2026 WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball championship breakdown: Upper St. Clair vs. New Castle

By: Bill Hartlep
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 1:00 PM

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WPIAL Class 6A boys basketball championship

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

9 p.m. Friday, Petersen Events Center

Audio broadcast: Trib HSSN

WPIAL titles: Upper St. Clair 5 (2025, ‘24, ‘21, ‘05, 1996); New Castle 14 (2021, ‘19, ‘18, ‘17, ‘14, ‘13, ‘12, 1999, ‘98, ‘97, ‘93, ‘82, ‘36, ‘27)

Upper St. Clair (23-1)

Coach: Danny Holzer

Projected starting lineup

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

1, Luke Marchinsky, 6-1, sr., G

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

4, Andrew Gaither, 6-0, so., G

23, Finnigan Beggy, 6-4, jr., F

25, Ryan Robbins, 6-7, jr., C

How they got here: Upper St. Clair defeated No. 8 Fox Chapel, 56-41, in the quarterfinals; and No. 4 Seneca Valley, 42-35, in the semifinals.

Notable: Upper St. Clair has won back-to-back WPIAL championships, including a 65-43 win over New Castle last season. The Panthers held a 36-20 advantage in the second half. Guard Jake Foster had 10 points in the win, and center Ryan Robbins added nine points off the bench. … The Panthers have won 19 straight games since an overtime loss to Central Catholic on Dec. 12. … Foster and Robbins were named first-team all-section, and guard Luke Marchinsky was a second-team pick. Coach Danny Holzer was named the section’s coach of the year. … Upper St. Clair averages 62.2 ppg and allows just 42.7. … In the semifinals, Robbins scored 15 points with 11 rebounds, and the USC defense held Seneca Valley to just 20 points through three quarters. … Holzer has coached USC since 1995. He surpassed 500 career wins last season and has won five WPIAL titles.

New Castle (23-1)

Coach: Ralph Blundo

Projected starting lineup

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

1, Marino Graham, 5-9, fr., G

2, Damian Harrison, 6-4, sr., G/F

10, Chase Lemmon, 5-9, sr., G

12, Kai Cox, 6-2, so., G

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

How they got here: New Castle beat No. 7 Mt. Lebanon, 6-49, in the quarterfinals; and No. 3 Central Catholic, 52-49, in the semifinals.

Notable: New Castle is in the WPIAL championship game for the 11th time since Blundo became the Red Hurricanes’ coach 16 years ago. He has guided them to seven titles. … The Red Hurricanes are searching for a 15th title. They are tied with Aliquippa for most in WPIAL history with 14. … New Castle was the most recent team to win three straight titles in the largest classification (1997-99), which USC could equal Friday. … Guards Damian Harrison, Kai Cox and Marino Graham were first-team all-section selections. Coach Ralph Blundo was named the section’s coach of the year. … Like USC, New Castle averages 62.2 ppg and allows just 42.6. … Graham led New Castle in the semifinals with 19 points and found Harrison for a layup in the final second for the winning basket. … Harrison averaged 17.1 ppg this season.

Next up: The winner will open the PIAA playoffs March 7 against the eighth-place finisher from District 3. The loser will play the District 3 seventh-place finisher.

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.

Tags: New Castle, Upper St. Clair