2023 WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball championship breakdown: Upper St. Clair vs. North Allegheny

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Thursday, March 2, 2023 | 5:21 PM


WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball finals

No. 1 Upper St. Clair vs. No. 2 North Allegheny

7 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center

On the air: Video livestream: TribHSSN.TribLive.com

WPIAL titles: Upper St. Clair 6 (1973, ‘93, ‘94, ‘96, 2003, ‘08); North Allegheny 5 (1972, 2017, ‘18, ‘20, ‘21)

Upper St. Clair (21-2)

Coach: Peter Serio

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Cl., Pos.

3, Rylee Kalocay, 5-9, so., G

15, Kate Moore, 5-5, jr., G

20, Paige Dellicarri, 5-8, sr., G

42, Kate Robbins, 6-1, sr., F

44, Mia Brown, 5-10, sr., G

Notable: Upper St. Clair is back in the WPIAL championship game for the second straight season after losing to Mt. Lebanon, 55-44, last season. The Panthers are led by sophomore guard Rylee Kalocay, senior guard Paige Dellicarri and senior 6-foot forwards Kate Robbins and Mia Brown. All four were in double figures in a 58-33 semifinal victory over the Blue Devils. They will miss senior point guard Sam Prunzik, who was injured in the semifinals. USC won Section 2 with a 12-0 record and averaged a classification-best 60.3 points. The Panthers lost their season opener to South Fayette and dropped a narrow decision to Argyle, Texas, in a holiday tournament in Florida. They’ve since won 15 straight games.

North Allegheny (19-5)

Coach: Spencer Stefko

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Cl., Pos.

4, Kellie McConnell, 5-3, jr., G

10, Caroline Henderson, 5-6, jr., G

11, Jasmine Timmerson, 5-7, sr., G

14, Cam Phillips, 5-7, sr., G

15, Lydia Betz, 5-11, jr., F

Notable: The Tigers won back-to-back WPIAL titles in 2020-21 and lost in the semifinals to Upper St. Clair last year, 48-44. North Allegheny then fell to Cumberland Valley in double overtime in the PIAA first round. After tying for the Section 1 title at 9-1 and earning a first-round bye, the Tigers beat No. 7 Pine-Richland in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Norwin in the semifinals. Timmerson, a Pitt recruit, scored 12 points to pace the Tigers in the 38-36 semifinal win. North Allegheny, which averages 55.2 points and allows 44.7, has won 11 of its past 12 games with the lone loss to Class 5A No. 1 South Fayette.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

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