Westmoreland high school basketball notebook: GCC’s Western PA Bruins connection

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, February 25, 2024 | 5:17 PM

Mya Morgan can see some similarities between her Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball team and the AAU Western PA Bruins.

Morgan has a good eye for this kind of thing because she plays for both.

The Bruins, the premier girls AAU program in the area, have a clear influence on top-seeded GCC (19-5), which will go for its sixth WPIAL title Thursday night at Petersen Events Center.

Or, is it the other way around?

GCC has been so good, it might get confused for an AAU team.

“We play a lot of games and put in a lot of really long weeks,” said Morgan, a Cal (Pa.) commit. “With (AAU) you always have to be ready to compete and have a will to win.”

Morgan, seniors Cara Dupilka and Avery Davis and sophomore Jayla Peterson are current or former Bruins players. The Centurions’ top man, Chris Skatell, also coaches with the Bruins.

Even sophomore Erica Gribble was playing for the Bruins before she moved to the Comets out of Philadelphia.

The Bruins are known for producing Division I talent through national exposure and on-court success.

Davis is a Wheeling commit, and Dupilka is going to play at Saint Vincent. Gribble began to receive Division I offers when she was with the Bruins.

“We’ve been fortunate to have coach Skatell and several of his current and former players a part of our organization for the past several years,” Bruins executive director John Tate said. “With those people, you have high basketball IQ, unselfishness and competitiveness.”

Double dip?

Greensburg Central Catholic’s basketball teams have been to a number of WPIAL finals over the years, but the boys and girls never have made WPIAL title games in the same year.

That could change Tuesday if the boys can defeat Northgate in the 2A semifinals at Gateway.

The boys made the finals in 2011, ’14 and ’21. The girls went in 1983, ’91, ’94, ’95, ’96, ’97, 2002, ’03, ’05, ’06, ’07 and ’16.

Whereas the girls have five titles, the last in 2007, the boys are seeking their first.

2,000 club

A pair of 2,000-point scorers will square off in the WPIAL 3A seventh-place game with a PIAA playoff berth on the line.

Yough’s Terek Crosby and Joe Roth of Ellwood City both reached the 2,000 milestone in these playoffs.

Yough will host the Wolverines at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night in the seventh-place game for a PIAA playoff berth.

Crosby scored his 2,000th point Saturday in a 61-47 loss to Shady Side Academy in the consolation round. Roth hit the mark in a 39-38 quarterfinal loss to Deer Lakes.

Only 35 players in WPIAL history have achieved the scoring milestone. Crosby, who has 2,015 points, is the seventh boys player from Westmoreland County to reach the mark.

Roth, the seventh player from Lawrence County to score 2,000, is also an outstanding swimmer for Riverside, which co-ops with Ellwood City. He has 2,028 points.

Johnson sits out

Monessen senior Hailey Johnson had to sit out a Class A consolation game against West Greene after she was ejected from a quarterfinal against Riverview.

The issue Monessen had, though, is it was not informed of the one-game suspension until the day after the game.

Johnson committed her fifth foul, coach Janine Vertacnik said, and shoved a Riverview player as she was walking back to the bench.

Vertacnik said the officials reported a flagrant foul and disqualification on Johnson, which meant she would have to sit out the next game, but the call was not recorded in any scorebook from the game.

Monessen quickly appealed the decision but was denied.

“You hate to see someone lie to you like that,” Vertacnik said. “The ref said he told me it was a flagrant, but he never did that. I have never heard of anything like that before, disqualifying someone the next day? It doesn’t make sense.”

Monessen edged past West Greene, 34-30, and will play Monday’s winner between Eden Christian and Bishop Canevin in the fifth-place game, with the winner qualifying for the PIAA playoffs.

Johnson needs 28 rebounds for 1,000 in her career.

SVC connections

The Franklin Regional boys and the Saint Vincent men have a lot in common.

For one, both are having benchmark seasons. Franklin Regional is 22-2 and in the WPIAL 5A semifinals, and Saint Vincent (23-4) reached the Division III Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship but fell to Geneva, 83-63.

But the key similarities hinge on the coaches.

Panthers coach Jesse Reed is a former SVC assistant, and his staffers Mike Simmons (Kiski Area) and Austin Dedert (Plum) played for the Bearcats.

And don’t forget SVC assistant Dan Szramowski, who was a Franklin Regional assistant for the 2021-22 season.

Saint Vincent and coach D.P. Harris are recruiting Panthers’ standout guard Cam Rowell strongly.

State bound

The PIAA playoffs will begin March 8-9, a week after the WPIAL finals.

Here’s a look at the local playoff picture:

Boys qualifiers are Franklin Regional (5A), Derry (3A), Burrell (3A), and Greensburg Central Catholic (2A).

Still in contention are Kiski Area (5A), Jeannette (2A), Yough (3A) and Monessen (A).

Kiski Area must beat Gateway on Wednesday in the 5A seventh-place game to qualify, and Jeannette needs to beat Eden Christian on Monday or go 1-1 with a win in the 2A seventh-place game Wednesday.

Yough has to win against Ellwood City on Wednesday to make the 3A state tournament, and Monessen must beat Carlynton on Tuesday in the Class A fifth-place game to advance.

For the girls, qualifiers are Norwin (6A) and Greensburg Central Catholic (2A).

The 4A winner of Greensburg Salem at Highlands on Monday clinches and will play for fifth place, and in Class A, Monessen has to beat either Eden Christian or Bishop Canevin — those teams play Monday — to take fifth and continue its season.

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

Tags: Burrell, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Jeannette, Kiski Area, Monessen, Norwin, Yough