Upper St. Clair expecting unexpected in Section 4 race

Expect the unexpected. That is Dan Holzer’s advice regarding boys’ basketball action in Section 4-AAAA.
“This is my 21st year of coaching,” said the USC floor boss, “and I cannot remember a time when this section was so even from top to bottom.”
Heading into this week’s action, Baldwin and Chartiers Valley led the league with 3-0 records. Peters Township, Moon, Mt. Lebanon and the Panthers, all with 2-2 marks, followed.
“All bets are off the table,” said Holzer. “You don’t know who will win on any given night. The section is as good as it gets. It’s a back-yard brawl each and every night.”
The Panthers have been in their share of tight spots this season. They needed overtime to topple Canon-McMillan, 63-57. The Big Macs are 0-4 in the section. And, just this past Saturday, the Panthers succumbed to Bethel Park, 61-52. USC fell behind the Hawks, 17-2, and never recovered, trailing 42-24 by halftime against a squad that is 1-4 in the league.
“Consistency,” Holzer said. That has been USC’s Achilles heel. Although the Panthers are 7-4 overall, they have played erratic.
“At times we play really well, particularly on defense. We are very good at our half-court defense, which has been our staple in years past. But we need to get more consistency. We have shown signs (of being a good team) but we have been very inconsistent.”
The Panthers reeled off four straight victories, including one against Monessen, 77-69, to start the season before traveling to Florida to participate in the KSA Disney Classic in Orlando. USC opened with a 68-42 loss to Maple Mountain from Utah, but rebounded to beat Ross Sheppard of Edmonton, 74-23, and edge Acton-Boxborough from Massachusetts, 54-53.
“The trip was a good learning experience,” said Holzer. “The kids got to visit all the parks and we shared team meals together so we were able to bond on and off the court.
“We faced a variety of teams. Some very good, like the team from Utah, and some not so good,” Holzer continued. “It was a perfect tournament for us and an opportunity for us to come together. It was definitely a good learning experience and brought about good team chemistry.”
The makeup of the squad blends enormous youth with four seasoned seniors. Andrew Wheeler, Zack Pateras, Doug Wanger and Ryan Harkleroad represented the Panthers’ playing experience coming into the 2015-16 campaign. Wheeler leads the team in scoring with an 18-point average followed closely by Pateras with 17 a game. Harkleroad is the team’s tallest player at 6-4 while Wagner was averaging 10 points per game and leading in rebounding with 35 before incurring an injury in a loss to Chartiers Valley, 49-41.
The Panthers have lost three of four games since Wagner left the game in the second stanza with a right ankle injury. He had scored 12 points in the loss to the Colts before the Christmas break. USC split decisions in the C.J. Betters Tournament held at the Beaver Community College’s Golden Dome, beating West Mifflin, 72-54, and losing to Central Valley, 68-59, before falling to Bethel Park on Jan. 2.
“It’s been a big loss,” admitted Holzer. “Doug’s a great senior leader for us.”
The seniors have held together a club that starts a freshman in Chris Pantelis at the point. “It’s tough playing a freshman at the point, but he gives us the best chance,” Holzer said. “Chris has given us consistent play at the point and he is only going to improve.”
The Panthers will improve long into the future because the squad also features six sophomores on the varsity roster, one junior in Darius Radfar and another ninth-grader in Colin McLinden.
“It’s really been a mixed bag,” Holzer said. “The fours seniors have a lot of experience and the others haven’t played varsity. We have experience and no experience; veterans and youth. We are still figuring each other out.”
The Panthers have figured out that experience can come via other avenues. Several players are multi-sport athletes. For example, Harkleroad, McLinden and Gabe Houy as well as sophomores Kyle Meinert and Jack Hansberry, among others played varsity football this past season. Additionally, Houy, who splits time at the No. 5 spot on the court, Quentin Nelson, Matt Kissinger, Brett Moor and Mike Hess, all sophomores, have provided quality minutes for the Panthers.
They have also made this season a pleasurable experience for Holzer, who recently recorded his 350th career victory as a coach.
“I really, really like coaching this team. It’s a great group of kids,” Holzer said. “They work hard. They bring an energy to the court and to practices. There are no bad attitudes.”
With a little more consistency in their play, the Panthers will accomplish their goals. Their primary objective is to clinch a playoff spot.
“We need to find consistency and a level of play with each other,” Holzer said. “We need to get better, come together as a team as much as we can.
“If we are to make a run at the playoffs, we need to play better. We shoot the ball well from the perimeter but we are not really getting anything inside. We need to get more points inside the paint and attack the basket more. In general, we need to play better and take it one game at a time.”
For all Section 4 clubs, that is a tall task.
“It will be difficult,” Holzer admitted. “Every game is a rivalry game. In this section, you are never out of a game and nobody is out of (the race). This section is a dogfight and you never know what will happen.”