USC girls prevail against Mt. Lebanon
Something was off, out of kilter on Jan. 13, yet Upper St. Clair demonstrated why it’s the team to beat in girls’ basketball. When not having their best stuff, the Lady Panthers still manage to win.
For example, USC did not shoot well, nor rebound sufficiently against Mt. Lebanon. However, the Lady Panthers dispatched their arch rival, 46-37, to maintain their unblemished record and standing atop Section 2 at the halfway point of the season.
“Lebo is always a tough game no matter when and where we play them and no matter what the records are but that was our worst game all year,” said USC floor boss Pete Serio.
“A win is a win,” he added. “I hope though that was an anomaly. I hope we get back to who we are because that’s not us.”
In compiling an 10-2 overall record, the Lady Panthers have been averaging 62.2 points per game. They have been shooting “lights out” from beyond the arc, too.
For example, during a win against Norwin, 63-53, earlier in league action, the Panthers buried 14, 3-point field goals. In a follow-up victory against Hempfield, 75-55, USC knocked down 17 treys. The Panthers also had the hot hand in a 57-45 win over Thomas Jefferson.
“When we are shooting it, we are happy,” Serio said. “Shooting is our forte. In games you don’t shoot well, you have to find ways to win. I guess we did that against Lebo, but we didn’t look like ourselves. We missed a lot of open shots and we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds.”
Defense pulled the victory out for the Panthers and Olivia Terlecki was her usual self on that end of the court. She shutdown Lebo’s top offensive threat. She limited Payton Collins, who was recognized prior to the game for scoring her 1,000th career point, to a single free throw in the fourth quarter.
“Payton is a great player but Liv did a tremendous job,” Serio said. “Every game, she guards the team’s best player and game in and game out she does a fabulous job. Liv does it every night.”
Despite being one of the smallest players on the court, Ryan Prunzik dominates the boards. The 5-5 junior guard leads the Panthers in rebounding.
“She’s been doing the job for two years,” Serio said. “She’s really feisty.
“Rebounding is something as a team we need to do better and we need to continue to play better defense, too.”
Rylee Kalocay couldn’t do much better in the scoring department. The Kent State commit fired in 31 points in the win against Lebo.
“When we need her to score, she scores,” Serio said. “When she does that, it doesn’t surprise me. Rylee does it all.”
Grace Howell and Meredith Huzjak shoot well, too. Each had a 3-pointer against Lebo. Howell was 5-for-5 against Hempfield and 2-for-2 against Norwin from beyond the arc.
“We need her,” Serio said of Howell. “We can’t do what we want to do without her. Without any of them,” he stressed. “Meredith, too. She’s been hot and we need to get her more looks.”
The Panthers entered the second half of section action – visiting Canon-McMillan on Jan. 24 and hosting Norwin on Jan. 27 – ranked No. 5 in the state. However, the goal is to win its first WPIAL title since 2008. The Panthers had been in three consecutive Class 6A finals from 2021 through 2023.
“The first goal is to win the section and see what we can do after that,” Serio said.
ADD ONS
In the loss to USC, Elizabeth Twyman led Lebo with 13 tallies. Nessa Donoghue and Shea McCarthy pitched in eight points each.
In a boy-girl doubleheader on Jan. 13, Chartiers Valley swept Mars.
The Lady Colts won, 57-41, behind Emma Reynolds and Rachel Boehm providing 12 and 10 markers.
Jayden Davis exploded for 36 points in a 68-65 boys win. Julian Semplice followed with 18.