USC stirs from sluggish start for easy win
Upper St. Clair coach Danny Holzer attributed his team’s sluggish start to that proverbial “WPIAL championship hangover.” Whatever it was, Upper St. Clair had the right tonic to turn things around and pull out a victory Saturday afternoon in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.
Upper St. Clair (21-5), the WPIAL Class 6A champion, fell behind by 17 points in the second quarter but came back to post a 57-53 win against visiting Central Dauphin in a PIAA first-round game.
“In the first quarter, we weren’t making shots and we weren’t defending like we defend,” said Holzer, whose team trailed 25-8 in the second quarter. “I called a timeout and tried to settle them down and just told them, ‘Let’s get back to what we do.’
Slowly but surely, we cut the lead down, made shots in the second half and defended better. In the fourth quarter, we controlled the game.”
Central Dauphin (18-9), the No. 7 team from District 3, was outscored 38-24 in the second half. Tyler Robbins, a 6-foot-9 junior, nearly had a triple-double for Upper St. Clair with 13 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocked shots. Christian Ito led with 17, and Brett Meinert added 15.
“Central Dauphin was good. They were athletic,” Holzer said. “I’m really proud of our kids’ resilience. It was a true test of a champion. We were just bad at first, but we hung in there.” Other Class 6A games McDowell 61, Baldwin 45:
Baldwin (18-8) was trying to win its first playoff game in 39 years but fell at home to District 10 McDowell (21-5). Baldwin, which made it to a WPIAL final for the first time since 1985, trailed only 29-26 at halftime, but McDowell opened up a 41-32 advantage after three quarters. Tyler Grove, a 6-foot-6 senior who came in averaging 22 points, scored 27 for McDowell. Nate Wesling led Baldwin with 17. State College 65, Mt. Lebanon 58 (3 OTs): The game was tied at 42 after regulation, 50 after the first overtime and 53 after the second overtime. But State College (13-12) outscored the Blue Devils (20-6) by 12-5 in the third extra period. Nate Girod led Mt. Lebanon with 22 points, including six 3-pointers. Riley Farabaugh added 16, with three 3-pointers. Class 3A Deer Lakes 71, Mercyhurst
Prep 64: Before 2019, Deer Lakes had been to the PIAA playoffs only once and lost in the first round. But the Lancers (22-4) earned their third trip to the second round in six years with a victory against Mercyhurst Prep (179). Wayne Love scored 21 points, Nate Moore 17 and Aiden Fletcher 15 for Deer Lakes. Ellwood City 62, Westmont Hilltop 44: Visiting Ellwood City (18-9) won a state playoff game for the first time in 26 years by defeating District 6 champion Westmont Hilltop (20-6). Joseph Roth scored 30 points for Ellwood City and moved into 29th place on the WPIAL alltime scoring list with 2,079 points. Franklin 69, Neshannock
55: Franklin (21-5) led by 19 points at halftime and cruised to the win against the visiting Lancers (20-6). David Kwiat scored 12 points for Neshannock, which was held to 17 points in the first two quarters. Chestnut Ridge 70, Shady
Side Academy 53: District 5 champion Chestnut Ridge (234) ended the season for Shady Side Academy (18-9). Class 2A Fort Cherry 61, Karns City
52: Fort Cherry (21-6), in the state playoffs for only the fourth time, trailed 30-22 at halftime but came on strong in the second half to win at Karns City (20-8). Derek Errett led Fort Cherry with 26 points, and the Rangers outscored Karns City, 39-22, in the second half. Aliquippa 56, Otto-Eldred
27: Host Aliquippa (22-5), the WPIAL champ, actually trailed 11-9 after the first quarter but limited Otto-Eldred (25-3) to 16 quarters the led Greensburg Aliquippa 57, points easy Windber to win. in with come the Central Cam 13 40: final away points. Greensburg Lindsey Catholic three with took first quarter a Central 10-point and Catholic cruised lead after to (24-3) the the win (16-10). against Tyree visiting Turner Windber led the Centurions with 25 points, 16 in the second half. Bishop Guilfoyle 62, Burrell
51: Burrell (16-10), trying for its first PIAA win in school history, came up short against visiting Bishop Guilfoyle (24-4). Macky Bennis scored 15 for Burrell. Redbank Valley 66, Northgate 62 (OT): District 9 champion Redbank Valley (23-3) needed an extra period before it knocked off the visiting Flames (18-8), the No. 3 WPIAL team.