By: Bill Beckner Jr.


Saturday, March 1, 2025 | 7:02 PM

Previous



Next

Upper St. Clair finally broke through to win another championship, for Pete’s sake.

Coach Pete Serio, denied titles in two of the last three years as the Panthers were stricken by injuries to star players — most recently Rylee Kalocay — was able to celebrate with his team after a 45-40 victory over defending champion Norwin in the Class 6A girls basketball final Saturday night at Petersen Events Center.

Pete was in his glory at “The Pete” as his go-to guard made good on her promise to her tough-luck coach.

“I told coach we’d win one for him,” said Kalocay, who missed most of last season with a knee injury. “He had a lot of confidence in us.”

And the No. 2 seeded Panthers (19-6) had a lot of faith in Kalocay, who scored a game-high 13 points and dished five assists as USC overcame a late rally by No. 1 Norwin (15-8).

“Two years ago, we sat here (in the press room), and Rylee told everyone she would be back and we would win one,” Serio said. “Here we are.”

A Kent State commit, Kalocay came up with a rebound off a Norwin missed 3-pointer and went in for a layup with 11 seconds left to ice it.

The Panthers had to push back Norwin, which trailed by 13 in the first half but took its first lead with 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the fourth on a 3-pointer by Bella Furno.

Norwin went on a 9-0 run to finally pull ahead. But the Panthers scored the game’s last eight points to claim the title.

“This is everything I thought it would be,” Serio said. “It’s very rare for a team to lead the entire game like that, lose the lead with two minutes to go, then come back to win. We had to fight and claw and dig deep.”

Two years ago, USC point guard and captain Samantha Prunzik broke her arm in the WPIAL semifinals and the top-seeded Panthers lost to North Allegheny in the championship game.

“After the last couple years, this is a lot more special,” Serio said.

Ryan Prunzik came up big this time as she added 11 points for the Panthers, who beat Norwin in two of three meetings this season.

Ava Christopher was the only Norwin player in double figures with 11 points. She helped spark the comeback.

Furno’s go-ahead 3 followed a pull-up jumper from Christopher that tied it 37-37 with 2:53 left.

But Kalocay delivered a 3 of her own and Prunzik made a layup as the Panthers regained the lead at 42-40 with 57.8 seconds to play.

“Kalocay is a nice player and we knew that,” said Norwin coach Brian Brozeski, who had been 3-0 in WPIAL title games. “But some of their other girls played well, too. Their forwards gave them a spark.”

Kalocay then grabbed a rebound in traffic and went the distance for a layup to make it 45-40. Norwin was out of time.

Norwin nearly overcame a bad first half in its bid for a repeat like the 2014-15 and ‘15-‘16 teams did.

The Knights shot 30.4% from the field before halftime (7 of 23), including 0 for 6 from 3, as they fell behind 23-15.

Upper St. Clair, meantime, got hot from behind the arc and made five 3s in the opening 16 minutes.

The Panthers made 14 3s against the Knights in a section game earlier in the season.

Norwin was much better in the second half — 10 for 22, 45% — but couldn’t hold on to its late lead.

The Knights shot 3 of 15 from 3.

“They played is hard man-to-man,” Brozeski said. “They are a gritty defensive team.

“This was the closest (6A) bracket I have ever been involved with.”

Meredith Huzjak had eight points, all in the first quarter, for the Panthers.

Norwin made a push in the third, finally solving its 3-point dilemma as Furno and Christopher made back-to-back 3s, Christopher at the buzzer, to close the gap to 33-27.

Averi Brozeski scored off a steal, and Liz Yarosik made a layup to get Norwin within 35-31 in the fourth.

Norwin’s leading scorer, Kendall Berger, was held in check with six points.

“They prioritized me and didn’t let me get open,” Berger said.

USC cooled off after a hot start — it shot 37.8% (17 of 45) — but made defensive stops and kept its composure when Norwin encroached.

Serio and Brian Brozeski showed mutual respect for one another.

“I’m glad for Pete after all he has been through,” Brian Brozeski said. “He is a great guy and deserves this.

“This is going to be tough on our girls for a while.”

Both teams will open the PIAA playoffs Friday.

USC will host Manheim Township (19-8), while Norwin travels to play Altoona (23-2).

Upper St. Clair’s boys team won a WPIAL championship Friday night. Since the WPIAL started crowning girls champions in 1971, only four times has one school swept the boys and girls titles in the largest classification. Upper St. Clair joins Mt. Lebanon in 2010, Upper St. Clair in 1996 and Penn Hills in 1987 on the list.

Norwin was trying to make it a Westmoreland County sweep at the Pete. Three county teams, the Greensburg Central Catholic girls and Belle Vernon and Jeannette boys, won WPIAL titles over the last three days.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Norwin, Upper St. Clair