Greensburg Central Catholic holds on to beat Franklin Regional
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Friday, December 6, 2024 | 10:18 PM
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Liam Gallagher (right) fights for a rebound with Franklin Regional’s Anthony Mitchell on Friday at Hempfield.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s A.J. Tarpley scores past Franklin Regional’s Anthony Mitchell on Friday at Hempfield.
Franklin Regional’s Jonah Johnston (left) and Drew Devola defend on Greensburg Central Catholic’s Liam Gallagher on Friday at Hempfield.
Franklin Regional’s Anthony Mitchell scores past Greensburg Central Catholic’s Liam Gallagher on Friday at Hempfield.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Ty Rozier (left) fights for a rebound with Franklin Regional’s Jonah Johnston on Friday at Hempfield.
Franklin Regional’s Connor Crossey scores past Greensburg Central Catholic’s Brady O’Rourke on Friday at Hempfield.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Samir Crosby drives on Franklin Regional’s Logan Walter on Friday at Hempfield.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s A.J. Tarpley and Ty Rozier defend on Franklin Regional’s Jonah Jonhston on Friday at Hempfield.
Franklin Regional’s Connor Crossey celebrates with Anthony Mitchell after Mitchell’s score and one against Greensburg Central Catholic’s Liam Gallagher on Friday at Hempfield.
Franklin Regional’s Jonah Johnston blocks the shot of Greensburg Central Catholic’s A.J. Tarpley on Friday at Hempfield.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Ty Rozier defends on Franklin Regional’s Connor Crossey on Friday at Hempfield.
One coach was concerned with how his team started. The other, with how his finished.
It’s very early, but critiques now are going to be harsher than they might be later in the season.
Greensburg Central Catholic built double-digit leads at halftime and at the start of the fourth quarter before holding off slow-starting Franklin Regional, 53-50, on Friday night at the 20th Hempfield boys basketball tip-off tournament.
It was a matchup of WPIAL finalists from last season. Franklin Regional (2-1) was the Class 5A runner-up, whereas GCC (2-0) took home silver in 2A.
The Panthers also finished second in the PIAA.
GCC, the No. 1-ranked team in WPIAL 2A by TribLive HSSN, was outscored in the second half 36-29 and let the Panthers hang around as free throws clanked off the rim.
The Centurions finished 8 of 24 from the foul line.
“We gimped to the finish line,” GCC coach Christian Hyland said. “It’s a learning experience. It’s just our second game. Our guys are still getting acclimated to one another.”
GCC jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first quarter and led 24-14 at halftime.
As play picked up, Webber Rankin made a 3-pointer for the Panthers to trim the deficit to 33-30 late in the third. But A.J. Tarpley made back-to-back baskets, including a scooping layup to give GCC a 39-32 edge going to the fourth.
Tarpley, a transfer from Greensburg Salem, led GCC with 19 points, and Liam Gallagher added 10.
“We had to play through it,” Tarpley said of the unpolished play down the stretch. “We’re not there yet, but I think we’ll get there after a couple more games. We have five scorers on the court.”
Gallagher nailed a 3 to start the final frame, but the 10-point advantage faded.
Franklin Regional coach Jesse Reed watched his team rally for wins against Seneca Valley and Quaker Valley earlier in the week, but this comeback couldn’t be seen to a finish.
“The beginning of games, we’re starting slow,” Reed said. “You can’t expect to luck out and win games. We let them bully us a little bit.
“We only scored 14 points in a half, and we went through the motions early. We have to figure out what is going on, whether it’s changing up the lineup, doing something different in warmups, I don’t know.”
Still, the Panthers chipped away as GCC failed to cauterize its advantage.
Jonah Johnston’s putback cut it to 45-39 and, after baskets by Sean Walker and Tarpley, Connor Crossey buried a 3 to make it 49-44 with 2 minutes, 33 seconds remaining.
“Jesse and I know each other very well,” Hyland said of Reed, who is a GCC alum like him. “In that sense, it was a like a playoff game. We had to grind it out and work for baskets.”
The Panthers kept the rally going as Colin Holt came up with a steal and made a layup to close the gap to 49-46 with 2:21 left.
GCC answered, though, with a fast-break layup from Gallagher, and Walker and Gallagher each made a free throw to keep the Centurions ahead.
Crossey, who had a game-high 20 points, scored at the buzzer to make it 53-50.
Walker scored nine points, and Ty Rozier gave the Centurions good minutes off the bench and finished with seven.
The tournament concludes Saturday with these matchups: Connellsville vs. Penn-Trafford (noon), Greensburg Central Catholic vs. Greensburg Salem (1:30 p.m.) and Franklin Regional vs. Hempfield (3 p.m.).
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C.
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