2025 WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball championship breakdown: Shady Side Academy vs. Greensburg C.C.

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 | 12:41 PM

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WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball championship

No. 1 Shady Side Academy vs. No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic

7 p.m. Thursday, Petersen Events Center

On the air: Video livestream: NFHS Network; audio: Trib HSSN

WPIAL titles: GCC 6 (2024, ’07, ’06, ’03, 1997, ’91); SSA 1 (2024)

Shady Side Academy (24-0)

Coach: Jonna Burke

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Cl., Pos.

1, Laila Banner, 5-8, Fr., G

4, Makiyah Mitchell, 5-8, Sr., G

5, Cameron Capel, 5-7, Sr., G

21, Leah Buford, 5-7, So., F

23, Karis Thomas, 5-7, Jr., G

How they got here: After a first-round bye, Shady Side Academy defeated No. 8 Riverside, 55-20, in the quarterfinals and No. 12 Ellwood City, 69-33, in the semifinals.

Notable: This will be the teams’ third meeting of the season. Shady Side Academy won both Section 2 games, 62-33 and 59-48. Shady Side Academy is seeking a repeat after winning the WPIAL Class 3A title last winter. Quick point guard Karis Thomas lit up Ellwood City in the quarterfinals with a career-high 46 points. She made nine 3-pointers in the 69-33 win. Thomas had 24 and 23 points against GCC this season. The WPIAL girls record for points in a playoff game is 56 set by Brooke Stewart of East Allegheny in 1997. Forward Cassie Sauer, who had a pair of big games against GCC, including a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, missed the quarterfinal with a lower body injury. She was on crutches and likely won’t play Thursday. Shady Side limited GCC’s Erica Gribble to nine points in their first matchup, but Gribble had 26 in the rematch, including 14 in the third quarter and a buzzer-beating 3 to tie it 41-41. Shady Side guard Cameron Capel knows The Pete well. She is the daughter of Pitt men’s basketball coach Jeff Capel. Burke has more than 500 coaching wins. She played at Pitt and was the Big East Conference Rookie of the Year in 1991. The fourth-year coach of the Bulldogs coached at Butler from 1995-2003, going 123-89 in eight seasons. She led Bethel Park, her alma mater for 18 years (2003-21) and went 360-107 with a WPIAL title in 2013. Both teams qualified for the PIAA playoffs. The winner will host a subregional winner between districts 5 and 6, while the loser host a subregional winner between districts 8 and 9. Both games will be March 7.

Greensburg C.C. (19-5)

Coach: Chris Skatell

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Cl., Pos.

12, Jayla Peterson, 5-8, Jr. G

23, Erica Gribble, 5-10, Jr., G

31, Avery Jones, 5-10, So., F

34, Nolan Althof, 5-8, So., F

54, Erica Rodriguez, 5-6, Sr. F

Notable: GCC won the WPIAL Class 2A title last year with a victory over Serra Catholic at The Pete. Erica Gribble and Jayla Peterson were starters. Abby Dlugos also played in the final but is out this season with an injury. GCC toppled OLSH in the quarterfinals 41-18, holding the Chargers to five field goals. Gribble had 16 points in the win, and upstart Avery Jones added 14 and Peterson had 10. The Centurions have won five of their last six games and are 13-2 since Jan. 9. They beat 4A North Catholic, lost in overtime to 6A Peters Township and lost by one to 4A Oakland Catholic.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Shady Side Academy