Erica Gribble pours in 31 points to lead Greensburg Central Catholic girls to 7th WPIAL title

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, February 27, 2025 | 9:08 PM

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Taking a break from her scoring barrage, Erica Gribble zipped a wide, cross-court pass down the baseline to a waiting Jayla Peterson in the far corner.

Peterson calmly drained a 3-pointer to tie the score with 1 minute, 35 seconds remaining.

Seconds later, Peterson completed a three-point play to give Greensburg Central Catholic the lead.

A pair of juniors, Gribble and Peterson formed a terrific one-two combo for the Centurions as they combined for all 38 points of the Centurions’ scoring in the second half and orchestrated a fourth-quarter comeback as No. 2 GCC topped No. 1 Shady Side Academy, 56-51, to win the WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball championship Thursday night at Petersen Events Center.

Gribble, a Richmond commit, had 14 of her game-high 31 points in the fourth, and Peterson scored eight of her 15 in the final eight minutes as GCC (21-5) captured its second straight title, seventh overall and first in 3A.

GCC, which repeated one other time (2006-07), was moved up to 3A because of the PIAA competitive balance rule. The competition got stronger, but so did the Centurions.

Shady Side Academy (24-1), the defending 3A champion that played without injured 6-2 forward Cassie Sauer, didn’t have an answer for Gribble and Peterson down the stretch.

“Erica Gribble is Erica Gribble,” Bulldogs coach Jonna Burke said. “She took over tonight. We kept saying, help on Gribble, help on Gribble, and (Peterson) got open. We needed to be better defensively.”

The Centurions won the 2A crown a season ago.

Gribble, who made 12 of 24 shots, also had five steals. Her second assist was pivotal.

“We practice that pass all the time,” Gribble said of her pinpoint and game-tying assist on a pass that most players wouldn’t even attempt. “You see that in AAU a lot. Jayla stepped up and hit the shot.”

Peterson, who tied it 50-50, completed a three-point play with 50 seconds left to give GCC a 53-50 edge. Gribble came up with a steal and passed ahead to Peterson, who made on lefthanded layup on a two-on-one break for the lead.

Gribble scored 12 straight points late in the second and early in the third.

She had 11 in a row in the fourth as GCC staged its comeback with a 23-point fourth.

“Erica and Jayla were on another level in the last eight minutes,” GCC coach Chris Skatell said. “They took over.”

Shady Side Academy, which swept GCC in two section games, scored one point in the final three minutes.

Senior Makiyah Mitchell scored on a pass from Laila Banner to give Shady Side Academy a 43-36 lead with 6:38 to play.

Gribble made two layups off of steals to jumpstart GCC’s fourth.

The Bulldogs, who led for more than 24 minutes, were outrebounded 23-16, including 11-1 on offensive rebounds.

“I didn’t want to lose to Shady Side again,” said Peterson, who was injured in the first quarter of last year’s WPIAL final and could not play a full game.

GCC trailed 28-18 at halftime and Peterson had two points at the break.

Junior Karis Thomas led Shady Side Academy with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, a game after scoring 46 (9 of 11 3s) in the semifinals.

Thomas made all six of her shot attempts and scored 13, while senior Cameron Capel made 4 of 5 3s in the first half as the Bulldogs took a 28-18 lead at halftime.

Thomas had seven points and Capel scored six in the first quarter as Shady Side Academy took a 14-10 lead.

With Sauer out, Gribble guarded Thomas, until Peterson switched to her late.

Shady Side had 20 turnovers.

Capel, the daughter of Pitt coach Jeff Capel, scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Gribble scored 10 in the third as GCC chipped away, cutting the deficit to 37-33 going to the fourth.

When GCC lost to Shady Side at home late in the regular season, Gribble also had a 14-point third quarter and scored 26.

“A lot of credit to Gribble,” Thomas said. “She is a great player.”

Gribble scored 28 points in last year’s 2A title game win over Serra Catholic. Her sister, Alayna, a Norwin alum who played at Pitt, won two WPIAL titles.

“I got to get another one to beat her,” Erica Gribble said.

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