Freshmen driving Upper St. Clair in WPIALs

Upper St. Clair has four starters and a top reserve who aren’t even yet old enough to get a driver’s license.

That hasn’t stopped this group of fabulous freshmen from driving the Panthers to the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals.

You don’t often see a team start four freshmen, let alone one good enough to reach the final four in the district’s largest classification. But here is Upper St. Clair, guided by coach Pete Serio, now a win away from reaching Petersen Events Center to play for a WPIAL title. The Panthers (14-7), seeded sixth, will play No. 2 North Allegheny (20-3) Tuesday in a semifinal at North Hills. This is Upper St. Clair’s first semifinal appearance since 2012. The Panthers last reached the final in 2008.

Kate Robbins, Mia Brown, Ava Keating and Sam Prunzik are the freshman starters. Paige Dellicarri is one of the first players off the bench. They might be young — all are 14 and 15 years old — but the group has been playing together for quite a while. Robbins said that she, Brown and Prunzik were first teammates in kindergarten. They’ve played with Keating and Dellicarri since fourth grade.

The talent of these freshmen has been evident for years, Serio said, but few would have predicted they would make such a sizable impact playing varsity basketball so soon.

“It means a lot,” Robbins said. “I’ve always liked winning a bunch, but it’s really crazy because I don’t think any of us expected this would happen. We knew we could do it, but I don’t think we thought we would.”

Robbins, a 6-foot-1 forward, is the only post player among the five. She leads the team with averages of 11 points and seven rebounds per game, but the word “average” would never be used to describe her performance in a 52-39 quarterfinal upset of No. 3 Norwin. Robbins produced career highs of 30 points and 20 rebounds.

“That performance was as good as I’ve seen from a freshman, and I’m not just saying that because she’s my kid,” Serio said.

Brown is second on the team with 10 points a game and Keating averages eight. Brown scored 18 points and Keating 15 to help Upper St. Clair beat Mt. Lebanon, 53-40, in its final section game. Mt.

Lebanon plays another Section 2 team, Bethel Park, in the other semifinal.

“What stands out is they’re complete,” North Allegheny coach Spencer Stefko said of Upper St. Clair’s freshmen. “They can already do everything. There’s supposed to be holes in the game of freshmen and sophomores, but you just don’t see the glaring holes in their game that you would normally see.”

Basketball talent runs in their families. Robbins’ mother, Kim Seaver, was a star at Mt. Lebanon and was named to the Post-Gazette’s Fabulous 5 team in 1996. Brown’s father, Ryan, played on an Upper St. Clair team that reached the WPIAL final in 1994. Prunzik’s dad, Jeff, was a standout at Mt. Lebanon who played in the preliminary game of the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic in 1987. Keating’s father, Phil, helped Mt. Lebanon reach the WPIAL final in 1990.

“They have the work ethic and probably want to emulate their parents,” Serio said. “The bloodlines are fabulous. It’s unique because they’re all at the same school.”

Upper St. Clair’s only nonfreshman starter is junior Alex Prunzik, Sam’s sister.

North Allegheny has a terrific freshman of its own in guard Jasmine Timmerson, a stat-sheet stuffer who averages nine points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals per game. Her father, Wade, led Robert Morris to three NCAA tournament appearances and is in the school’s athletic hall of fame.

“She’s just been a great piece for us,” said Stefko, who hopes to guide North Allegheny to the final for the fifth year in a row. “She’s a complete basketball player. Whatever the situation calls for, she’s doing, and that’s the part that’s interesting. And I see the same thing in those St. Clair freshmen. They’re not freshmen anymore. At the beginning of the year they are, but not in February.”

Timmerson, Robbins and Brown all play on the same Western Pa. Bruins AAU team.

Cam Phillips and Mia Tuman are two other North Allegheny freshmen who see time. Mia is the daughter of former Steelers tight end Jerame Tuman.

Stefko, who described he and Serio as being “follicly challenged,” joked that coaching so many freshmen isn’t always peachy.

“Pete and I started this season with full heads of hair,” he said, “but coaching freshmen will do this to you.”