Upper St. Clair boys throttle Mt. Lebanon, 71-45
Panthers get boost from younger brothers of stars
As Upper St. Clair’s leading scorers and senior leaders, Tanner Gensler and Chris Pantelis are used to coming up big in big games. But in arguably the Panthers’ biggest win of the season Tuesday night, it was their little brothers who stole the show.
Sophomores Luke Gensler and David Pantelis scored 18 points apiece as WPIAL Class 6A No. 3-ranked Upper St. Clair (19-2, 8-2) delivered an emphatic statement in a 71-45 dismantling of No. 2 host Mt. Lebanon (17-3, 91). Tanner Gensler, the Panthers’ leading scorer, also finished with 18 points as Upper St. Clair exacted revenge on the Blue Devils, who went into the Panthers building and defeated them, 56-46, Jan. 11.
“It’s amazing,” Luke Gensler said. “We just wanted it so bad as a team, and we just came together and beat them.”
Although the teams split the season series and Mt. Lebanon already clinched the Class 6A Section 2 title, all the momentum seems to have shifted into Upper St. Clair’s favor heading into the postseason.
Early on, it didn’t look like things would turn into such a one-sided affair. Both teams shot well in the first quarter as the Panthers took a 17-15 lead into the start of the second quarter, but Upper St. Clair started to take over from there. Backed by the hot shooting of the younger Gensler and Pantelis brothers, the Panthers led, 33-25, at the break.
“I loved watching those two go off early in the game, and it really gave me confidence to get going and get to the rim more,” Tanner Gensler said. “It was awesome to see them go off early and kind of take some weight off me and Chris [Pantelis’] shoulders and everyone else.”
Upper St. Clair’s hot shooting continued after the break as the older Gensler started to get in on the action. But it was the older Pantelis who made the highlight play of the second half, taking a fastbreak up the court and dribbling behind his back to juke past a defender and immediately find his younger brother David under the basket for an easy layup.
“That was tremendous,” Chris Pantelis said. “I didn’t score, but I loved to see him do it. It was great.”
The layup by David Pantelis gave the Upper St. Clair a 40-27 lead midway through the third quarter, and the Panthers continued to build on their advantage as the quarter went on. By the time the fourth quarter got underway, Mt. Lebanon found itself in a 48-33 hole.
Although the older Pantelis is second on the team with an average of 15.9 points per game, he said he couldn’t care less about only scoring six points on the night as his younger brother put on a show.
“I’m here to do whatever it takes to win,” Chris Pantelis said. “That’s been my attitude since the beginning of the year. I could score zero points or 20 points, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m just looking to win, and this win was huge.”
David Pantelis, meanwhile, deferred all the credit to his older brother and the team’s senior leaders for getting him open looks and passing him the ball, saying this win was dedicated to them.
“Since they beat us the first time, we had to come back and beat them the second time,” David Pantelis said. “But it was all for the seniors, because they led us to this victory.”
Although Upper St. Clair coach Danny Holzer was hesitant to call this his team’s biggest win of the season, the older Gensler had no problem deeming it as such.
“No doubt about it, this is the biggest win we’ve had,” Tanner Gensler said. “It’s going to help a lot for playoffs, and we’re going to go from there.”