GCC girls get ‘mad,’ pull away from OLSH in WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinals

By: Paul Schofield
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 | 10:43 PM

Previous Next

Greensburg Central Catholic senior Erica Gribble blew a layup to open the second half of Wednesday WPIAL’s Class 3A game.

Our Lady of the Sacred Heart used the Gribble miss and a couple of turnovers during an 11-0 run to grab a one-point lead.

But Gribble responded, scored the next seven points and led the No. 3-seeded Centurions to a 57-42 victory at Bethel Park.

Greensburg Central Catholic (18-6) will now face No. 2 Beaver Falls in the semifinals Saturday at a site and time to be determined. No. 6 OLSH (18-6) will face Waynesburg on Friday in a consolation ladder game at a site and time to be determined.

So, what got into Gribble?

“She got mad,” Greensburg Central Catholic coach Chris Skatell said. “She got a couple steals. This is playoff basketball. You never know what to expect.

“But this is exactly what we expected from the girls. That team is well coached.”

Once Gribble took control, the Centurions steadily pulled away.

Greensburg Central Catholic led 34-24 in the first half thanks to a good start from junior Avery Jones, who scored 13 of her 16 points. GCC was ahead 34-27 at halftime.

“Avery had a good start,” Skatell said. “We just did not get the ball to her enough in the second half.”

OLSH got two 3-pointers from Lola Garner during an 8-0 run and took a 35-34 lead.

Gribble then swiped a pass and hit a layup, and the Centurions calmed down.

They outscored OLSH, 23-7, the rest of the way.

GCC’s length and physicality on defense shut down OLSH’s offense. The Centurions also got numerous second and third chances on the boards.

Gribble scored 13 of her game-high 25 points in the second half.

The score could have and should have been much larger. GCC missed at least 10 layups.

“Oh my God,” Skatell said. “But that happens in tight games.

“We had to continue to work. Our defense did better as the game went on.”

OLSH coach Don Eckerle said GCC’s length gave his team problems the entire game.

“They have some great athletes on that team,” Eckerle said. “They did very well taking away our passing lanes.

“We knew coming in we had to do a good job blocking out. We gave a great effort, but their height was too much.”

Eckerle also praised the play of Gribble.

“She made some plays,” Eckerle said. “That is why she is a Division I player. We knew she was a great player. With the game on the line, she made some basketball plays. (Jones) also had a nice game.”

Garner finished with 19 points for the Chargers.

Jayla Peterson, who ran the point for the Centurions, finished with 12 points.

Last year, Greensburg Central defeated OLSH in the WPIAL semifinals but lost to the Chargers in the second round of the state playoffs.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Our Lady of the Sacred Heart