Greensburg Central Catholic shaking off another disappointing exit from PIAA tournament

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, March 23, 2025 | 3:29 PM

Sewickley Academy used lessons learned from a loss to one Westmoreland County team to beat another.

The Panthers rallied from 14 down Saturday to topple Greensburg Central Catholic, 52-48, and end the Centurions’ run in the PIAA Class 2A boys basketball playoffs.

Panthers first-year coach Mike Iuzzolino, a former Penn State, Saint Francis and Dallas Mavericks guard, hinted the victory might have been an offshoot of a 20-point loss to Jeannette in the WPIAL semifinals.

In other words, thank you, Jayhawks.

The WPIAL semifinal sharpened the Panthers for the state semifinals, and, because of it, they are headed to Hershey.

“We grew up,” Iuzzolino said. “The Jeannette game helped us with that growing up. They came out and punched us in the face. Like I tell our kids, life is 10% of what happens and 90% of you respond.”

As for GCC, the Centurions rallied to win two consolation-round games and three state playoff games to reach the PIAA semifinals for the first time since 2014.

But a WPIAL and PIAA title continued to elude the Centurions (26-4), who finished a victory shy of tying the program mark for wins in a season.

Sixth-year coach Christian Hyland pondered what might have been as he held his baby daughter, Nova, and consoled his players after Saturday’s loss at AHN Arena in Peters Township.

“We want to win for coach,” GCC senior Braden Riley said.

Hyland lost in two PIAA finals and one WPIAL title game as a GCC point guard and is 0 for 2 in WPIAL championships as a coach.

“That’s the fifth time. It’s tough,” Hyland said. “Sometimes you have a bad half. I am proud of our guys. Things could have gotten worse (after a loss to Union in the quarterfinals). But they wanted to keep playing, and I give them credit for that. It’s that time of year where you have guys who have baseball, track, lacrosse and other things.”

GCC earned the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL playoffs but was clipped by No. 8 Union, 44-42, in the quarterfinals.

Five straight wins followed, however, including state victories over McConnellsburg (54-43), Neshannock (66-52) and rival Jeannette (46-35), and GCC pulled into the state tournament as the fifth-place team from District 7.

GCC was on its way to its third state finals trip — first since 2011 — when it took a double-digit lead early Saturday. But Sewickley Academy, with a young rotation that includes only two seniors, rallied to flip the western final in its favor.

Freshman 6-foot-8 forward Mamadou Kane and junior guard Lucas Grimsley had 17 points each, with Kane scoring seven in the fourth quarter and 13 in the second half.

A fluid game was dialed back, and the pace favored the Panthers.

“Things went our way in the first half, but we didn’t get many (defensive) stops in the second half,” Hyland said. “It wasn’t because of a lack of effort, I can tell you that. Our guys played hard, and they wanted this. Sewickley has a young team. They’re going to be really good (in the future).”

GCC will lose five seniors, including starters Liam Gallagher, Brady O’Rourke and Riley, along with key reserves Sean Walker and Ty Rozier.

Slated to return are junior Samir Crosby and sophomore A.J. Tarpley, the other starting guards.

Sophomore David Wachinski also was a key contributor to the varsity.

“There was no quit in our guys,” Hyland said. “I am proud of all 18 of them. One day, our guys will look back and remember how much fun they had.”

Jeannette and Sewickley Academy could be the WPIAL finals matchup to watch next year. Jeannette is primed to bring back all five starters.

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., Jeannette, Sewickley Academy