Upper St. Clair jumps on Canon-McMillan, wins 8th straight over section rival

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, December 16, 2025 | 11:30 PM

Following a victory in its Section 2-6A opener over Imani Christian last week, Canon-McMillan and first-year head coach Glenn Gutierrez were hoping to flip the script on two-time reigning WPIAL Class 6A champion Upper St. Clair on Tuesday.

Instead, the song remained the same as the Panthers won their eighth straight over the Big Macs, knocking them from their brief stay tied atop the section.

Upper St. Clair used a 16-0 run in the opening quarter and was never threatened again as the Panthers rolled past Canon-McMillan, 62-43.

“Friday night, we had a bad night offensively in the first half against Central Catholic,” Upper St. Clair coach Danny Holzer said. “So we really focused on coming out aggressive, and we made shots.”

With the score tied 2-2, senior Blake Simmons hit a 3-pointer to give Canon-McMillan its only lead, 5-2.

USC then got hot from behind the arc, hitting five 3-pointers and turning defense into offense, forcing five Canon-Mac turnovers in a stretch of six straight possessions as a three-point deficit turned quickly into a Panthers lead of 18-5.

The opening quarter ended with the Panthers on top, 22-10.

The lead remained in double digits the rest of the game, even though the offensive mindset in the second quarter changed for Upper St. Clair.

The Panthers loaded up on 3-pointers in the first, but then changed to being more aggressive to the rim on offense in the second quarter.

“I just didn’t want us to get overly excited about making 3s,” Holzer said. “With Ryan (Robbins) inside and out driving ability, we have to take advantage, so I wanted to focus on getting downhill, get to the rim and get some baskets inside.”

The lead was 17 points at halftime, putting Canon-McMillan behind the 8-ball in its comeback hopes against a USC defense that yields an average of only 22 points a half.

The Big Macs could only get as close as 12 points in the second half and trailed by as many as 24 in the third quarter.

The one thing that has hurt Upper St. Clair in these first few weeks has been getting complementary scoring outside of returning starter Jake Foster and the 6-foot-7 Robbins.

On Tuesday, nine Panthers finished on the score sheet, three in double-digit points and five with eight or more points.

“When we get guys other than Jake and Ryan scoring, it makes us a really, really good team,” Holzer said. “That’s really important for our team. We just need to keep getting better.”

The senior Foster and junior Robbins led the way for USC again, each scoring 11 points, while senior Luke Marchinsky scored 10, sophomore Luke Rickel had nine and junior Jude Ausi added eight points.

Canon-McMillan falls to 1-1 in the section and 4-2 overall as the loss ends a three-game winning streak.

Senior Roman Koenemund led all scorers with 13 points for the Big Macs.

USC has owned the Big Macs in boys hoops since losing to them in January of 2022.

Since then, the Panthers have rolled past the Big Macs eight straight games with the average margin of victory over 25 points per game.

USC has outscored Canon-Mac in those eight wins, 524-327, for an average score of 66-41.

Upper St. Clair improves to 2-1 in the section and 5-1 overall as the Panthers head south for three games later this week in Fernadina Beach, Fla.

Tags: Canon-McMillan, Upper St. Clair