News

On Hall of Fame night at Bethel Park High School, the Black Hawks boys’ basketball team defeated the Upper St. Clair Panthers, 52-47, in a Section 4-AAAA contest on Friday. Bethel Park led wire to wire and staved off several USC attempts to overtake the Black Hawks in the game.

Bethel Park jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first quarter behind the play of senior guard Joey Mascaro who pumped in seven points in the opening stanza. Upper St. Clair used the hot shooting of senior Zach Cherup to rally back with a 10-3 run and cut the score to 14-13 in the early stages of the second quarter. Cherup knocked down four treys in the game and finished with 16 points.

While the Panthers clawed to within a point of the Black Hawks three different times in the game, USC couldn’t quite get over the hump. In the second half, Upper St. Clair erased a nine-point deficit with an 8-0 run to pull to within 28-27.

However, each time the Panthers drew close Mascaro replied in kind with a key jumper. With the Black Hawks leading 39-36, Mascaro buried a clutch three-pointer with four minutes left to play to increase the BP lead to 42-36.

While the pesky Panthers wouldn’t go away quietly, thanks in large part to the efforts of senior Marcus McGinnis who scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, the Black Hawks held off USC with the guard play of Mascaro and senior Anthony Bomar.  Mascaro and Bomar’s ball handling ability and free throw shooting allowed BP to pull away in the waning moments of the game for a 52-47 triumph. Mascaro finished the night with 19 points, Bomar tallied 12 points and junior Jake Dixon added 12 points.  For his efforts, Mascaro was named the Player of the Game by the Quad-A Sports Network.

Bethel Park improves to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Section 4-AAAA.  Upper St. Clair falls to 6-2 overall and 1-1 in section play.

To listen to our pregame interview with Bethel Park head coach Ben O’Connor, click here. To listen to our pregame interview with Upper St. Clair head coach Dan Holzer, click here.

Shaler vs. North Allegheny Game Summary

SCORE BY QUARTERS	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	FINAL
Shaler	10	13	15	15	53
North Allegheny	22	18	20	26	86