Upper St. Clair handles Central Catholic to earn chance at Class 6A WPIAL repeat

By: Don Rebel
Monday, February 24, 2025 | 10:43 PM

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Late in the third quarter of a WPIAL boys Class 6A semifinal Monday, the lights completely went out for a few moments in the gym at Peters Township.

Unfortunately for Central Catholic, their hopes of gold for the second time in three years went to black a lot earlier.

Upper St. Clair grabbed an early lead and then did what it does best: play suffocating defense in a final four win, 59-39.

The victory clinches a second straight trip to the WPIAL title game for USC, as it tries to become the first WPIAL boys basketball team to repeat as 6A champion.

“We’re thankful to be there, and I’m proud of my team,” Upper St. Clair coach Danny Holzer said. “I thought we played really, really well. I’m looking forward to watching the film of this game because I think we did a lot of things well.”

The Panthers took control of the game in the first half thanks to a couple of big finishes to end the first two quarters.

USC led in the final minute-plus of the first quarter by one point, but a couple of 3-pointers by senior guards Gianni DiSora and Nico Gidas, who beat the buzzer with his long-range shot, put the Panthers up 15-8 after one quarter.

Upper St. Clair scored the last seven points of the first half to go from up eight to leading by 15 points at the break, 29-14.

The back-breaker was a steal by USC junior guard Jake Foster as the Vikings were trying to take the last shot that led to a layup at the buzzer for junior Luke Marchinsky.

Central Catholic worked hard in its half-court offense and got plenty of open looks outside the arc and in close but could not finish.

“We had a game plan, and we found the spots we wanted to shoot the ball,” Central Catholic coach Brian Urso said. “Unfortunately, they came up empty a lot, especially early on.”

The Panthers came into the game allowing only 39 points per game and hit that total on the bull’s-eye against Central Catholic, showing why they are one of the top defensive teams in the district.

“I think our defense dictated the game,” Holzer said. “We work on it a lot. It helps to have Tyler (Robbins at 6-foot-10), but if you watch our guards on defense, we really get after people. They’re aggressive, they’re athletic and we have a system. It’s something we take pride in, and it’s been our backbone for several years now.”

Tyler Robbins ended up with 10 points, including a second half 3-pointer, but he scored the first six points for USC early on.

When Central Catholic 6-4 junior forward Ryan Hower got into foul trouble in the first half, the Vikings switched to a 1-2-2 zone.

While that slowed down the Panthers inside game, it opened things up for the guards to start hitting shots from the perimeter.

“They sure did,” Holzer said. “Jake Foster hit some 3s, Nico (Gidas) made a couple of 3s and even Tyler hit one in the second half, which makes it difficult to do that (zone) to us. We had to make some shots because we knew that 1-2-2 was coming. For the most part, we did a really good job against it.”

In the second half, every time Central Catholic tried to get some momentum and chip away at the deficit, Upper St. Clair answered right back.

“The toughest part is really not knowing what the game could have been like,” Urso said of his team’s missed opportunities. “The name of the game is to put the ball in the basket, and we didn’t do it (Monday).”

Junior Christian Williams led the Vikings with 10 points, most of which came in the first half.

Central Catholic (14-10) will play in the 6A consolation game against Mt. Lebanon for a second straight year on Wednesday. Both teams have already qualified for the state playoffs.

USC was led on the score sheet by Foster, who scored 12 points.

Top-seeded Upper St. Clair (22-2) will battle No. 2 New Castle in the 6A finals at 9 p.m. Friday at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.

The Panthers have been ranked No. 1 all year, but Holzer said getting back to the title game has not been easy.

“It’s been a lot for these kids and our coaches,” Holzer said of his team’s lofty expectations. “The day after we won last year, people were saying, ‘Oh, you’re going to win it again next year.’ It’s so hard to do, but I’m proud of my team to get back and have a chance to do it again. It’s going to be a tough game.”

Tags: Peters Township, Upper St. Clair