Greensburg Central Catholic girls ready to lace ’em up in state tournament

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Saturday, March 1, 2025 | 12:52 PM


A reporter asked some Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball players in a postgame news conference if the shoes they wore in the WPIAL championship were new.

The entire team wore aqua-green Nike high-tops at Petersen Events Center on Thursday night when they celebrated their second straight title.

“No, we’ve had them all year,” GCC star junior Erica Gribble said with a laugh.

Said coach Chris Skatell: “The seniors get to pick the shoes each spring. They came out with these aqua shoes. I said, ‘Oh boy, we better be good.’ ”

They are good. Championship good. Now, their focus shifts to the PIAA playoffs.

GCC (21-5) staged a fourth-quarter comeback to remember, taking the lead with 53 seconds remaining on a three-point play by junior guard Jayla Peterson to defeat top-seeded Shady Side Academy, 56-51, for the 3A title, GCC’s seventh championship.

The Centurions won the 2A title last year, led by Gribble, who, again, was the title game’s MVP.

She scored 31 points against Shady Side Academy a year after pouring in 28 in a win over Serra Catholic.

Gribble and Peterson (16 points) combined for 47 of GCC’s 56 points in the final. Both played all 32 minutes.

Locked in and fully in her element on the wide college floor, Gribble couldn’t recall some exact details about a win over a Shady Side Academy team that beat GCC twice in section play but missed standout forward Cassie Sauer, who is out with a lower-body injury.

“I zoned out,” the Richmond commit said. “I just wanted to win.”

Gribble had 24 points in the second half and 14 in the fourth.

With Sauer out, the complexion of the game changed. Sauer had a double-double against GCC earlier in the season.

GCC limited the Bulldogs to one offensive rebound.

“We had to work just as hard,” GCC senior forward Erica Rodriguez said.

Coming down from a championship high and refocusing for a state run can he challenging. But GCC appears ready to chase its first state title in 28 years.

The Centurions made the PIAA 2A semifinals the last two years. That and adding a transfer went into the PIAA competitive balance formula that bumped them up to 3A this season.

GCC will play Cambria Heights (19-8) in the state first round at 7 p.m. Friday at Southmoreland.

“Last year, we had a lot of seniors,” Skatell said. “You never know how the girls will be (for the state playoffs). We have a young team, and they have to stay motivated. They want to keep playing. They have worked their butts off.”

GCC overcame the loss of its top forward, junior Abby Dlugos, who was injured four games into the season and hasn’t played since.

“Abby was such a big loss,” Skatell said. “We had two sophomores come in and fill those holes (Avery Jones and Nolan Althof).”

Jones, who has been a third scoring option, played 31 minutes after playing only a couple in last year’s final.

“It was a lot more intense than sitting on the bench,” Jones said.

The Centurions have one PIAA title, in 1997. They finished as runners-up in 1996.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

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