Greensburg Central Catholic boys get off to fast start in beating Laurel to open Class 2A playoffs

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Monday, February 17, 2025 | 9:47 PM

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All in all, Greensburg Central Catholic looked the part in its tournament opener as the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball playoffs.

A fast start fueled by full-court pressure and ball movement propelled the host Centurions to a commanding lead on the way to a 67-42 first-round victory over No. 16 Laurel on Monday night.

GCC (21-2) advances to play No. 8 Union (17-6) in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“We scouted their guards, and we knew we were quicker than them,” GCC senior guard Brady O’Rourke said. “We wanted to run them out of the gym.”

Still, the Centurions wanted more, demanded more from their experienced lineup. GCC was the WPIAL runner-up last season and fully intends to get back to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center for the finals.

That means there is no resting on what appear to be comfortable leads.

“You can’t get lazy just because you’re up.” O’Rourke said.

Laurel (12-12), which fell behind 19-1 after the first quarter, picked it up in the third and cut the deficit to 35-22, avoiding the possibility of getting mercy-ruled in the playoffs.

“We need to be way more focused,” said O’Rourke, who had a game-high 15 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. “Teams are going to get better as we go.”

GCC led 33-14 at the half and 49-31 after three quarters before stretching the margin to 25 in the fourth.

Sophomore AJ Tarpley added 14 points — 11 in the fourth — and senior Liam Gallagher scored nine of his 12 in the second quarter.

GCC has won 29 straight at home.

“It was a great start,” GCC coach Christian Hyland said. “That was one of the many things we set out to do tonight. We looked good early. There were pros and cons. We can’t have stretches … you can’t play like that as you advance. We have to be on our P’s and Q’s at all times.”

As an aside, Laurel got plenty of looks early but didn’t make them. In fact, the Spartans missed their first 14 shots before Adam Kuth made a layup with 5:54 left in the second quarter.

By the time the Spartans began to get into a rhythm, led by sophomore Mason Ernst, the damage already had been done.

Ernst had 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Senior Jayden Iorio hit three 3s and scored 10 for a team that was 2-20 last season.

Laurel’s most recent playoff win came in 2021, when it went two rounds in the WPIAL Class 3A bracket.

To GCC’s sharing of the ball, Hyland told his team he liked the extra passing but thought at times the players passed up good shots.

“We work on moving without the ball,” he said. “Read and react. We want to take good shots when they are there.”

O’Rourke said the ball movement helped lead to a rhythm offensively.

“We have so many dudes who can play,” he said. “It’s important that everyone gets a touch.”

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., Laurel