Upper St. Clair puts away pesky Kiski Area to win tipoff tournament

By: Kyle Dawson
Saturday, December 6, 2025 | 5:59 PM

After a back-and-forth first half that saw Upper St. Clair take a one-point edge to the locker room, the two-time defending WPIAL Class 6A champs took over on their home floor and defeated Kiski Area, 48-37, in the championship game of the Upper St. Clair tipoff tournament Saturday.

Class 6A No. 2 Upper St. Clair (3-0) held the Cavaliers (1-1) to just 11 points in the second half, all coming from junior Devin Lindenfelser, who scored a team-high 18 in the loss. The Panthers allowed only two points in the fourth quarter, turning a one-possession game after three that was tied multiple times into a 11-point victory.

“Like yesterday, today was like an identical plan, and the game went the same way,” said Panthers coach Danny Holzer, referring to a 59-47 win over Belle Vernon the night before. “We couldn’t find the basket in the first half and it caused us to speed up a little bit more than we wanted to on offense, and that caused some turnovers. In the second half, we defended so much better. That was the key.”

Part of what the Panthers did so well was limit Amaree Gonzalez’s ability to impact the game. The Cavaliers senior scored 14 points in the first half, six of which came at the stripe and six of which came on two 3-pointers. He was held scoreless in the second half, as was the rest of the Kiski Area offense sans Lindenfelser.

“That first half, we did excellent and executed the game plan to a T,” said Kiski Area coach Corey Smith. “There’s two halves to every game. They came out with a better game plan, but I’m proud of our guys. That’s a really good team over there. They’re a top team in 6A for a reason. They denied Amaree more and forced him to give up the ball a little more too.”

Upper St. Clair led 17-12 after a quarter as Ryan Robbins scored nine points for the Panthers on top of being busy on the glass and in space down low. Jake Foster scored eight of his 17 points in the first quarter before getting to 10 by the half.

Robbins had 17 at the half before scoring just three in the second half to finish with a game-high 20 points.

Foster ended up scoring 17 points, seven of which came in the fourth quarter, the first five of which helped to seal the deal on the offensive end. Only Finn Beggy, with three of his five in the game, scored otherwise for Upper St. Clair in the fourth.

The game featured multiple second- and third-quarter ties, but despite a handful of chances in that stretch, Kiski Area never took a lead.

Following a runaway victory over Bethel Park on Friday night to open the season after a postponement, the Cavaliers were happy to get the shot to test themselves. After all, the Cavs, who went 11-1 to win Section 2-5A last season, had to replace four big pieces.

“That’s why we do it,” said Smith. “We only have one returner from last year, so getting these new guys into the best environment early on, it’ll benefit us in the end.”

The Cavaliers will play a few more nonsection games starting Tuesday at Franklin Regional before entering section play at home against Indiana on Dec. 16.

The Panthers, who are replacing the vast majority of their rotation from a year ago, will jump right into Section 2-6A play with two seniors on the roster. They’ll meet Norwin on Tuesday.

“Norwin’s as good as any of the teams. It presents a challenge,” said Holzer. “We only have two kids that played varsity minutes the entire year. It’s going to be bumpy, but so far we’ve found ways to win. Tuesday will be a dogfight.”

Tags: Kiski Area, Upper St. Clair