” Dahlem said “It was the loudest it’s ever been It’s a huge game and it was nice to have.” The Panthers shut out the Peters offense in the second half “What can you say about the defense?”Junko said “That’s a a great offense we faced tonight To hold them to seven points really kept us in the game It was big because we couldn’t get anything going offensively in the first half Credit to our offensive line coach Tim Robbins in the second half who completed 13 out of 25 passes for 165 yards Peters coach TJ Plack said he was proud of how his team played on defense and we’d make little mistakes here and there,” Plack said We went down the field and scored right after and they caught a little bit of lightning.” Peters drove down the field early and manufactured a solid drive after multiple chunk plays the Panthers punched the ball free from Courie and Stein recovered the fumble The Indians then forced a turnover on downs when Mickey Vaccarello and a feisty Peters line stuffed the run on fourth-and-2 Both teams were unsuccessful on their next drives but Peters got the ball into USC territory for the third drive in a row The first score came on the Dahlem pick-six giving the Panthers a 7-0 lead in the second quarter The Indians responded at the end of the half on fourth-and-1 when DiLucia found a wide-open Prado on a play-action pass Peters forced a John Banbury fumble and Reston Lehman fell on it at the USC 44 to start the second half a Lucas Rost sack made the Panthers punt out of their own end zone the Indians tried a reverse pass with Rost but the pass was picked by Hellman after Stohl hurried Rost Banbury took one to the 47-yard line to open things up for USC Dahlem then took over out of the wildcat formation with multiple chunk plays Dahlem found a hole and broke it for 16 yards to take a late third quarter lead at 14-7 DiLucia found Jeremy Poletti for 22 yards to put Peters into USC territory for the sixth time Dilucia was pressured and was being brought down by Hellman but got the throw off to Prado Prado was tackled 2 yards short by Nico D’Orazio “We haven’t felt this for a while,” Plack said “We’re going to take this with us and we’re going to wake up tomorrow and we’re going to look at what we did right Clair has the longest active winning streak in the WPIAL at nine games and Stohl knew just what he was going to do to celebrate the big win “We’re gonna have some fun in the locker room and go get some Primanti’s,” he said Upper St. Clair girls assistant coach Suzie McConnell-Serio gives instruction from the bench with husband Pete Serio, the head coach, looking on. Upper St. Clair assistant coach Suzy McConnell-Serio celebrates with Rylee Kalocay after beating Norwin in the WPIAL Class 6A championship Saturday, March 1, 2025 at Petersen Events Center. Upper St. Clair head coach Pete Serio watches from the bench during the Panthers’ game against Norwin on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s fights for a loose ball with Canon-McMillan’s Samantha Miller during PIAA second round playoff action Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at Peters Twp. High School. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay drives past Canon-McMillan during PIAA second round playoff action Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at Peters Twp. High School. Canon-McMillan’s Brooke Stanton grabs a loose ball from Upper St. Clair’s Grace Howell during PIAA second round playoff action Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at Peters Twp. High School. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay is called for charging Canon-McMillan’s Lauren Borella during PIAA second round playoff action Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at Peters Twp. High School. history was nearly made by Berlin Brothersvalley a small District 5 school located outside of Somerset reached the PIAA Class A championship game in 2023 and 2024 Prosser was trying to become what is believed to be the first husband-wife combo to each win state basketball championships as head coaches — his wife Rachel Prosser led the Berlin Brothersvalley girls basketball team to a Class A state championship in 2019 and again in 2025 Now cue Pete Serio and his wife Suzie McConnell-Serio Pete is wrapping up his 11th season as head coach of the Upper St Clair girls basketball program with wife Suzie by his side as a Panthers assistant the two will lead USC (23-6) into the PIAA Class 6A girls basketball championship game against Perkiomen Valley (27-3) at 6 p.m guided the Eagles to the 1993 PIAA 4A championship with a 57-53 win over Downingtown The Panthers’ power couple is believed to be the first husband and wife to each win a WPIAL basketball championship as head coaches when Serio led Upper St Clair to the district crown last month after McConnell-Serio won four straight WPIAL titles at Oakland Catholic between 1999 and 2002 “I did not know about the husband and wife thing; that’s pretty special,” Pete Serio said “I’ve always been so proud of all the things (McConnell-Serio) has accomplished so it’s nice to join in on the titles Being able to do this together has been extra special because of what we have accomplished The hug she gave me when the buzzer went off will be something I remember forever but very blessed to have this relationship.” The USC players also feel lucky to have the golden couple leading the way during their careers “Knowing how much knowledge coach Pete and Suzie have in their back pocket allows for me to take their word with no hesitation,” senior guard and Kent State commit Rylee Kalocay said and I know they just want me to be the best player I can be.” Kalocay is the team’s leading scorer this winter after coming back from a torn ACL and meniscus in her left knee that derailed her junior season She led the Panthers’ postseason push and was the leading scorer in all three WPIAL playoff wins and the first two PIAA victories for Upper St others have stepped up and played big roles in USC winning eight straight and 11 of its last 12 games Senior point guard Ryan Prunzik has been a force on both sides of the floor Junior guard Meredith Huzjak had a game-high 17 points in the Panthers’ quarterfinals win over Haverford and senior guard Olivia Terlecki led the team with 19 points in the 53-49 semifinal triumph over Garnet Valley That same Garnet Valley team lost in the District 1 championship to Perkiomen Valley very good basketball team,” Pete Serio said “We are going to need to really limit the easy touches that their post player gets We will need to contest every shot they take and do our best to limit their second chances.” That post player is 6-foot-3 forward Quinn Boettinger The Navy commit scored 22 points to lead the Vikings past Archbishop Carroll in the PIAA semifinals Another key player for Perkiomen Valley is 6-foot senior guard Grace Galbavy “We have to slow down their top two players and come out stronger,” Kalocay said “We came out very slow last time we played them 14 when Perkiomen Valley defeated host Upper St Boettinger led the Vikings with 32 points while Galbavy added 16 points “I really am happy we played them earlier in the year,” Pete Serio said “We know what they have and what to expect I was really proud we never quit the first time We are a different team today than we were in December.” That year was the Panthers’ only other time playing for state gold as they defeated Cheltenham from District 1 Clair girls have only been to Hershey one other time in school history,” Kalocay said This is the first PIAA title game appearance for Perkiomen Valley the Panthers aren’t just satisfied with finishing the season in Chocolate Town “We are not just happy to be going to Hershey,” Pete Serio said “We are going there with the mindset of playing together and winning this game I believe in these players and more importantly they believe in each other.” Members of the Quaker Valley girls flag football team play against Thomas Jefferson and Upper St. Clair on April 27, 2025, at Upper St. Clair. Quaker Valley freshman Mia Duckstein is a co-captain for the 2025 girls flag football team. Quaker Valley freshman Ava Hajok is a co-captain for the 2025 girls flag football team. Quaker Valley sophomore Maya Sidani is a co-captain for the 2025 girls flag football team. Quaker Valley junior Willa Herman is a co-captain for the 2025 girls flag football team. The four captains on the QV girls flag football team — freshmen Mia Duckstein (HB/QB/S) and Ava Hajok (C/WR/S) sophomore Maya Sidani (WR/LB) and junior Willa Herman (QB/LB) — are prime examples “Our captains are outstanding student-athletes They all have a high level of compete and respond well to coaching,” QV coach Giuseppi Rosselli said “Ava and Mia can make big plays anytime they touch the ball They are skilled athletes who demand the attention of the defense anytime we take the field Maya immediately established herself as one of our best flag pullers She is rarely in the wrong place and anchors us on the defensive side of the ball “Willa is improving every opportunity she gets to play the most difficult position on the field She is smart and understands what we are trying to do on the offensive side of the ball I believe she can be an exceptional field general she has done a great job of creating turnovers.” Duckstein competes for the QV girls soccer team in the fall and plays club soccer with the Riverhounds She’s also participated in basketball She was a starting midfielder last fall when the Quakers captured the WPIAL Class 2A girls soccer championship Hajok was the team’s starting goalkeeper during the championship run Herman was a reserve as a midfielder/defender for the Quakers; she also plays club soccer The QV netters won the first WPIAL title in girls volleyball in school history by rolling past Hopewell The Quakers finished first in their section with a 14-0 record Sidani and Herman are helping make history at their school by playing on QV’s first-ever girls flag football team They will long be remembered as the team’s first captains “I’ve always loved sports and trying new things and when I heard QV was starting a flag football team I knew I wanted to be part of it,” Duckstein said “It seemed like a great way to challenge myself and learn a new game I love the game and I’m having so much fun with my teammates and coaches “It’s been such a fun and exciting experience Being part of something new and helping build it from the ground up has been really special The energy and support from everyone — our coaches teammates and school — has been amazing It’s been a great way to represent our school in a new way in a sport that is growing and gaining momentum in Pittsburgh and all over the country.” Sidani was intrigued by the idea of tackling the concept of flag football; it didn’t take her long to follow her craving “I was looking for a spring sport that was a little bit different,” Sidani said “and when I saw the opportunity to play flag football with my friends “I think it’s cool to be playing on the first QV flag football team I’m happy to be a part of QV history and I hope maybe more girls will consider joining next year.” Herman had watched some of her friends at Ambridge compete on the gridiron and became convinced flag football was for her “I went to one of their games and it looked so fun They convinced me to join and I’m really glad I did,” she said “I think it’s really awesome to be playing on the first flag football team at Quaker Valley We have a lot of very talented girls and it’s been really fun so far I’ve enjoyed getting a new skill set and improving every time we play “I’m really excited for next school year; we are going to have a great team I think the only thing we need to work on is getting more people and I would love for more people to play next year.” The Quakers won their season-opening game March 30 against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and have been in playoff contention all season Hajok scored the first touchdown in program history on an interception return against OLSH and was awarded the game ball “Being part of this team has shown me how strong and capable we are as female athletes,” Hajok said “and I hope it inspires more girls to get involved and chase what they love whether it’s on the field or beyond.” Other QV flag football team members include seniors Ava Savage (WR/LB) and Mae Kruawangmon (LB); juniors Ana Luiza Bacchi (WR) and Ella Palmer (WR/QB/CB); sophomores Maggie Watson (C/LB) and Mila Harrison (WR/LB); and freshmen Alayna Gill (WR/CB) Auden Cerniglia (CB) and Natalie Minnock (WR/QB/S) “I’m really grateful for all the support from my coaches my teammates and our parents,” Duckstein said “It’s been amazing to see how much we’ve grown as a team and how quickly flag football is taking off “I hope more QV girls join in the future and I really believe this is just the start of something special It’s exciting to be part of the beginning of something that’s only going to get bigger and better in the next few years.” The Quakers’ brain trust consists of Rosselli and assistants Jordan Grassel and Susan Bauduin “We do not have a set starting lineup,” Rosselli said It is important that kids can be flexible and play multiple positions.” Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem carries through the South Fayette defense during the first quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem gets a block from Nate Stohl to break free for a touchdown during the third quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem scores past South Fayette’s Noah Mathias during the third quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair’s Nico D’Orazio carries past South Fayette’s Noah Mathias during the second quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair’s John Banbury hurdles South Fayette’s Sylas Aitken during the third quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem prepares to take a snap behind Nate Stohl during the third quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem scores against South Fayette during the second quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. South Fayette quarterback Drew Welhorsky carries past Upper St. Clair’s Nate Stohl during the first quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Calir’s Austin Middelton sacks South Fayette quarterback Drew Welhorsky during the third quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair head coach Mike Junko celebrates with Austin Middleton after the Panthers scored their second touchdown against South Fayette on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair’s Charlie Bywalski intercepts a pass during the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair’s John Banbury carries through the South Fayette defense during the third quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem follows Van Hellman into the South Fayette defense during the third quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. The Upper St. Clair student section brings the noise to the Panthers defense on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. South Fayette’s Alex Deanes scores during the fourth quarter against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. South Fayette’s Alex Deanes celebrates with Ray Schuler after scoring during the fourth quarter against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair kicker Jacobo Echeverria kicks a field goal late in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair kicker Jacobo Echeverria watches his field goal late in the fourth quarter on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. South Fayette quarterback Drew Welhorsky takes a snap against Upper St. Clair on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, at South Fayette. Upper St. Clair rushed for 342 yards and senior Julian Dahlem scored twice as the second-ranked Panthers defeated No. 4 South Fayette, 17-7, in a battle of unbeaten teams in the Allegheny Six. Having a defense able to force three turnovers also gave them the luxury of being a little boring on offense. USC completed only one downfield pass, which was one more than last week. “For games in the future, we’re definitely going to have to complete more passes,” senior lineman Nate Stohl said. “But we’re running the ball and it’s working, so why change it?” Dahlem rushed for 174 yards on 20 carries, and sophomore John Banbury added 18 carries for 137 yards despite a broken finger injured early in the game. Dahlem scored on a 5-yard run just before halftime, and added a 38-yarder in the third quarter for a 14-0 lead. “Our kids have an identity,” USC coach Mike Junko said of playing physical, run-heavy football. “They feel they can do just that. We had like a 95-yard drive. That’s where they’re comfortable. It’s something that, coming out of the locker room, they know we’re going to do it (and) we know we’re going to do it.” The win keeps Upper St. Clair (7-0, 2-0) undefeated and tied with No. 3 Bethel Park (7-0, 2-0) atop the conference. Those two meet next week at Bethel Park. South Fayette (6-1, 1-1) was off to its best start since joining Class 5A in 2020. The Lions visit defending conference and WPIAL champion Peters Township (6-1, 1-1) next week. “There are no moral victories in football, but I feel confident I can go in there to the locker room and know that our guys are going to battle,” first-year South Fayette coach Marty Spieler said. “Every play, they’re going to hang with whoever they put out there. We have another one next week, and I feel confident that we’re going to compete in this conference.” South Fayette cut Upper St. Clair’s lead to 14-7 early in the fourth with a 37-yard pass from junior quarter Drew Welhorsky to sophomore Alex Deanes. The two connected on a fourth-and-8 play to break up the shutout. Welhorsky completed 11 of 18 passes for 180 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also rushed for a team-high 76 yards on 18 carries. South Fayette had a chance for a tying drive later in the fourth until Upper St. Clair’s Charley Bywalski intercepted a pass near midfield, dashing the Lions’ hopes with 4:39 left. USC linebacker Van Hellmann recovered a fumble late in the fourth and Carter Stein had an interception in the first half. Upper St. Clair junior Jacobo Echeverria Lozano made a 31-yard field goal with 1:28 left to seal the win. “Every week is going to be tight like this,” Junko said. “We’re playing in the best conference in 5A right now. You’ve got to buckle up and go get another one next week.” Upper St. Clair’s first touchdown drive covered 95 yards in 13 plays, setting a tone with 11 runs for a 7-0 halftime lead. The second scoring drive was quicker, covering 80 yards in five plays. It gave the Panthers a 14-0 edge late in the third quarter. The versatile Dahlem, listed as a quarterback and wide receiver on the team’s roster, took direct snaps behind center and ran with the ball. But Junko said that doesn’t mean Upper St. Clair has lost confidence in its passing game. “We need to be able to throw the football,” he said. “That’s something we’ll continue to work on. We threw it well earlier in the season. We’ve run into a two-game patch here where we haven’t been as efficient.” Penalties were another issue. Each team was flagged 10 times, which took a toll on the game’s tempo. Upper St. Clair had another would-be touchdown run erased by a first-quarter penalty. Dahlem was quick to share credit for the running game’s success with the teammates blocking for him and Banbury. “It’s the people up front,” Dahlem said. “Nate Stohl, Mason Geyer, Brock Gillespie, Bobby Fleckenstein, Reese Pirain, Michael Albert and Beck Shields. They work their butts off in practice and work so hard for this team. It’s all because of them.” Spieler also gave credit to the blocking of Hellmann, an H-back, who shook off an early injury to stay in the game. “We’re a physical football team,” Stohl said, “and it continues to work.” Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins dunks against Imani Christian on Jan. 7. Upper St. Clair’s Tyler Robbins dunks against Imani Christian’s D.J. Craighead during their game on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2024, at USC. the lights could be turned out Thursday on the race for a championship in Section 2-6A Clair (18-1) can clinch the section crown with a win against Imani Christian (11-6) at CCAC-Allegheny on the North Side of Pittsburgh on Thursday The Panthers are riding high with a perfect 11-0 section record and have won 13 straight games since suffering their only loss of the season to Montour in mid-December The Saints are 9-2 in section play in their first season competing in Class 6A but they have gone down to the wire and beyond in two of those wins a one-point victory over Norwin and an overtime triumph against Hempfield When the two first met this season at Upper St the Panthers throttled the Saints in a battle of top two teams in the class USC seniors Tyler Robbins and Nico Gidas led the rout with 23 points each Sledge was held to only seven points for Imani One of the top matchups on the final Thursday in January on the WPIAL girls basketball schedule is in the lowest classification In a rematch of the 2024 Class A district title game two-time defending champion Union (18-0) will look to clinch the Section 1-A title when it hosts St The Scotties are one of only three WPIAL basketball teams with perfect records including an 11-0 mark in section games this season they have a two-game lead over the Spartans Union has outscored their opponents this season by an average of 55-27 In the first meeting 22 days ago in Natrona Heights The Spartans have won five games in a row since that loss to the Scotties who is averaging 19 point per game this season Freshman Bella Bartolovic had 13 points to lead St The top four teams have clinched playoff berths in Section 2-3A girls basketball; however the battle for fifth place in the eight-team section is tight While Shady Side Academy and Greensburg Central Catholic fight for first and Deer Lakes and Avonworth are deadlocked for third place South Allegheny and Ligonier Valley are separated by only one game for the final playoff spot 4-12) is home to section power Greensburg Central Catholic leaving three teams to battle for the final two playoff spots in the six-team section 5-10) in a game you can watch on Trib HSSN at 7 p.m 7-11) as it prepares to host first-place Fort Cherry ©2025 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The ball is tipped between Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025 at Bethel Park. The Panthers girls basketball team proved Tuesday in the Class 6A semifinals it can defend the basket as well A suffocating defense was the key as Upper St “We talked about that for the last couple of weeks in making sure we can shut people down and play defense,” Upper St “They really did a great job playing defense.” Lebanon senior guard Payton Collins led the team in scoring this season with 338 points for an average of 15.4 points per game USC shut her out for three quarters before she scored five points in the fourth “Payton’s a really great player,” Serio said “Most of our game plan is about trying to limit her opportunities always guards the others team’s best player Our help defense was there and we did a great job in switching when necessary.” The lead changed hands three times in the first couple of minutes of the game with Mt Lebanon taking its final advantage of the game at 4-3 the Panthers went on a 10-0 run that put them in control Senior guard and Kent State commit Rylee Kalocay led Upper St Clair in the quarterfinals win over Pine-Richland with 22 points But it was a balanced Panthers attack early that helped build a double-digit lead by the middle of the second quarter Tuesday “I thought Rylee did a really nice job in passing the ball to her teammates,” Serio said She’s still going to get her chances Kalocay feels she didn’t play her best game but her teammates were there to pick up the team “I wasn’t hitting as many shots as I should have so the best thing I could have done is create opportunities for everybody else,” Kalocay said “If I have two or three people on me The Panthers went on a 7-0 run in the second quarter as they upped their lead over the Blue Devils to 12 points at halftime Clair led by as many as 21 points before taking a big lead into the fourth quarter Lebanon kept fighting and scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter “I’m very proud of our team fighting to the end,” Mt Lebanon first-year coach Mark “Knobby” Walsh said They adjusted to each thing we tried.” The Blue Devils were led by sophomore guard Anessa Donoghue Lebanon falls to 14-10 and must regroup quickly as it visits Canon-McMillan on Thursday for a berth in the PIAA playoffs Kalocay tallied 19 points to lead the Panthers while junior guard Meredith Huzjak chipped in with 12 points Clair improves to 18-6 and will battle Norwin in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center at 5 p.m It is the third meeting of the season between the top two finishers in Section 2-6A with each splitting their regular season meetings while Norwin returned the favor with a road victory in late January This also marks the third trip to the district finals for the Panthers seniors looking for the program’s first title since 2008 “It’s really satisfying,” Serio said the team played as well as they could play It’s not going to be easy because (Norwin) has a really good team Let’s see if we can get this done.” Clair was able to hang with Perkiomen Valley for a quarter Friday That’s when the wheels came off for the Panthers who saw their drive for a second state title break down on their way to a lopsided loss Fueled by a pair of Division I-bound seniors District 1 champion Perkiomen Valley limited Upper St Clair to 23% shooting and used its height advantage to dominate down low en route to a 58-27 mercy-rule win in the PIAA Class 6A championship at Giant Center The loss ended what was an outstanding season for Upper St which won its first WPIAL title since 2008 and reached the PIAA final for the first time since capturing its only title in 1999 And it also ended the coaching career of Pete Serio who presided over the Panthers’ program for 11 seasons and before that was an assistant for his wife “It’s been so much fun these last six weeks I was going to get emotional whether we won or lost because I knew it was over,” Serio said but to me it’s about the six seniors and it’s over I was going to be emotional no matter what today because I knew this was it And what better way to end it for me than winning a WPIAL title and ending up in Hershey.” The game itself Friday was no sweet and plenty of sour for Upper St which was actually playing Perkiomen Valley (28-3) located 33 miles northwest of Philadelphia The Vikings traveled to Western Pennsylvania in December and left town with a 63-57 win Clair being held to 9-of-38 shooting from the field a Kent State recruit who came in averaging 23 points per game was limited to a team-best 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting The Panthers didn’t score more than eight points in any quarter “The way they played against us in December and the film that I have watched that’s the best defense I’ve seen them play all year whose team had won eight consecutive games “We played them earlier in the season and we played them better then I personally could have played a lot better This is no way anybody wants to end their career Perkiomen Valley fully controlled the game over the final three quarters the Vikings scored the first eight points of the second quarter before going on to outscore the Panthers in the frame to take a 30-12 halftime lead It was more of the same in the third quarter with the Vikings beginning the quarter on a 7-0 run before invoking the mercy rule when Bella Bacani’s 3-pointer with 1:15 left increased their lead to 50-19 Grace Galbavy, a 6-foot senior guard and Wake Forest recruit, scores her first points of the game and the Perkiomen Valley lead has grown to 19-7 with 4:47 left in the first half. pic.twitter.com/i3M1ZaBdQX “They’re really good,” Serio said. “They’ve got two Division I players and two Division II players. They have four scholarship players. And they shot the crap out of the ball today. We made a lot of mistakes, but it wasn’t because we were just happy to be here. I can promise you that. I just think we ran into a really good team tonight. Once things started going poorly, we never seemed to recover. We needed a momentum boost, but we never got it.” Lena Stein, a West Chester-bound senior guard, also scored in double-digits for Perkiomen Valley, whose state title was their first. Stein drilled three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points to go along with seven rebounds. “It was just harder to guard so many options when so many people are hitting,” Kalocay said. Only five players scored for Upper St. Clair. In addition to Kalocay’s 10 points, fellow senior Olivia Terlecki chipped in six points — all on 3-pointers — and junior Ryan Prunzik had five. And while this was a game Upper St. Clair would like to forget, the season overall was an unforgettable one for the Panthers, their standout senior and their now-retired coach. Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay is called for charging on Canon-McMillan’s Lauren Borella during a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff game Tuesday at Peters Township. Upper St. Clair’s Ryan Prunzik fights for a loose ball with Canon-McMillan’s Samantha Miller during a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff game Tuesday at Peters Township. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay drives past Canon-McMillan’s Faye Saunders during a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff game Tuesday at Peters Township. Canon-McMillan’s Brooke Stanton grabs a loose ball from Upper St. Clair’s Grace Howell during a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff game Tuesday at Peters Township. Upper St. Clair’s Olivia Terlecki fights for a loose ball with Canon-McMillan’s Samantha Miller (10) and Isabella Urso during a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff game Tuesday at Peters Township. Upper St. Clair’s Claire Rosenberry fights for a rebound with Canon-McMillan’s Samantha Miller (10) and Madison Clair during a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff game Tuesday at Peters Township. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay is fouled by Canon-McMillan’s Brooke Stanton during a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff game Tuesday at Peters Township. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay scores over Canon-McMillan’s Brooke Stanton during a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff game Tuesday at Peters Township. Upper St. Clair’s Rylee Kalocay blocks the shot of Canon-McMillan’s Brooke Stanton during a PIAA Class 6A second-round playoff game Tuesday at Peters Township. Clair senior Rylee Kalocay always has a message for her teammates in the huddle after player introductions her message was a little longer than usual but this game was really meaningful for us because it was the last time we were going to play locally together,” she said The message didn’t kick in until the third quarter Clair was able to pull away from a young and scrappy Canon-McMillan team “We didn’t hit our shots in the first half “We have to do better with the ball and do better with possessions There wasn’t much good about the shooting in the first half for either side then the Panthers and Big Macs were held to only five points each in the second quarter “Our defense has been the key to what we’ve done over the last few weeks,” Serio said “It’s really nice when someone comes up to me after the game and says ‘Your defense was fabulous.’ That makes me smile The Panthers got the offense going in the third quarter thanks to three 3-pointers the lead ballooned from three points to 12 when senior guard Meredith Huzjak hit the first trey followed by back-to-back 3s by senior forward Olivia Terlecki “We needed to make some shots,” Serio said “Scoring 15 points in a half I’m sure is the lowest we’ve had all year Kalocay thought that run and those shots were the difference in the game if I can get to the hoop and kick out to somebody they are two of the ones I’m looking for every time.” Canon-McMillan never got the deficit back to single digits again “Our offense was hurting,” Canon-McMillan head coach and former USC assistant John Fontana said “Lauren Borella did not practice the last few days and she’s been dealing with a knee injury and fighting the flu and Samantha Miller has been really banged up lately But we missed a lot of bunnies and free throws.” The Big Macs finished 7 of 14 from the free-throw line Fontana was also happy with the play of sophomore forward Faye Saunders “She was raw last year but kept getting better,” Fontana said “She really worked hard this offseason If she improves as much next year as she did this season I expect her to be one of the better players in the WPIAL.” A historic season ends for a Canon-McMillan team that does not have any seniors making the PIAA playoffs and winning a state playoff game “I told them afterward in the locker room we were one of 16 teams left standing,” Fontana said The work is not done for the WPIAL champions the final District 7 team standing in the PIAA playoffs led the Panthers with 20 points and Huzjak added 10 points Clair improves to 21-6 and will now face the No 5 team out of District 1 in Haverford (23-5) in the PIAA quarterfinals Friday “I’m very proud of them,” Serio said and I hope it continues because I’ll miss these kids I’d like to have two more weeks with them if I could.” Clair to the girls team title at the South Fayette Invitational on Saturday Delaney Schumaker was also a double winner for the host Lions Winchester Thurston’s Alexis Bansah also took a pair of individual titles WPIAL winners were Armstrong’s Avery Hogan (discus) Knoch’s Karlee Buterbaugh (javelin) and Hempfield’s Jiana Patterson (shot put) Other WPIAL champs were Thomas Jefferson’s Sylvia Kashak (800) Lebanon’s Lauren Krebs (300 hurdles) Gateway’s Taniya Denson (pole vault) and the Hampton 3,200 relay team Gateway had three individual first-place finishes on the boys side with Dino Nadarevic taking the discus and shot put and Austin Lockhart winning the triple jump Butler’s Kevin Shriver and Penn Hills’ Penn Hills (200) won the sprints McKeesport’s Quentcy Stringer (110) and Neighborhood Academy’s Darrin Haynes (300) took first in the hurdles Winners in the distance events were Winchester Thurston’s Eli DeSimone (800) Allderdice’s Will Tew (1,600) and North Catholic’s Tyler Carroll (3,200) Butler won the 400 and 1,600 relays with Upper St Other WPIAL winners were Chartiers Valley’s Christian Crowley (pole vault) and Pine-Richland’s Ryan Beam (javelin) Wilmington 0 – Mia Preuhs went 3 for 3 with a home run and five RBIs and pitched the shutout to lead Union (13-1) to the six-inning nonsection win over Wilmington Olivia Williams added four runs and a stolen base and Irelyn Fisher drove in three runs for Union Winchester Thurston 7 – Sammi Reilly scored four goals to lead Hempfield (3-9) past Winchester Thurston (3-7) in nonsection play Claire Kochis added a goal and an assist for Hempfield Fox Chapel 8 – Caroline Grimsley scored her 100th career goal in a nonsection loss for Fox Chapel (8-4) Meg Delaney had a goal and three assists for the Foxes Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem eludes Franklin Regional’s Matthew Moore on a long run during the second quarter Friday. Upper St. Clair head coach Mike Junko listens to his team as they get fired up before a game against Franklin Regional on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair head coach Mike Junko leads his team onto the field before a game against Franklin Regional on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem carries for a 53-yard touchdown run on the first play against Franklin Regional on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Nico D’Orazio scores past Franklin Regional’s Macallister Bresnahan during the second quarter Friday. Upper St. Clair’s Charley Bywalski catches a long pass in front of Franklin Regional’s Elijah Bennett during the first quarter Friday. Upper St. Clair’s Charley Bywalski fends off Franklin Regional’s Elijah Bennett during the first quarter on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. The Upper St. Clair student section cheers on the Panthers at the start of their game against Franklin Regional on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Nate Stohl tackles Franklin Regional’s Kyle Dupill for a 4-yard loss on the first play from scrimmage on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Ethan Blough intercepts a pass against Franklin Regional during the second quarter Friday. Upper St. Clair’s Nico D’Orazio carries for a touchdown against Franklin Regional during the second quarter Friday. Upper St. Clair’s Charley Bywalski (left) and Randy Yan break up a pass intended for Franklin Regional’s Macallister Bresnahan during the first quarter Friday. Upper St. Clair quarterback Ethan Hellmann scrambles against Franklin Regional on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Charley Bywalski catches a touchdown pass during the second quarter against Franklin Regional on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Charley Bywalski celebrates after catching a touchdown pass during the second quarter against Franklin Regional on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem scores on a 53-yard run on the first play against Franklin Regional on Friday. Upper St. Clair’s Julian Dahlem celebrates after scoring a 53-yard touchdown on the first play against Franklin Regional on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Franklin Regional quarterback Chase Lemke carries past Upper St. Clair’s Michael Albert during the second quarter Friday. Franklin Regional’s Kyle Dupill eludes Upper St. Clair defenders during the second quarter on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Storm clouds roll over the stadium, as Upper St. Clair drives for a score during the second quarter against Franklin Regional on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, at USC. Clair that roared early and often in a mercy-rule 45-7 nonconference victory against Franklin Regional on Friday night at Upper St Clair (3-0) scored 21 points in the opening quarter and never looked back It got things going with Julian Dahlem on its first offensive play of the night as Dahlem scored on a 53-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes Franklin Regional (2-1) could not get anything going offensively in the first half Dante Coury scored on the next two offensive drives with runs of 2 and 3 yards and they did again tonight,” Upper St who scored on a 65-yard run with 11:34 left in the second quarter it followed with a 29-yard field goal by Jacobo Echeverria for a 31-0 lead with 8:55 left in the second quarter who suffered a concussion in a Week 1 road win at Canon-McMillan and was questionable to play all week returned to action and hit Charley Bywalski on a 9-yard touchdown pass with 4:42 left in the first half Clair a 38-0 halftime lead and put the mercy rule in effect for the second half “Our defense has really improved since Week Zero and our tackling has gotten better,” Junko said “They are playing as a unit right now We are excited about their progress.” Franklin Regional quarterback Chase Lemke ended the shutout with a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:30 left in the third quarter Freshman quarterback Josh Snyder scored on a 33-yard run with 47 seconds left for Upper St Clair was led by Dahlem with four carries for 120 yards and a touchdown Franklin Regional was paced by Kyle Dupill with 15 carries for 104 yards in the loss “We try to move him around and get him to go at teams from all different angles and he does a really nice job with that.” Franklin Regional will play at home next week for the first time this season as it hosts Latrobe in a Week 3 Big East Conference game Clair will travel to Hampton for a nonconference matchup Clair’s Tyler Robbins dunks against Baldwin during the 2024 WPIAL Class 6A championship game who was roughed up by McDowell’s defense for four quarters and nearly all of overtime even if the game-winning pass to Robbins wasn’t actually intended for the 6-foot-10 forward but rather a teammate “It was so apropos that we ended the game with a Tyler Robbins dunk,” Holzer said “I feel like he got beat up the entire game physical battle … and Tyler kept fighting and fighting and fighting “It was definitely frustrating,” said Robbins admitting that he might’ve lost his cool a couple of times “I was struggling offensively the whole game Clair (26-2) advances to face Philadelphia’s Roman Catholic in a PIAA semifinal March 22 at a site and time to be announced Clair’s second trip to the state semifinals The Panthers lost in the quarterfinals last season “We needed to clear this hurdle,” Holzer said Blayze Myers led McDowell with 17 points and Stephon Porter had 11 The Trojans had nobody taller than 6-3 on their roster so they tried to match USC’s size with strength The teams combined for only six points in overtime “District 10 basketball is gritty and defensive,” McDowell coach Kevin O’Conner said Clair had a chance to win in regulation but a rushed buzzer-beater by Jake Foster missed in the fourth quarter left the score tied at 47 The teams traded baskets to start overtime Robbins scored on a putback with 2:20 remaining and McDowell’s Porter answered with a tying layup with 1:04 left Tied 49-49 with less than 30 seconds remaining in overtime McDowell decided to hold for the last shot Porter drove into the lane and passed to Myers “I saw Niko Gidas in the corner jumping up and down,” Disora said That was the play of the game,” Robbins said Clair had fallen behind early and trailed 15-6 after one quarter The teams were tied 21-21 at the half after the Panthers won the second quarter 15-6 Three 3-pointers by Gidas in the third let Upper St A putback basket by McDowell’s Leo Finazzo forced a 45-45 tie with 2:30 remaining in the fourth USC’s Ryan Robbins answered with a layup about 20 seconds later to retake the lead But the last points of regulation belonged to McDowell Clair held the ball for the final 50 seconds of regulation without breaking the tie and Holzer drew a second-quarter technical for slapping the scorer’s table He said it was only the third technical of his career “I understand the referee had to do that,” he said Holzer was dancing in the locker room with his players afterward “We’re on a two-year run and the kids have been phenomenal 1 in the preseason and here we are going to the semifinals After missing the second half of her junior season with a torn ACL Clair star Rylee Kalocay’s game would ever be the same Kalocay’s 33-point performance Friday night to send the Panthers to the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals should tell you everything you need to know “Rylee is probably the most competitive player I’ve ever coached,” said longtime Upper St. Clair coach Pete Serio. “She has her goals in her mind. She knows what she wants, and she’s going to do whatever she can to achieve those goals. … It says a lot about her work ethic, but again, it comes back to her competitiveness. She wanted to get back, and she was going to do whatever she had to do to get back. “At the end of the day, I’m always glad she’s on my team.” In each of her first two high school seasons, Kalocay played an integral role in helping the Panthers advance to the WPIAL championship, only to go home with a silver medal on both occasions. Now, in her final chance to bring home a gold before graduating, Serio said Kalocay is embracing the moment and making sure she does whatever it takes to lead her team to victory. “When Rylee has been healthy, we’ve made it to ‘The Pete’ every year,” Serio said. “I know that’s our goal again.” While Upper St. Clair had to scramble to overcome Kalocay’s absence after her injury a season ago, the Panthers (17-6) are trying to fill another void left by injured point guard Ryan Prunzik this postseason. In her place, Kalocay has shifted from shooting guard back to the point, where she played earlier in her career. Serio isn’t sure whether Prunzik will be able to suit up again this season, but he said he’ll leave the light on for her just in case. “It’s day by day at this point,” Serio said. “We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing, and if she plays, that would be great.” Elsewhere, other players such as Meredith Huzjak and Liv Terlecki have picked up the slack while providing some much-needed secondary scoring, and Serio pointed to Terlecki as the team’s “unsung hero” for her ability to shut down the opposing team’s best player night in and night out on the defensive end. “Liv Terlecki always ends up guarding the other team’s best player. She did again tonight,” Serio said. “She guarded [Cate] Gentile, who averages [18.9 points] a game, and she held her to 9. That’s just what Liv does. She plays fabulous defense. I think she would score more if she wasn’t so concerned about playing defense.” After a 12-2 start, Upper St. Clair stumbled down the stretch to a 4-4 finish to close out the regular season, but the Panthers seem to have rediscovered their winning ways at just the right time. Now, with a high-stakes showdown looming against archrival Mt. Lebanon and a spot in the WPIAL championship on the line, Serio said the only thing his team is thinking about is the next game in front of them. “We did stumble a little bit, but it doesn’t matter anymore,” Serio said. “We are where we are right now, and that’s where we wanted to be. We have what we have in front of us, and we have to seize the opportunity we have. “As long as Rylee is out on the court with us, I think I’ll take my chances.” • In a rematch of the 2024 WPIAL championship, reigning champion Norwin (14-7) sent No. 8 North Allegheny home in a 52-30 triumph. Bella Furno led the No. 1 Knights with a game-high 18 points to go with 15 from Kendall Berger. Leah Skweres finished with a team-leading 10 points for the visiting Tigers (9-14). • In a matchup of Lawrence County rivals, No. 1 Neshannock surged for 37 points in the first quarter before cruising the rest of the way for a 66-40 win against No. 8 Laurel (10-14). Junior forward Payton Newman turned in arguably the finest performance of her career, racking up 28 points with 12 rebounds and 6 steals for the Lancers (22-2). • Freshman forward Ariel Poelcher led all scorers with 14 points to go with 11 apiece from Ashtyn Michael and Bailey Strnisa, helping No. 4 South Side (19-5) claim a 45-32 home win in the rubber match against section rival Fort Cherry (19-4). Gianna Bianchini and Allison Litman each finished with 8 points to lead the No. 5 Rangers. Winchester Thurston 40, Chartiers-Houston 27 Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com. The Panthers handed defending WPIAL champion Peters Township its first loss last week, and their reward was a clash this week with undefeated South Fayette (6-0, 1-0). And waiting for USC next week is Bethel Park (6-0, 1-0), which also seems likely to remain undefeated. It’s a unique three-week grind in the Allegheny Six. “That is a rarity,” Upper St. Clair coach Mike Junko said. “I don’t know that I’ve ever gone through three teams in a row that will likely be undefeated in the middle of your season. That’s just the strength of the conference.” Making the situation more impressive is that Upper St. Clair is also undefeated after six games. The Panthers (6-0, 1-0) are ranked second in WPIAL 5A and chasing their first conference title since 2017. Whoever wins the Allegheny Six will certainly have earned it. Refocusing after one big game in time to tackle another isn’t always easy. That’s the challenge this year for teams in this conference. “One of the big things we’ve talked about with the team is being where your feet are,” Junko said. “We’ve kind of been the team that had to scratch and claw to get where we are. Now you’ve got to learn how to play with success. We’ve talked a lot about the importance of coming back down to Earth and focusing on a really good football team.” Their opponent this week, fourth-ranked South Fayette, is off to its best start in seven years. The Lions are out to prove their unbeaten record is solid and that they’re again WPIAL contenders like they were in decades past. South Fayette hosts Upper St. Clair at 7 p.m. Friday. The Lions have compiled a 6-14 conference record in the Allegheny Six since joining Class 5A in 2020. The team is under new leadership this season with Marty Spieler taking over for coach Joe Rossi, who resigned after 17 seasons and four WPIAL titles. “We’re doing some things that hasn’t happened at South Fayette in a couple of years,” Spieler said. “Joe Rossi did a fantastic job in the 2010s, but it’s been tough for us in 5A recently. Our kids want to get back to that era of all the Brumbaughs.” South Fayette is coming off a 38-0 win over Baldwin. Junior quarterback Drew Welhorsky passed for 156 yards and two touchdowns while also rushing for 121 yards and two more scores. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Welhorsky is a true dual-threat quarterback who leads the team in yards passing (1,203) and rushing (632). He’s thrown for 11 touchdowns and run for nine. “He is fun to watch for sure,” Spieler said. “He’s a lacrosse kid and knows how to take a beating as an attacker.” Welhorsky’s top receivers are sophomore Alex Deanes (22 catches) and senior Ben Cavenaugh (15 catches). The Lions average 28.3 points per game, but also own the stingiest defense in WPIAL 5A. They allow only 8.1 points per game, led by inside linebackers Cooper Hillebrand (32 tackles) and Travis Watkins (34 tackles), who also are lacrosse players. “They play hard on every play,” Junko said. “You know you have to block all 11 on defense because they’re all going to try to make a play. It’s impressive.” Upper St. Clair is coming off a 21-7 victory over Peters Township. Versatile senior Julian Dahlem scored three times in the win. He returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown and scored on runs of 16 and 71 yards. The running back can take snaps from center along with starting quarterback Ethan Hellmann, but USC’s offense doesn’t throw often. “It’s October football in Western Pennsylvania. You have to stop the run,” Spieler said. “That’s never bigger than with Upper St. Clair and Julian Dahlem.” Upper St. Clair didn’t complete a pass against Peters Township and instead ran the ball 40 times. Dahlem rushed for 185 yards on 22 carries, but Junko said he’d like to add a little more balance to the offense. “We’ve relied on the guys up front and some of our playmakers to break a tackle or two,” Junko said. “The formula has worked thus far. Run the football, play good defense and create turnovers. That’s kind of how we’ve been winning football games.” Upper St. Clair averages 40.3 points per game, second only to Bethel Park (50.1) in WPIAL 5A. USC’s defense allows 10.5 led by senior lineman Nate Stohl, a Princeton commit, and junior linebacker Van Hellmann, another Division I recruit. USC won this matchup 34-21 last year in the regular-season finale. Four of the five teams in the current WPIAL 5A rankings hail from the Allegheny Six. Bethel Park is second and Peters Township (5-1, 0-1) is fifth. “This year the stars have aligned where everyone has really good talent and everyone is doing a great job of coaching,” Junko said. “It makes for a great Friday night atmosphere. Everywhere we go, it’s packed.” 2024 at 2:59 pm ET.css-79elbk{position:relative;}(Shutterstock)UPPPER ST and the time window that day to grab some treats so you don't have to play diabolical tricks is narrow - so trick-or-treaters and parents should make every moment count Part of doing that is knowing when official trick-or-treat hours are in your community It’s also recommended that costumes are bright or that trick-or-treaters carry a light so they’re visible to everyone around them Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.