A new team has risen in the WPIAL to take on the monstrous challenge of trying to dethrone the two-time defending boys basketball champions, the Pine-Richland Rams.

The Penn Hills Indians upset the number 1 seed, the Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils in the semi-finals of the WPIAL playoffs on Wednesday.

The Indians were down at one point in the game by 10 points. They showed enough grit to come back and upset a poised Mt. Lebanon basketball team in front of a packed gym.

They will need that same grit this Saturday in the championship game to defeat the dynasty that is Pine-Richland boys basketball.

Pine-Richland has won two straight WPIAL championships and lost in last year’s state championship. The Rams lost their best player from previous years due to graduation: Andrew Petcash, who now plays Division 1 basketball at Boston University.

However, Andrew Petcash’s brother, Drew Petcash, has stepped up this year and has led them once again to the championship game. Drew Petcash averaged 18 points a game this year.

Also leading the charge for the Rams is Notre Dame football recruit Phil Jurkovec. Jurkovec is the 83rd-ranked recruit in football and was first team all-section this year along with Petcash. Jurkovec has been with the team all along the way during the Rams’ dominant run and is looking to top it all off with another championship for his final year.

The Indians, however, do have size in their favor. Penn Hills starts two guys who are over 6 feet, 5 inches. One of them is Daivon Stephens, who averaged 18.2 points a game this year and was first team all-section. Also, they will need strong point guard play from their starting point guard, Cory Fulton.

In a wide open year in 6A basketball, it is only fitting that the championship game comes down to the five seed (Penn Hills) vs. the six seed (Pine-Richland). It is not surprising, though, to see the Pine-Richland Rams in their third consecutive championship game and seeking to continue one of the most impressive runs in the WPIAL in recent history.