Westmoreland County athletes of the week: Penn-Trafford’s Aiden Drotos, GCC’s Erica Gribble

By: Bill Beckner Jr. And Paul Schofield
Saturday, March 8, 2025 | 11:32 AM

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The Westmoreland County Athletes of the Week is presented by Smail Kia. Look for the tags and look for the savings at Smail Kia in Greensburg.

Aiden Drotos

School: Penn-Trafford

Class: Sophomore

Sport: Hockey

Claim to fame: In the PIHL Class 2A Penguins Cup quarterfinals Monday, Drotos netted two goals and registered two assists in an 8-4 win over Bishop McCort. The sophomore forward led No. 4 Penn-Trafford (15-4-1) with 39 points (21 goals and 18 assists) during the regular season.

You guys closed the year winning seven of your last 10 games. What was working well down the stretch?

Our coach, (Brian Zagorac), just knows where to hit us. I mean, he knows what to hit and our structure and everything. When we’ve been following that, I mean, it’s pretty hard to stop us. Our goalie (Tyler Funk) has been great. … He’s stood on his head all year.

On an individual level, how have you been so successful at finding the back of the net?

The biggest thing is it’s not me. It’s the people I’m playing with. Because when we have success, it’s everybody working together. So, I mean, it’s not like I’m doing anything special. It’s just we’re all finding each other, and we’re all working well. And I mean, that’s when it works. … So, whenever we’re all working together, it’s hard to play against.

Has there been an adjustment to being the top scorer for your team in terms of how opponents treat you and how you approach games?

Most of the time, I just try and do my thing — not to worry about it because that’s how I’ve played my whole life. I never want to overthink. … We’ve seen game plans with our lines and everything … but the biggest thing for me is just staying consistent and having the same mindset every game. Because when I change it up, that’s when I can play back a little bit. Keeping that aggression the entire game is just a big key for everyone on our team.

As the season has progressed, and as one of the younger players, how would you evaluate your leadership?

It’s a big asset to my game. … I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to take all the credit, but I’ve talked about it with my coach, and when me and my teammates are on, it’s just like when I get going, everyone likes to follow. I take pride in that, and I think it’s a great thing for our team. Last year was kind of difficult because I only played 10 games. But this year, I think I’ve taken a big step in that category. … The biggest thing is just playing and having fun, obviously. But there’s times it has to get serious. So, I think it hasn’t really been a huge adjustment or problem for me as one of the younger guys. … When we work together, there’s no individualism at all. It’s just everyone’s trying to win.

You guys swept the regular season series against Bishop McCort, which included two shutouts. What made things more difficult when you matched up in the quarterfinals?

I think just the energy of the playoffs was the biggest thing. They saw us three times in the regular season. The playoffs always make it tougher because everyone’s playing to stay alive. … They came out, they had a good game plan. They were hard on us, and we didn’t have the best start.

You guys trailed early in that quarterfinal matchup and were down 3-1 at one point. What changed in the final 10 minutes of the second period (when you scored three goals in the final 9:46 to take a 5-4 lead into the final period)?

After the third goal, we really woke up. I think we got one back, and then (Benjamin) Zierski got one. It was bang, bang. We got a few power plays and pounced on them, and … after that, we took the lead. … That second period was huge. Right after the halfway point, we just kind of caught heat.

You guys were one of the best power-play teams during the regular season, and your second goal came on a power play. What do you think has made you guys so good on those opportunities?

I think our coach, Mike (Robinson), has really put an emphasis on the power play. Because at the beginning of the year, we kind of started out rough on the power play, but we picked it up over these past few weeks.

Your semifinal matchup is against No. 1 Fox Chapel, a team you lost to both times during the regular season. What are some things your team needs to improve upon to advance?

Don’t be scared of any team during the playoffs, especially. But I think during the two (regular season) games, we didn’t really have our best games to start, and we didn’t have the best structure. We weren’t playing any sound defense in both of those games during the regular season. I think … Fox (Chapel) is a great team. I know a few kids on the team. … We just have to play our game, and we’ll see what happens. But I’m pretty confident in this one.

What are some advantages your team has over the No. 1 seed?

When we play without fear and we take care of our structure and everything, our biggest advantage is just our will to play. … We’re not playing selfish at all. We don’t look for points. We’re trying to just win the game.

Do you have a favorite NHL team?

I think it’s an easy answer, the Penguins. I’ve always grown up watching them. It’s kind of hard not to be a fan of them. … Me and my dad, we watched those games (in the Penguins’ 2016-17 Stanley Cup playoff runs) religiously. When the Pens beat Ottawa (in the 2017 conference finals) … the overtime winner, my dad jumped on me, like punched me in the face, but he didn’t mean to. Those memories, that’s stuff I’ll remember forever.

Do you draw inspiration from any specific NHL team or player?

I don’t really like to base myself off teams or anything, but I liked watching Brandon Tanev when he was on the Penguins. I just think his aggressiveness is awesome. And he really just goes out there and plays. He doesn’t overthink or anything. He just goes out there and he does his thing.

What were your thoughts on the 4 Nations Face-Off? Do you think other sports should adopt a USA vs. the World type of game?

For sure. The way they set up the tournament was awesome. And I think a lot of all-star games and stuff like that, I just think they’re a waste at this point. The NBA should definitely adopt something like that — have a lot of European countries, foreign nations come in. I mean, I think that would be awesome. … The nations going against each other, that’s what gets people together.

Outside of hockey, what are some of your hobbies?

The biggest one is baseball.

Have you started to think about college? Are hockey or baseball a part of that decision?

Yeah, for sure. The goal is to play both in college. That would just be awesome. But if there comes a point where I need to pick one, it’s going to be hard. But that’s just a point I don’t need to be at right now. So, I’m looking forward to just playing both as long as possible and then see what happens with it.

Erica Gribble

School: Greensburg Central Catholic

Class: Junior

Sport: Basketball

Claim to fame: Gribble scored 31 points on 12-of-24 shooting to lead GCC to its second straight WPIAL championship with a 56-51 win over Shady Side Academy at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center. A Richmond commit, Gribble also had five steals in the game. GCC won the 3A title a year after claiming the 2A crown. Gribble has 1,695 career points after Friday’s win over Cambria Heights and trails GCC girls all-time scoring leader Ashley Henderson by 30.

Was the feeling of winning another title different this year?

It felt great. We really wanted to win again this year, and I am super happy we were able to accomplish that goal.

You must really like playing at Petersen Events Center. Some players have trouble with depth perception. Did you at first?

I do enjoy playing at the Pete. I have been to Pitt camps and shot around when my sister played there so I was familiar with the court.

What made you and your teammates think you could defeat Shady Side Academy in the final?

We just believed in ourselves. We knew if we could keep it close we could come together as a team for the win.

Did you feel like you outdueled Shady Side’s Karis Thomas?

Karis is a great player. I just played my game and did what I knew the team needed me to do to win.

How were you able to shift to a higher gear in the fourth quarter?

I hate to lose, and I just did my best to help my team. Our team did well rebounding and diving for loose balls and that really helped us.

What were you better at in this year’s final compared to last year’s?

It’s hard to compare the two years. Last year I shot well from 3 but this year I think it was my defense and steals that helped us win.

Why do you tend to have high-volume scoring quarters?

Not sure, I don’t try to do that. I think sometimes you just have to feel the game and take what the defense gives you.

Where do you keep your WPIAL gold medals?

I keep them in my room on a shelf with some of my other trophies.

Were your sisters at the Pete to see you win another title?

No, unfortunately they couldn’t be there. They watched online though. They said watching the game was very stressful.

What was the biggest difference going from 2A to 3A?

I think just getting to know the new teams we had to play.

You and Jayla Peterson seem to have such good chemistry. Was that on display with the title game on the line?

Jayla and I play very well together. She hit that huge 3 to tie it and the layup at the end to put us ahead. Those were clutch plays. We find each other and if one of us isn’t scoring the other picks up the slack.

How focused are you on winning a state title? What will it take?

We are very focused on winning the state title. We need to play together as a team and focus on our defense and rebounding. As long as we believe in ourselves, I think we have a great chance.

Have you ever played at Giant Center in Hershey?

I have not played at the Giant Center. I think it would be a great experience.

What would it mean to you to break the GCC scoring record (girls and overall)? Have you been paying attention to how many points you need?

I think it would be a great accomplishment, but our focus now is the state tournament. I think the coaches know the numbers but we just need to focus on the next game.

Does Richmond have a shot at the women’s NCAA title?

They won the regular season Atlantic 10 and are favored to win the Atlantic 10 tournament. They definitely can make some waves in the NCAA Tournament as well.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Penn-Trafford