Upper St. Clair finally solves Butler, earns 1st WPIAL finals appearance since ’05
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Tuesday, March 9, 2021 | 8:39 PM
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Banbury scores after stealing the ball from Butler’s Raine Gratzmiller during the fourth quarter of their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Banbury celebrates after being fouled while scoring during the fourth quarter of a WPIAL Class 6A semifinal against Butler on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Banbury pulls down a rebound next to Butler’s Mattix Clement during the fourth quarter of their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Gensler shoots a three-pointer during the third quarter of a WPIAL Class 6A semifinal against Butler on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Gensler (22) celebrates after scoring next to John Sukernek during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal against Butler on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Banbury grabs a rebound next to Butler’s Madden Clement (31) and Charlie Kreinbucher during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Banbury looks at the scoreboard after being fouled next to Butler’s Raine Gratzmiller during the fourth quarter of their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Ethan Dahlem drives past Butler’s Madden Clement during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Ethan Dahlem (right) and David Pantelis pressure Butler’s Devin Carney during the fourth quarter of their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s John Sukernek celebrates after scoring next to Butler’s Devin Carney during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Gensler celebrates after being fouled during a WPIAL Class 6A semifinal against Butler on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Gensler (right) and John Sukernek celebrate after defeating Butler in their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair’s Luke Banbury celebrates with David Pantelis after defeating Butler in their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal on Tuesday, March 9, 2021, at Upper St. Clair High School.
Upper St. Clair lost twice to Butler in last year’s basketball playoffs, heart-wrenching losses that senior Luke Banbury recalls a little differently than his USC teammates.
He was relegated to a spectator role.
“I remember sitting there feeling helpless,” said Banbury, who was ineligible for the playoffs under PIAA transfer rules, but the 6-foot-2 forward has played a key role in this year’s run.
He was hard to miss again Tuesday night.
Luke Gensler scored a team-high 23 points and Banbury had 17 as Upper St. Clair finally solved nemesis Butler, 70-62, in the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals. The win takes the top-seeded Panthers (19-1) to the WPIAL finals for the first time since 2005.
Combined, Banbury now has 67 points in USC’s three playoff wins.
And as the team’s big-man, the Cornell football recruit was most responsible for attacking the middle of Butler’s 1-3-1 zone defense.
“He just opens up everything for all of us,” Gensler said. “They’ve got to key on him and we’re getting wide-open shots. He’s definitely not taking it for granted, given that he couldn’t play last year.”
No. 6 seed Pine-Richland awaits Upper St. Clair in the finals at 8 p.m. Friday at Peters Township. Pine-Richland defeated No. 2 Fox Chapel, 76-63, in the other semifinal.
Fifth-seeded Butler (12-9) was the defending WPIAL champion.
“I’m really happy for our whole team but specifically our five seniors, because they’ve all had different paths to get here,” USC coach Danny Holzer said of starters Gensler, Banbury, David Pantelis, Ethan Dahlem and John Sukernek. “They’ve worked so hard and we were so close last year.”
Upper St. Clair had lost to Butler by four points and five points.
Butler coach Matt Clement said his team had already put last season behind them but understood USC would still carry those emotional losses as motivation.
“It makes it harder, it does,” Clement said. “And having to come to their place makes it even harder. But banners fly forever. I told the kids, they could beat us by 300, they’re not coming and taking our WPIAL championship. … I kind of separate the two, but it would have definitely motivated me if I was them.
“That’s easy motivation for them.”
USC sparked a 14-2 run in the second quarter and built an 11-point lead by halftime. Still, the Panthers had to hold on with free throws late as Butler’s Mattix Clement scored 28 points and Devin Carney had 21.
Carney had two 3s in the fourth quarter and Clement had one.
“We were up seven or eight and I was thinking, ‘Just play good defense and don’t take any bad shots,’ because we don’t want a repeat of last year,” Banbury said. “They can shoot really well, so they can come back at any time.”
Leading by five with less than 2 minutes left, Banbury stole a mishandled inbounds pass, converted a layup and pushed USC’s lead to 64-57. The steal came seconds after Carney had energized Butler with a deep 3.
“I tell everybody he’s like a miniature Sean Lee,” Holzer said of Banbury. “He’s a linebacker, he can shoot it, he can drive it and he rebounds like crazy. He has all of those things that Sean does. He brings multiple ways of scoring for our team: inside, out and off the dribble.
“And his toughness on defense is second to none.”
Now down seven, Butler had no option but to foul. Gensler and Banbury each made two quick trips to the foul line and combined to make 6 of 8 shots in a 47-second span.
“They did the job and finished the game,” Clement said. “The thing that worried me all week was that they haven’t shot well, but I know these guys. They’ve really struggled from the foul line but they didn’t tonight. We were in position where we could’ve still stolen it, but they closed it out.”
Upper St. Clair never trailed after taking a 29-27 lead on a layup by Pantelis midway through the second quarter. USC led 38-29 at half and 51-45 after three.
Pantelis had 12 points.
Sixteen years have passed since the Panthers last reached the WPIAL finals. In 2005, Upper St. Clair defeated Mt. Lebanon, 57-55, in the Class 4A final.
“The main thing is just getting this team back to the championship,” Holzer said.
Butler won 83-78 in overtime a year ago when the teams met in the WPIAL semifinals. They rematched two weeks later in the PIAA second round and Butler won again, 77-73.
Go back farther, and USC also lost to Butler in the first round of the 2019 WPIAL playoffs, when this year’s seniors were sophomores. So, no question, this win was a long time coming for USC.
“I can’t really describe it right now,” Gensler said. “It’s just amazing.”
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: Butler, Upper St. Clair
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