Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week for Jan. 15, 2023

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, January 15, 2023 | 8:51 PM

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When she was 8 years old, Rylee Kalocay had the chance to throw out the first pitch at a Pittsburgh Pirates game.

The Upper St. Clair sophomore has been throwing strikes through the opposing team’s basket ever since.

Kalocay pumped in 52 points last week in a pair of Panthers Section 2-6A victories over Chartiers Valley and Canon-McMillan. Upper St. Clair improved to 5-0 in the section and 10-2 overall.

“She has become more aggressive over the last year,” Upper St. Clair coach Pete Serio said. “I think the experience of that year along with maturing into her role is the difference.”

The week started for USC with a battle for first place at Chartiers Valley. The Panthers trailed by two points at halftime before a big third quarter put them in front to stay on their way to a 65-53 win.

“It was a really good one for all of us in one of our bigger games,” Kalocay said. “It was kind of an odd game for us, but Coach Pete and Coach Suzie (McConnell-Serio) talked to us and settled us down and we went out there (in the third quarter) and were on a pretty good streak.”

Kalocay led the Panthers with 21 points, and juniors Mia Brown and Samantha Prunzik added 19 and 16 points, respectively.

On Thursday, USC returned home to take on Canon-McMillan. The Panthers blew open a tight game by outscoring the Big Macs, 39-13, in the second and third quarters combined on their way to a convincing 67-35 win.

“We weren’t hitting a lot of shots in the first half,” Kalocay said. “We needed to get to the rim. So I took that into consideration and did what I could do to help us get up. It was one of those things where we just had to adapt.”

Kalocay adapted very nicely, scoring a game-high 31 points, and Brown scored 14.

Serio was asked what stood out about Kalocay’s performance last week.

“Her tenacity on getting to the rim,” he said, “and then the ability to shoot from the three when the defense tries to take away penetration.”

Upper St. Clair has reached the WPIAL Class 6A championship game two years in a row. The Panthers lost to North Allegheny in 2021 and fell to rival Mt. Lebanon in last year’s finals.

“I wish we would be more consistent as a team,” Serio said. “We’ve had some defensive lapses during games. I want us to be better at making teams earn everything they get and not give up easy baskets.”

Kalocay says the team is driven to finally win gold.

“I definitely think that is one of the things that we look at as the biggest motivation for us,” she said. “We know we can beat some of these teams as long as we play good together. We lost to Mt. Lebanon in the championship, and we already beat them (57-39 on Jan. 5). With North Allegheny, we know we’ve beaten them before (2022 semifinals). Norwin will also be a very tough game for us. They look really good this year.

“We got second last year and the year before. We know we can beat these teams. We have to stay disciplined and put the work in.”

2023 Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Players of the Week

Week 1: McKenna DeUnger, Charleroi

Tags: Upper St. Clair