Seneca Valley can’t finish upset bid of two-time WPIAL boys basketball champion Upper St. Clair
ROSS TWP — Owen Congdon knocked down 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, pulling Seneca Valley within four points of the two-time defending WPIAL Class 6A champions with 2:42 to play.
That was as close as the upset-minded No. 4 Raiders would get the rest of the way in Monday’s boys basketball district semifinal matchup with No. 1 Upper St. Clair, falling 42-35 at North Hills Middle School.
“I always believe the whole game, no matter what point in the game,” said Seneca Valley senior center Congdon, who led all scorers with 17 points. “When they had that 8-0 run to start the third, I always believed in us. … I was feeling great. I really think we could’ve gotten them.”
The Raiders (14-10) trailed by one entering the midway point but watched the Panthers’ lead balloon to as many as 10 points before Congdon’s two treys from the wing.
After the second make from deep, Upper St. Clair (23-1) big man Ryan Robbins banked one in off the glass. Jake Foster converted two shots at the free-throw line.
“I think we’ve been comfortable in late-game close games,” Seneca Valley coach Kevin Trost said. “I think, at that point, we were just trying to figure out what we were gonna do defensively. It’s hard, because they’re pulling the ball out with good guards. We played a lot of zone, and it forced us to come out and play a little bit of man-to-man.
“With the big kid inside, then you start running around a little bit . … We fought all the way to the end.”
The Raiders led for just 21 seconds in the loss. They’ll play No. 3 Central Catholic in the third-place game Wednesday. The WPIAL pre-sets consolation games for 7 p.m. at the higher seed, in this case Central Catholic. Updated brackets with official sites and times will be released Tuesday morning.
The Panthers will square off with No. 2 New Castle on Friday night for the title at Petersen Events Center.
Seneca Valley has already secured one of the district’s four spots in the upcoming PIAA tournament.
“I told our guys I think sometimes teams put so much into the WPIAL, and when you come up a little bit short, you gotta be careful that you don’t have that hangover linger and then you are out early in states,” Trost said. “Our kids are tough and they’re resilient, and I’m sure they’ll bounce back and we’ll be ready to play.”
“We want to spend as much time together as possible. We want to keep everyone (together),” Congdon said.
SENECA VALLEY 35
Owen Congdon 6 2-2 17, Jaxon Householder 1 2-2 5, Andrew Omasits 2 1-3 5, Nico Santapau 2 0-0 5, Ryan Priester 1 0-2 3. Totals: 12 5-9 35.
UPPER ST. CLAIR 42
Ryan Robbins 6 3-5 15, Jake Foster 2 7-10 13, Finnigan Beggy 3 0-0 7, Luke Marchinsky 1 2-2 5, Andrew Gaither 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 12-17 42.
Seneca Valley 6 8 6 15 — 35
Upper St. Clair 8 7 10 17 — 42
3-point goals: Seneca Valley 6 (Congdon 3, Householder, Priester, Santapau); Upper St. Clair (Foster 2, Marchinsky, Finnigan)
Wednesday: Seneca Valley at Central Catholic, 7 p.m.
