MERCERSBURG – These were the individually-sized Hershey bars that Upper St. Clair carried into the locker room at James Buchanan High School.
Seconds earlier the WPIAL champion secured their chance to claim a giant-sized version along with a PIAA 6A girls title.
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Olivia Terlecki struck for a team-high 19 points and fellow guard Rylee Kalocay netted 13 as Upper St. Clair finally dismissed a defiant Garnet Valley side 53-49 Friday in a physical 6A semifinal.
The game stood all square at halftime (23-23) and stood 37-37 after three quarters.
However, a couple of deep balls from Terlecki, who connected on five treys on the night, and point Ryan Prunzik early in the fourth helped set the postgame celebration.
Upper St. Clair (23-6) advanced to the 6 p.m. state final next Friday vs. Perkiomen Valley or Archbishop Carroll. The Jaguars capped their impressive run at 27-3.
The stars
Prunzik’s play down the stretch was instrumental, so was the Panthers’ nerve throughout. The District 1 Jaguars kept pushing behind Haylie Adamski, who led all scorers with 25 points.
USC didn’t panic, though, working its way back to even via three Terlecki triples in the second frame. Kalocay chipped in four points in the second, too.
Eventually, deep 3s by Prunzik and Terlecki on back-to-back possessions had the Panthers up 43-37 with 6:35 to play.
Later, with Mulholland out with five fouls, an Addi Adamski stick back, coupled with two free throws by Haylie Adamski, got Garnet Valley back within 48-46 with under 40 seconds to go.
Game-winning moment
Prunzik (9 points) would cash in three fouls ahead of two more by Kalocay to increase the margin to 53-46 in the final seconds. Haylie Adamski’s third 3-pointer came ahead of the buzzer.
Kalocay added six rebounds. Forward Claire Rosenberry had all six of her points in the third quarter. Mulholland had nine points and seven rebounds before fouling out.
They said it:
Upper St. Clair 10-13-14-16 – 53
Garnet Valley 13-10-14-12 – 49
PANTHERS (53) – Rylee Kalocay 4-4-13, Ryan Prunzik 2-4-9, Meredith Huzjak 1-1-4, Olivia Terlecki 6-2-19, Claire Rosenberry 3-0-6, Grace Howell 0-0-0, Ekaterina Polstyanko 1-0-2. 3-point goals: Kalocay, Prunzik, Huzjak, Terlecki 5. Totals: 17-11-53.
JAGUARS (49) – Kyle Mulholland 3-3-9, Savannah Saunders 0-0-0, Haylie Adamski 10-2-25, Addi Adamski 3-0-7, Kylie Adamski 2-0-5, Katie Dwyer 1-0-2, Cassidy Zipperlen 0-1-1, Sarah Sigston 0-0-0. 3-point goals: H.Adamski 3, A.Adamski, K.Adamski. Totals: 19-6-49.
Follow Eric Epler on X/Twitter -- @threejacker
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