Upper St. Clair Delivers Statement Win Heading Into Playoffs

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The Mt. Lebanon boys basketball team will go down as the Section 2-6A regular season champion, Upper St. Clair may be the team to watch in the section heading into the playoffs.

The Panthers delivered that statement on Tuesday with a 71-45 victory at Mt. Lebanon.

The two teams have now split the regular season series with the Blue Devils coming away with a 56-46 win on Jan. 15.

USC has now picked up wins against two of the three section champions in 6A on the road, Mt. Lebanon and Pine-Richland, and against City League power, Allderdice.

Tuesday nights game was evenly matched for the first quarter before the Panthers slowly started to pull away. They led by two after one and increased that lead to 33-25 at the break.

Upper St. Clair maintained that momentum in the second half, outscoring Mt. Lebanon, 38-20 to break the game wide open.

Senior Tanner Gensler and his younger brother, sophomore Luke Gensler, along with sophomore David Pantellis led the Panthers with 18 points apiece.

For Mt. Lebanon, senior Sean Loughran led the way with 12 points. Senior Hayden Mitchell and junior Blaine Gartley each finished with 10 points.

With the win, Upper St. Clair improves to 19-2 overall and finishes the section at 8-2. The Panthers will host playoff bound Fox Chapel in their regular season finale on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The loss drops Mt. Lebanon to 17-3 overall and 9-1 to finish the section. The Blue Devils will take their shot at City League power, Allderdice, on Saturday at home at 7:30 p.m.