Monday basketball rundown: Greensburg Central Catholic girls top Serra Catholic in Class 2A showdown; Unbeaten Lincoln Park survives scare; Shaye Bailey's 30 points drives Freedom past Rochester

Knowing that a win Monday would earn them at least a share of a section title, the Greensburg Central Catholic girls started out a bit slow before turning up the heat in their Class 2A Section 3 showdown with Serra Catholic.

“I just think we settled into getting some stops,” Centurions coach Chris Skatell said, “and usually offense comes from good defense.”

And with that good defense came another section championship.

Greensburg Central Catholic increased its section lead to two games and clinched at least a split of the title after defeating visiting Serra, 59-47.

Sophomore Erica Gribble scored a game-high 23 points for the Centurions (14-5, 10-0), who will be section champs for the third season in a row. They split the title with Serra last season and won it outright a season earlier. Clairton (15-2, 7-2) and Serra (13-4, 6-2) are right behind Greensburg Central Catholic in the section standings with two losses apiece. Each team plays 12 section games.

“It’s all about the kids,” Skatell said. “You have to have kids that really want to play and work hard, and we have that.”

Serra, which fell to Greensburg Central Catholic at home, 66-53, on Jan. 4, held a 22-16 lead two minutes into the second quarter of Monday’s game before the Centurions closed the quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 28-25 halftime lead. Gribble, the team’s leading scorer, had 10 points in the second quarter and 15 in the opening half.

“She got rolling,” said Skatell, whose team bounced back from Saturday’s non-section loss to McKeesport. “We made some adjustments for what they were doing defensively. We were trying to get her, Mya Morgan and Avery Davis involved, and we were successful in doing that.”

Davis added 11 points for the Centurions, who went on to outscore Serra, 19-11, in the third quarter to take a double-digit lead to the fourth.

Abby Genes led Serra with 14 points and Cate Clarke produced a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Laurel Highlands’ Aryianna Sumpter dribbles the ball against Elizabeth Forward’s McKenna Bittner during Monday’s game won by host Elizabeth Forward, 60-31. (Emily Matthews/Pittsburgh Union Progress)

Other girls games

• Olivia Terlecki scored 16 points and Meredith Huzjak added 15 to help Upper St. Clair (10-9, 4-5) avenge a loss from earlier in the season by defeating visiting Mt. Lebanon (10-9, 6-4), 47-31, in Class 6A Section 2. Upper St. Clair outscored Mt. Lebanon, 21-8, in the fourth quarter.

• Led by Maddie Syka’s 22 points, Lincoln Park (18-0, 7-0) kept its perfect season alive after claiming a 45-42 win against visiting South Fayette (10-7, 4-3) in Class 5A Section 4. Erica Hall scored 12 points for South Fayette, which misfired on three potential game-tying 3-point attempts in the final 30 seconds.

• Ruby Morgan had 17 points and Maddy Roberts added 10 points and 10 rebounds to propel Trinity (13-5, 5-2) to a 42-35 win at Moon (11-7, 2-5) in Class 5A Section 4. Trinity trailed by a point at the half before outscoring Moon, 25-17, in the second half.

• Emma Paul pumped in 25 points and Armstrong (15-4, 8-2) used a dominant second half to beat visiting Mars (9-8, 5-4), 53-35, in Class 5A Section 2 for its 10th consecutive win. After trailing by three points at the half, Armstrong outscored Mars, 31-10, in the second half.

• In a matchup of the top two teams in Class 4A Section 2, host Blackhawk (16-2, 7-0) surrendered just two points in the first half and went on to defeat Hopewell (9-8, 4-3), 58-10. Alena Fusetti paced the Cougars with 16 points.

• Alayna Rocco scored 27 points and North Catholic (12-5, 10-0) won its 101st consecutive section game by topping host Greensburg Salem (14-5, 6-3), 52-41, in Class 4A Section 1. North Catholic’s last section loss came more than eight years ago when the Trojanettes were defeated by Vincentian on Jan. 11, 2016.

• Shady Side Academy (15-2, 7-0) won its ninth game in a row and took a two-game lead in Class 3A Section 3 courtesy of a 53-32 win at Burrell (13-4, 5-2). Maggie Spell scored 19 points and Karis Thomas 18 for Shady Side, while Casey Brancato led Burrell with 16.

• Becca Goetz scored a game-high 18 points and host Avonworth (15-1, 7-0) used a 22-7 scoring edge in the third quarter to capture its ninth win in a row, 49-30, against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (12-7, 3-4) in Class 3A Section 2.

• Addison Blair tallied 17 points and Waynesburg (17-1, 7-0) captured its ninth win in a row by defeating host McGuffey (13-5, 3-4), 65-40, in Class 3A Section 4. Taylor Schumacher scored 22 points for McGuffey, which was outscored, 17-2, in the third quarter.

• Shaye Bailey scored 20 of her 30 points in the second half to lift host Freedom (10-9, 8-2) to a 47-43 win against Rochester (11-6, 7-2) in Class 2A Section 1. Tia Yellock scored 11 points for Rochester, which had won five straight.

• After losing at Chartiers-Houston by 24 points earlier this month, Washington (10-8, 8-1) got some payback by handing the visiting Bucs (13-5, 9-1) their first section loss, 42-37, in Class 2A Section 4. Ava Capozzoli scored 18 for the Bucs, who had their six-game win streak snapped.

• Playing in her first game since scoring 65 points to break the WPIAL single-game scoring record last Thursday, Iyanna Wade went for 40 to push Clairton (15-2, 7-2) to a 90-20 home win against Springdale (6-13, 2-7) in Class 2A Section 3.

• Raney Staub scored 16 points to help Fort Cherry (14-4, 6-1) earn its sixth consecutive win courtesy of a 45-30 triumph at Brentwood (8-11, 4-3) in Class 2A Section 2. Jessie Yee paced Brentwood with nine points.

Three stars

*** — Mimi Thiero, Quaker Valley. Thiero’s 26 points and 27 rebounds helped the Quakers (3-13, 3-3) storm back from 10 points down at the half to end a five-game losing streak via a 45-39 win at Beaver (6-10, 3-3) in Class 4A Section 2.

** — Jordyn Wolfe, Montour. Wolfe tallied 28 points and surpassed 1,000 for her career while leading the Spartans (7-9, 2-4) to a 56-29 home win against West Allegheny (6-11, 0-7) in Class 5A Section 4.

* — Erynne Capalbo, Mohawk. Capablo scored a team-best 13 points, including the 1,000th of her career, but Mohawk (10-8, 3-4) dropped a 55-37 decision at Beaver Falls (12-4, 6-1) in Class 3A Section 1.

Hot from deep

Players with 3 or more 3-pointers: Jordyn Wolfe, Montour, 6; Kaylee DeAngelo, Oakland Catholic, 4; Meredith Huzjak, Upper St. Clair, 4; Gabi Jackson, South Allegheny, 4; Ronniya Lawrence, East Allegheny, 3; Michael Wisniewski, Ligonier Valley, 3; Laekyn Flynn, Thomas Jefferson, 3; Olivia Terlecki, Upper St. Clair, 3.