Ito propels Panthers to victory against Butler

After Christian Ito almost single handedly took down Butler, 78-71, in a quarterfinal basketball playoff game on Feb. 23, Upper St. Clair students chanted, “best player in the WPIAL.” They would get no argument from Panther floor boss Dan Holzer.
“He is one of the better players in 6A,” Holzer said. “To do it on this stage really proves it.”
Held scoreless in the first half, as the Panthers fell behind, 35-30, Ito came alive in the fourth frame. He scored 17 of his 19 points as USC surged past the Golden Tornado.
Ito scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, providing the Panthers a 64-62 advantage. He provided eight more markers. Those coupled with a dunk by Tyler Robbins put the exclamation point on the win.
“I was really cold in the first half,” Ito said. “I had to turn it up. I had to find a way to get buckets.”
Aside from a 3-point field goal, all of Ito’s baskets were on short jumpers and flashy layups after he sliced and weaved his way to the hoop.
“Ito worked his tail off to get that good,” Holzer said. “There is not a kid who works harder. He lifts weights, runs constantly, does hills, shoots thousands of shots. He’s a basketball kid 24/7 and a gym rat.”
So is Robbins. The 6-10 junior led all scorers with 20 tallies, four off dunks.
“Tyler’s another kid like Christian. A really good player who gets better by the day,” Holzer said. “He’s a hard worker and he loves it.”
After surrendering 18 first-half points on defense to Donovan Carney, the Panthers worked hard in the second half to contain the sophomore. While the sophomore was held scoreless over the next 16 minutes, Braylon Littlejohn kept the Golden Tornado in the driver’s seat. He scored 13 of his game-high 27 points in the third quarter.
“Carney and Littlejohn are very good player. Very Athletic,” Ito said. “I give credit to them. In the first half, we were trying to figure out how to stop those two. In the second half, we did not let Carney shoot. We figured out a way to do it. 100 percent that was the key.”
“We focused on Carney,” Holzer agreed. “We tightened our gaps and made other people make the shots. Butler has such good players.”
So do the Panthers. Julian Dahlem and Kaamil Jackson finished with 12 tallies each while Brett Meinert tacked on 10 tallies. Each of them knocked down critical 3-pointers in the third quarter, which ended with Butler clinging to a 58-57 edge.
“I thought we had a lot of guys make a lot of plays. They gutted it out,” Holzer said. “I’m so proud of our team.
“It was an amazing high school basketball game,” he continued. “Both teams played their hearts out. Both are high-level programs. We feel fortunate to win.”
Desire factored strongly into the performance of the USC players, particularly Ito, who is a senior. With the win, the season continues for the Panthers.
“We didn’t want it to end,” Ito said. “We wanted to keep it going.
USC (18-5) now advances to the semifinals in the WPIAL Class 6A tournament. They will face Central Catholic (15-8) on Feb. 27 at a site and time to be determined.

Christian Ito puts up a short jumper as Butler defenders Braylon Littlejohn (5) and Davis Ayden (3) and helpless in stopping him. Ito poured in 17 of his 19 points in a decisive fourth quarter to lead Upper St. Clair to victory against the Golden Tornado, 78-71, and into the WPIAL Class 6A semifinal round of the playoffs.