Greensburg Central Catholic rolls past No. 2 Beaver Falls, returns to WPIAL finals

By: Antonio Rossetti
Saturday, February 21, 2026 | 2:39 PM

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No. 3 Greensburg Central Catholic delivered a dominant 67-30 victory over No. 2 Beaver Falls on Saturday afternoon, using an electric 43-point first half to reach a third straight WPIAL title game.

“That’s one of the better games we’ve played in the last two years,” coach Chris Skatell said. “We played really good.”

After a tough game against OLSH in the Class 3A quarterfinals, Skatell wanted the Centurions (18-6) to stay calm and let the game flow. They succeeded in that task.

Erica Gribble led the charge with 27 points, burying five 3-pointers and tallying five assists.

“This is nothing new,” teammate Jayla Peterson said about Gribble’s performance. “She puts up 30 every game.”

The Centurions racked up 22 assists as their ball movement and aggressive rebounding helped them jump to a 17-2 run to start the game.

Greensburg Central Catholic drained 10 shots from behind the arc as a team.

“We’ve been working a lot in practice on our shooting and ball movement, and when you keep repping it, it shows up in the game,” Gribble said. “When the ball’s moving like that and everyone’s touching it, it just makes us so much better offensively.”

The Centurions’ balanced attack also featured Avery Jones with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Abby Dlugos racked up six points, nine assists and eight rebounds. Jayla Peterson tallied 10 points and seven rebounds, and Nolan Althof mustered eight points and six rebounds.

The Centurions played scrappy and showed their skill too.

“My favorite part of the game isn’t scoring,” Dlugos said. “It’s rebounding, passing and doing the scrappy stuff. I love getting the ball to our shooters and watching it all come together. And I know they’ll do the same for me.”

Beavers Falls (22-2), which entered the game with just one loss, was held to its worst output of the season.

“Our defense and rebounding were a big reason why,” Skatell said. “We talked well, switched when we needed to, and contested everything without fouling. If they make tough shots, that’s fine — just make them earn it.”

GCC led 19-6 at the end of one quarter and continued to push the pace to take a commanding 43-11 lead going into the second half.

GCC also out rebounding Beaver Falls, 24-9, in the first half and 38-15 for the game.

“Whenever we really want the ball on the glass, we go get it,” Peterson said.

Dlugos added: “I think our height helps, especially against a smaller team, but it’s mostly about effort,” she said. “We knew from scouting that they crash hard, so we made it a point to be even tougher.”

Gribble complimented the work of Althof and Jones.

“They’re great rebounders, and I don’t think we could win every game without them,” she said. “They help us a lot on that.”

Skatell added how impressed he was of Dlugos’ 15 boards.

“Avery was unbelievable,” he said. “She just keeps getting better and better.

“Over a long season, it’s hard to keep improving, but she’s growing into what she can be as a player.”

Dlugos missed a chance to play in last season’s WPIAL title victory because of an ACL injury. She and the rest of the Centurions are motivated to three-peat as WPIAL champions.

“We all want the same thing really badly,” Dlugos said. “The team effort’s always there, and we always try to help each other as much as we can, and everyone wants to go.”

Tags: Beaver Falls, Greensburg C.C.