2025 WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball championship breakdown: Upper St. Clair vs. New Castle

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, February 27, 2025 | 11:01 AM

WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball final

No. 1 Upper St. Clair vs. No. 2 New Castle

9 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center

On the air: Video livestream: NFHS Network

WPIAL titles: Upper St. Clair 4 (2024, ‘21, ‘05, 1996), New Castle 14 (2021, ’19-17, ’14-12, 1999-97, ‘93, ‘82, ‘36, ‘27)

Upper St. Clair (22-2)

Coach: Danny Holzer

Projected starting lineup

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

2, Julian Dahlem, 5-10, Sr., G

3, Jake Foster, 6-0, Jr., G

4, Kaamil Jackson, 6-6, Sr., F

5, Niko Gidas, 6-3, Sr., G

20, Tyler Robbins, 6-10, Sr., F

How they got here: After a first-round bye, Upper St. Clair defeated No. 9 Woodland Hills, 63-41, in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Central Catholic, 59-39, in the semifinals.

Notable: Upper St. Clair is the defending WPIAL champion. … The Panthers are surely one of the tallest teams in the state, starting with Robbins, a Miami (Ohio) recruit. The roster has four players who are 6-foot-6 or taller, including Robbins’ brother Ryan, a 6-7 sophomore. … Tyler Robbins averages a team-best 15 ppg. … The Panthers allow only 39 ppg, which ranks best among all teams in the WPIAL’s four largest classifications (3A to 6A). They twice held an opponent below 20 points. … USC’s offense averages 61.5 ppg. … Holzer has coached USC since 1995. He celebrated his 500th career victory in December and has won four WPIAL titles. … Dahlem earned first-team all-section honors in both basketball and football. … No team has won back-to-back WPIAL titles in Class 6A since the sport expanded in 2017.

New Castle (21-3)

Coach: Ralph Blundo

Projected starting lineup

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

2, Damian Harrison, 6-3, Jr., G

3, Kyrell Harris, 5-11, Sr., G

4, Ralphie Blundo, 6-0, Sr., G

12, Kai Cox, 6-0, Fr., G

32, Jayden Shaffer, 6-2, Jr., F

How they got here: After a first-round bye, New Castle defeated No. 7 Butler, 64-43, in the quarterfinals and No. 6 Mt. Lebanon, 67-56, in the semifinals.

Notable: New Castle reached the WPIAL finals for the 10th time in Blundo’s 15 seasons as coach. The team has won seven titles under Blundo, a 1991 New Castle graduate. … The Red Hurricanes have won 14 WPIAL titles overall, which ties Aliquippa for most in league history. … New Castle (64.1 ppg) has the second highest-scoring offense in WPIAL 6A. Cox averages 17 ppg, and Ralphie Blundo is a 16-point scorer. … Blundo scored 25 points in the semifinals, Cox had 17 and Harrison posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. … The team’s defense holds opponents to 49.3 ppg on average. … The Red Hurricanes are seeking their first WPIAL title in Class 6A. They finished as the 6A runners-up to Central Catholic, 61-52, in 2023. … New Castle’s nonsection schedule this winter included wins over both 3A finalists: Aliquippa and South Allegheny.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: New Castle, Upper St. Clair