Upper St. Clair Boys Handle Baldwin, 46-39

Sometimes, your best just isn't good enough. learned that the hard way again on Tuesday night with its sixth straight loss in varsity basketball—all in section play. This time, visiting  handed Baldwin a 46-39 defeat.

Upper St. Clair (11-6, 4-5 in WPIAL AAAA Section 4) led after each quarter on Tuesday, 11-10, 25-20, 34-30, and ultimately, 46-39, while dispatching Baldwin (5-11, 2-7 in Section 4).

St. Clair's senior guard Derik Young led all players with 20 points, including two from the free-throw line in the game's waning moments to help ice the contest. Young was perhaps the game's best player on both sides of the floor, forcing turnovers, leading fast breaks and connecting on multiple 3-pointers.

Fellow senior guard Mike Worthy was right behind Young with 13 points for the Panthers, followed by seven from teammate Ben Dabat—another senior guard.

Baldwin's sophomore forward Arnes Bajgora matched Young's seven fourth-quarter points while leading his team with 15 tallies for the game. Senior guard/forward Jordan Hartman and senior guard Eric Michalski followed with 10 and six points, respectively, for the Highlanders.

Despite a strong showing, Bajgora was hard on himself after the game.

"I could have stepped up for my team," he said. "I could have made some more plays for my team.

"I could have had a few more points—and a few more rebounds, too."

The Highlanders could have had a few more points in general, but they were unable to finish plays on many an occasion and were cold from 3-point range.

Baldwin's usual leading scorer, senior guard/forward Charlie Wallander, who ranks high among all WPIAL players with around 15 points per game this season, was held scoreless on Tuesday night.

"I give those guys credit from St. Clair," Baldwin's Head Coach  said. "They played very hard. They have some savvy players on that team. Danny (Holzer, USC's Head Coach) made some good adjustments in the second half.

"I think we had opportunities that we missed in terms of times that we could have made plays, and we didn't get a bounce or a guy's not locked in on what he's supposed to be doing. But, as coaches, we need to get these guys ready to play, and I probably could have done a better job myself ... 

"But all credit to them (USC). They played well enough to win the game, and flat out, we just didn't deserve to win."

Added Holzer, "I think we wore them out a bit. Our pressure defense I think wore them out on both ends of the floor and gave us a lift."

Holzer praised the individual work of Young, as did Urmann.

"We needed him to step up, and he did," Holzer said of the senior. "We were short a player—one of our starters was sick—so I'm really proud of him. He's been like that all year. He's a savvy veteran."

Added Urmann, "(Young) actually played for me in AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball for two years. He's a great kid, he's a savvy player, he's smart, he's ultra-competitive, and that's just what you're going to get out of Derik."

Baldwin was able to get the score down to one possession late in the fourth quarter after trailing by as many as 13 points earlier in the game and by as many as 10 twice in the fourth.

Bajgora's put-back made the score 42-39 with about a minute to play, but Dabat then went to the free-throw line and made two shots for a 44-39 advantage.

Hartman was then whistled for a charging foul with 24 seconds left, followed by Young's two free throws for the game's final points.

Baldwin will face an uphill battle to get into the postseason this year. The top four teams in Section 4 will qualify for the WPIAL playoffs, but the Highlanders are tied for sixth place after Tuesday.

"We just gotta work hard every day (to get to the playoffs), not take plays off," Bajgora said. "We just gotta want it. I want to go to the playoffs, and so do the seniors."

Baldwin will need plenty of help and must take care of its own business, as well.

"You know you're not going to get anything easy in Section 4," Urmann said. "We're going to go back to the drawing board and continue to coach the heck out of these guys ... Just bring these guys to practice, keep trying to get better and see how the year ends up for us."

For St. Clair, Tuesday's win proved to be big, as the Panthers have moved into a tie for fourth in Section 4 with .

"We'd lost a couple (section) games in a row, and this was a must-win (against Baldwin)," Young said. "We had to go out there and play as hard as we possibly could.

"I don't want my season to end not going to the playoffs."

USC plays at home against Peters Township on Friday night at 7:30.

Baldwin travels to Norwin High School (6-8 overall) for a non-section game on Wednesday night at 7:30 before returning to section play with a 7:30 p.m. game at eighth-place (1-8 in Section 4) on Friday.

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