Despite Erica Gribble’s off night, Greensburg C.C. girls roll on in PIAA playoffs

By: Dave Mackall
Tuesday, March 12, 2024 | 10:05 PM

On a playoff night when Greensburg Central Catholic’s leading scorer was held to two points, coach Chris Skatell turned to Erica Gribble’s teammates for an answer.

They came through.

Mya Morgan scored 15 points, Jayla Peterson added 14 and Avery Davis finished with 12 as WPIAL champion GCC jumped to a big first-quarter lead and held on to beat District 10 third-place finisher West Middlesex, 54-45, in a PIAA Class 2A second-round girls basketball playoff Tuesday at North Allegheny.

The Centurions (22-6) advanced to the quarterfinals Friday against District 5 champion Everett (20-7) at a yet-to-be determined site and time. The Warriors sidelined South Side, the WPIAL’s fourth seed, 48-40.

“It’s a team game,” Skatell said. “Erica was a bit off tonight. She’s young. It happens. I’m just so happy we were able to get those big contributions from the others.”

Gribble, a sophomore, came into the game averaging a team-leading 20.9 points per game and was coming off a 20-point effort in a first-round victory over District 6’s Bellwood-Antis.

“We had other players step up,” said Peterson, a sophomore transfer from Indiana. “I feel good about tonight. When Erica is not scoring, we’ve got to get other players going. I have had those shots in other games, but a lot of times, they don’t go in. Tonight I was on. We just need to keep it going.”

Skatell said he didn’t notice West Middlesex doing anything special to limit Gribble, who went scoreless before converting a steal into a fast-break layup for her only points with 5 minutes, 8 seconds left.

The basket came after West Middlesex (20-6) had gotten within 48-40, the first time the Big Reds had cut the deficit to single digits after they had fallen behind behind 15-0 in the first quarter.

GCC led 19-5 after the first and 34-22 at halftime.

“Just erase the first quarter,” West Middlesex coach Mary Jo Staunch said. “Nerves got the best of us in the first quarter, but once we settled down and settled in, I thought we did better. I’m proud that we never quit, even though we got down 15-0.”

Caitlin Stephens, whose buzzer-beating shot lifted West Middlesex to a 38-36 first-round victory over District 9’s Moniteau, led the Big Reds with 22 points, and Emma Mild scored 10.

“That team is a good team,” Staunch said. “They’ve got great shooters, and they run their sets well. We held (Gribble), but that’s what a good team is about. Their other kids stepped up.”

GCC maintained a comfortable lead after scoring the game’s first 15 points, pushing the margin to as many as 17 (32-15) on consecutive 3-point shots by Davis and Morgan.

But West Middlesex scored seven of the final nine points of the quarter head to the locker room down by 12.

“It’s always good to get a big lead. Basketball is a game of ebbs and flows,” Skatell said. “They came here wanting to win the game, too.”

GCC built a 46-30 lead in the third quarter on another 3-pointer by Morgan, but West Middlesex got back within 12 (48-36) as the quarter expired.

The Big Reds made a push to start the fourth on back-to-back baskets to start off by Jen Babcock and Stephens to close within 48-40.

But Gribble’s steal and layup and a reverse layup by Peterson restored GCC’s 12-point lead.

Brooke Blaze banked in a 3-point shot for West Middlesex, cutting the GCC lead to 52-43, but the Centurions held on.

Tags: Greensburg C.C.