Greensburg Central Catholic finds footing, blows past Everett into PIAA semifinals

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, March 15, 2024 | 10:21 PM

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SIDMAN — A three-point halftime lead turned into a rout in a hurry for Greensburg Central Catholic.

Once the Centurions girls found their legs in their state quarterfinal Friday night, there was no way of stopping them.

“We definitely picked it up in the second half. We beat them by 30,” GCC’s Avery Davis said.

Indeed, it became a one-sided affair.

Erica Gribble scored 16 of her 20 points after halftime, and GCC overwhelmed Everett, 56-26, at Forest Hills High School to advance to the PIAA Class 2A semifinals.

The Centurions (23-6), ranked No. 2 in the Trib HSSN state rankings, will face defending PIAA champion Kennedy Catholic on Monday at a site and time to be determined.

Kennedy Catholic also won in in convincing fashion in the quarterfinals, trouncing Bishop McCort, 60-34.

“In the second half, I saw their legs,” GCC coach Chris Skatell said of his players. “I told them I hadn’t seen their legs since we were at The Pete.”

GCC defeated Serra Catholic on Feb. 29 to win the WPIAL championship at Petersen Events Center.

“Our shots were short in the first half tonight. … Our legs were tired,” Skatell said. “We’ve tried to protect them in practice and not run them a lot. It wasn’t until after we grinded it out and beat Bellwood-Antis (in the first round), then grinded it out and beat West Middlesex (in the second round), then grinded it out in the first half tonight that we got our legs under us in the second half.

“Once our transition game got going, we could’ve won by 50.”

Mya Morgan added 15 points, and Davis finished with 14 for GCC.

“They didn’t have many more attempts than we did in the game, but we didn’t make many shots in the second half,” Everett coach Keith Moyer said.

GCC led 17-14 at halftime and finally went up by double digits in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Morgan to give the Centurions a 34-22 advantage.

Gribble made consecutive shots from behind the arc in the final minute, the second coming at the third-quarter buzzer, to put GCC in command 40-23.

“Definitely a sluggish first half,” Gribble said. “Coach kept telling us our shots would fall, and we kept believing that. We fought some nerves early on.”

Everett (20-8), the District 5 champion, played inspired in the first half behind a large backing of fans dressed in a sea of red.

“You’re in a hostile environment with a gym full of people from their hometown. It’s hard,” Skatell said. “I get it. We just said to stay focused, stay calm and do what we do. Be patient, get that lead stretched out a little bit.

“We’ll do something different on defense, push it out, push it out. You turn around and look, and we’re up 20.”

Davis scored 10 first-half points to help GCC to a 17-14 lead at halftime. Afterward, she thought about the final outcome — a 30-point drubbing — and wondered aloud.

“We really just had to come out with better energy,” Davis said. “That was one thing that really killed us in the first half. We took so many shots, and we just couldn’t get any to fall.

“We definitely picked it up in the second half. We held them to 14 points in the first half and 12 in the second. There’s not much more you can do.”

Tags: Greensburg C.C.