Chartiers Valley’s Harrett Alauzen gets a hand in the face of Upper St. Clair’s Ethan Dahlem on the final night of the regular season.
Down by five at halftime, Upper St. Clair needed to respond if it wanted to have a chance against host Chartiers Valley in a marquee non-section matchup of two of the top-ranked teams in the WPIAL. Respond they did.
The Panthers shut down the vaunted Colts offense and ripped off a 17-4 thirdquarter run before rolling to a 65-56 victory.
“I am really proud of the way we responded in the second half,” said USC coach Danny Holzer. “We really picked up our defense in the second half. All credit goes to them, because they really rose up to the challenge.”
The key was putting David Pantelis, a Yale football recruit, on the Colts’ leading scorer, Brayden Reynolds. Reynolds pumped in 14 points in the first half when the Panthers were rotating defenders. But in the second half, with Pantelis locked in, Reynolds was held to 6 points.
Luke Gensler provided the offense for the Panthers (16-1) with a game-high 24 points.
“It’s fun watching him when he gets going, he’s pretty darn good,” said Holzer.
Luke Banbury added 14 points and Pantelis had 11.
Reynolds paced the Colts (19-3) with 20 points, while Socrates Boulis chipped in 10.
Upper St. Clair is the top team in 6A and the No. 1 seed in WPIAL playoffs that begin Saturday. Ditto for Chartiers Valley in 5A.
“What a great way to end the season,” Holzer said. “Two really good teams went head-to-head and really competed.”
More top boys games
• Fox Chapel, a 6A program, got all it could handle from the top team in 1A, Bishop Canevin, but the Foxes (18-2) prevailed with a 79-71 win. Eli Yofan racked up 24 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals. He also knocked down five shots from behind the arc. JP Dockey added 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. For the Crusaders (13-5), Dom Elliott and Jhamil Fifie connected on four 3-pointers each and finished with 18 and 17 points, respectively.
• Luke Shanahan scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half before his 6A Pine-Richland (11-5) squad cruised to a 80-53 triumph against 5A Mars in a non-section clash. Mihili Sfanos led the Planets (14-3) with 16 points.
• Aquinas Academy star Vinnie Cugini poured in 36 points, but the Crusaders (7-8) could have used a couple of more scorers in a 69-66 non-section loss to Brentwood (96). The Spartans’ Dalton Daly netted 20 points.
• Chas Mrlack’s buzzer-beater gave
Monessen (10-7) a 50-49 non-section win against East Allegheny (1-12). Mrlack finished with 12 points and teammate Kody Kuhns had 13. The Wildcats’ Mikey Smith led all scorers with 15.
Top girls games
• Mt. Lebanon ended its regular season with a fourth consecutive win by downing Penn Hills (9-6) in a non-section matchup, 46-32. Ashleigh Connor led the way for the Blue Devils (15-3) with a game-high 24 points.
• A 24-point effort from Alexa McDole helped Mars (9-9) secure a 49-26 non-section victory against Deer Lakes (6-6).
• Robyn Arrington-Epperson and Westinghouse (5-2, 5-2) outdueled Piper Reck and Allderdice (4-2, 4-2) as the Bulldogs scored a 73-67 overtime victory in the City League. Arrington-Epperson netted 33 points. Reck drilled seven shots from behind the arc and led all scorers with 37.
• Duquesne recruit Liv Westphal dropped in six 3-pointers and led all scorers with 29 to lift Bethel Park (14-3) past Fox Chapel, 59-47 in non-section action. The Foxes (10-8) got 17 points from Ellie Schwartzman.
• Lizzy Groetsch’s 19-point performance helped North Allegheny (20-1) cruise past Peters Township (6-8) for a 77-42 non-section triumph. Journey Thompson paced the Indians with 16 points.
Star of the night
• Washington’s Cassandra Lewis outscored Bentworth (1-16, 0-10) by herself as she poured in 34 points to lead the Little Prexies (7-9, 5-6) to a 53-25 triumph in 3A Section 2.