Jan 15, 2015 4 min read

UPPER ST. CLAIR – His team won, but in the end it was Upper St. Clair head coach Pete Serio that was sweating bullets Thursday night during his girls basketball team’s 44-40 win over section 4-AAAA opponent Canon-McMillan.

The Panthers missed seven of their final 11 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter, which ended up being a moot point as the Big Macs were unable to fully recover from their game-long deficit.

“Yes, they did miss the free throws and every time you miss free throws it gets a little tighter around your neck,” Serio said. “It became like a domino effect and it got them back in the game.

“I feel fortunate that we won considering all the free throws that we missed. Beating them was very important because, if we lose, then they had the tiebreaker on us. If we are in a tie with them, they go (to the playoffs) and we don’t.”

The Panthers seeked revenge from their section-opening drubbing from the hands of Canon-Mac when they lost by 16 points. The difference this time was the Panthers made more shots.

“We hit some more shots tonight then we did the first time,” Serio said. “We struggled to score in the second half of the first game. We struggle against their defense. We made some shots tonight. Cheyenne (Trest) and Danielle (Parker) are really good high school players. I thought we defended them pretty well in the second half. They are a good team.”

After a rough start, Canon-Mac fought back and joined what looked to be a track race in the first quarter. With both teams were making shots against zone defenses, the Lady Macs took their first and only lead of the game on sophomore Kierra King’s layup.

The lead was short-lived as senior Diondra Conwell raced down the court on the ensuing possession and drained a three-pointer.

“Maybe some execution here and there,” Canon-Mac coach Frank Zebrasky said. “We are close. We are very close. We think we can play with this team even with our injury situation. We withstood them coming out and making their first four three-pointers.”

Both teams knuckled down in the second as the Panthers’ switch to a man-to-man defense paid off, holding the Big Macs to four points in the quarter.

“They didn’t have the enthusiasm they should have had in the zone,” Serio said. “The only way I could turn it up was go man, and at least that way we can focus on Cheyenne (Trest) and Danielle (Parker) and knowing where they were. Danielle was open too much in the paint in the zone.”

Zebrasky was pleased with his team’s defensive effort as well, which kept them in striking distance until the end.

“We committed to our 1-3-1 defense,” Zebrasky said. “We have practiced it all summer. It turned them over. That is a pretty senior-dominated team. They are good. Our kids in the first half had a couple open looks and they were just off.”

Whenever they needed it most, the Panthers received contributions tonight from two of their senior leaders, Conwell and Rachel Mazzie.

Mazzie led the squad with 19 points. Conwell also finished in double figures with 14.

“Rachel (Mazzie) is supposed to make shots, and (Diondra) is trying to come back from the injury and I was surprised to see her jump that high,” Serio said about Conwell’s two rejections. “We need to emphasize team because we are so short. We play five guards and when we are not hitting our threes and getting into the paint we need to play defense.”

Keeping C-M in the game was Trest with 18 points, including a perfect 8-of-8 from the free-throw line. Parker finished with 12 points.

“She (Trest) is very good once she asserts herself,” Zebrasky said. “She will be that much tougher as she grows and matures.”