Greensburg Central Catholic and Shady Side Academy have not met since last year’s WPIAL Class 3A championship game when the Centurions roared back in the second half to edge the Bulldogs, 56-51, for their second straight district title.
But the top two ranked teams in 3A will get reacquainted Thursday night when No. 1 Shady Side Academy (10-2, 5-0) visits No. 2 GCC (8-3, 5-0) for first place in Section 2-3A. Tip is set for 7 p.m.
“Two good teams in the same conference is always good stuff,” GCC coach Chris Skatell said. “The kids know each other, so it has a little uptick in speed and intensity. We just keep working hard at our game each day and go play. It should be fun.”
Last year, Shady Side Academy won both regular season matchups, the first in runaway fashion, 62-33, in Fox Chapel. GCC came back late in the rematch in Carbon but fell, 59-48.
GCC star Erica Gribble scored 31 points in the WPIAL final, including 24 in the second half. The Richmond commit and GCC all-time leading scorer is averaging 23 points per game and recently went over 1,900 career points.
The Bulldogs are flourishing after the return of 6-foot-2 senior forward Cassie Sauer, who fractured her hip in a win over Riverside in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
Sauer, a Division III Chicago commit, averaged 15 points and 13 rebounds last season. Gribble could end up guarding Sauer in man-to-man looks for GCC.
Senior Jayla Peterson will be a valuable piece to GCC’s puzzle once again, especially in games against the Bulldogs in section and beyond.
Senior guard Karis Thomas had 23- and 24-point games against GCC last year. The Purdue Fort Wayne recruit erupted for 46 points, including nine 3-pointers, in a 69-33 win over Ellwood City in last year’s semifinals.
Both Shady Side and GCC win by an average of 24 points a game.
Young Leps
Belle Vernon is smack dab in the thick of the Section 3-4A race, but the Leopards (8-3, 4-1) are competing with one of the youngest teams in the classification.
There are only two seniors and four juniors on the roster, and underclassmen have done much of the heavy lifting so far.
Two freshmen, Lyla McConnell and Isis Almyty (6-1), join standout sophomore Aubrey Brown (6-2) in a budding rotation.
Last year, Brown was the fast-developing freshman. Now, coach Cornelious Nesbit has two such players.
“I do think we are ahead of the curve, and a lot of that has to do with our upperclassmen who have embraced the young players and have bought into their roles and leadership,” Nesbit said. “That allows the young players to just play basketball, which is unusual in this day and age where older players embrace and aren’t jealous of the younger players.”
Juniors Abby Russell and Saylor Lee have been steady point producers as well.
McConnell and Almyty are opposites in many ways, except one.
“These two freshmen are completely different in personality but the same when it comes to working in their craft when it comes to basketball,” Nesbit said. “What has impressed me the most is what they do when others aren’t watching, from studying film for hours and coming in earlier to get shots up or staying after practice to get shots. And it’s how they follow the upperclassmen and listen to them.”
The game to watch in Section 3 won’t happen until Jan. 22 when Belle Vernon visits No. 4 South Park. The Leopards lost the first meeting with the Eagles, 39-38, at Belle Vernon.
South Park is led by former Belle Vernon coach Ronnie Drennen.
Who’s ranked?
Norwin started the week as the No. 1-ranked team by TribLive in Class 6A, although the Knights (9-1) took their first loss Monday, 49-43 against Mt. Lebanon.
Another local team, Hempfield (9-3), has jumped a spot to No. 3, the highest the Spartans have been rated in years.
Penn-Trafford (7-3) stayed at No. 5 in Class 5A, and Greensburg Central Catholic (8-4) remained at No. 2 in Class 3A.
Thursday matchups
Other area games to watch Thursday include Upper St. Clair at Hempfield, Armstrong at Franklin Regional, Latrobe at Greensburg Salem, Belle Vernon at Mt. Pleasant, South Park at Southmoreland, Yough at Elizabeth Forward, Ligonier Valley at East Allegheny, Winchester Thurston at Jeannette, and Monessen at Geibel.
On Friday, Norwin plays at Canon-McMillan in a Class 6A No. 1 vs. 2 clash, while Penn-Trafford plays at Kiski Area.
Hempfield plays at Norwin on Monday night.
Schedule changes
A couple of local teams moved games on their schedules.
Penn-Trafford was supposed to play at Hempfield on Jan. 14, but the game was moved to Jan. 15 (7:30 varsity).
Norwin, meanwhile, was supposed to host Mt. Lebanon this past Monday, but the game was moved to Mt. Lebanon.
Mt. Lebanon will play at Norwin on Jan. 29.
Layups
A nonsection game to watch Saturday has Class 6A No. 1 Norwin visiting Class 5A No. 1 South Fayette. Tip is set for 1:30 p.m. … Latrobe junior forward Maggie Maiers had a double-double in a tight 36-35 win over Butler. She finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds. … Greensburg Salem’s Mya Heasley and Morgan Gesinski of Mt. Pleasant were named to the Mt. Pleasant all-tournament team. … Jeannette is allowing the fewest points in Westmoreland County at 27.8 points per game. … Franklin Regional has back-to-back overtime wins, 33-30 over Upper St. Clair and 35-33 over Greensburg Salem.