Upper St. Clair boys basketball looks to make unexpected history in WPIAL playoffs

The WPIAL basketball playoffs are just around the corner, and there is one team on an unexpected heater. 

As the playoffs approach, the Upper St. Clair Panthers are 21-1 and are now the top seed in the 6A WPIAL playoffs, something no one could have predicted at the beginning of the year because of the youth on the roster. 

The Panthers graduated 10 seniors, which means all but two players on the roster are new. 

"That's what's been really rewarding about this year, last year, other than two, this entire team played JV, it's our JV team, but they're program players," said head coach Danny Holzer. "Ten seniors graduated, and the next 10 were ready."

Holzer attributed their success to the leadership of two of the seniors on the team: Luke Marchinsky and Jake Foster. 

"Being a senior, I know what it takes," Foster said. "I've been part of two, and I feel like I know what it takes to get these kids ready to be in the position we are now." 

Where they are now is on track to make history. They could become one of the only programs to three-peat. 

"Definitely excited, a little nervous, of course, knowing the pressure going into it, but we love that," Foster said. "All I care about is winning a third, which nobody else has done; that's enough for me."

"I think it's only happened a couple of times in WPIAL history, where at the highest classification, you win three in a row, we're not looking at that, we're just trying to win this year for the class of '26, but obviously, that would be pretty cool," Holzer added. 

The Panthers have a first-round bye and will face the winner of Fox Chapel vs. Norwin on Thursday night at home.