It wouldn’t be altogether fair to say the Greensburg Central Catholic boys basketball team is having a down year.
That’s because the season is far from over.
While the wins have not been there early — the Centurions are an uncharacteristic 2-10 (2-3 in Section 1-2A) — first-year coach Tim O’Rourke is molding a young team as he guides it through rough waters.
GCC lost 10 games combined over the last two years (52-10).
A perennially strong team features a lot of players fans have not heard of — yet.
“This is a whole different team than we had in October,” O’Rourke said. “We’re learning how to win, and that is something for me too. We’re going to go on a run. We’re going to be good. Whether that’s next week or next year, I don’t know.”
GCC (2-10, 2-3), which went 26-4 last year and made the PIAA semifinals before undergoing mass personnel changes, will take on rival Jeannette (10-1, 5-0) Friday at home. The rivalry lacks its normal punch, but the GCC gym will likely be packed as usual as Jeannette looks to snap a nine-game losing streak against the Centurions in the regular season.
Jeannette is ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL and No. 3 in the state by TribLive.
Jeannette went 25-3 last season and won the WPIAL 2A championship. All three losses were to GCC, including 46-35 in the PIAA quarterfinals.
Jeannette’s most recent win over GCC came in the 2023-24 PIAA second round, 48-46. Its last regular-season win over GCC was in 2020 (47-46).
“We have the meat of our schedule coming up, and I feel like we’re a better team (than earlier in the season),” O’Rourke said. “I love every day with these guys. They have talent, desire and coachability.”
GCC has only three seniors — James Botti, Joe Foss and Nolan Sopko — and starts two freshmen in Tommy Dlugos and Carson Kramer as well as sophomore Lucca Denis.
There are eight freshmen on the 17-player roster.
The Centurions’ first win came against California, 67-42. They lost to Ligonier Valley in overtime, 43-41, and lost at the buzzer to Bentworth, 38-37.
They defeated Riverview, 43-40, to snap a five-game skid.
A 75-21 loss to Obama Academy three games into the season ended a 31-game home winning streak.
Big cats
Latrobe has one of the tallest and bulkiest lineups it has had in Brad Wetzel’s 24 seasons as coach.
The lineup features 6-foot-7 Rob Young, 6-4 Ian DeCerb and Andy Tatsch and 6-3 Dom Scarton.
The Wildcats (4-7, 2-3) are trying make up ground and find not only their footing, but also their identity as a post-first offense.
A slow start to the season and a recent four-game losing skid was tempered by a 63-55 win at first-place Franklin Regional on Tuesday.
“The growing pains we had were real,” Wetzel said. “It’s been pretty painful. The kids deserved better. Sometimes our best offense is a missed shot. We hope we’re starting to hit our stride. These guys deserved a fun bus ride home.”
Young, an Adelphoi Village student in his first year with the program, had 16 points and 11 rebounds against Franklin Regional.
He only had one foul, however.
“We need to be locked in and play physical,” Young said. “For me, it’s about being disciplined and staying on my feet.”
Rankings check
Norwin (7-6) moved up a spot in the TribLive 6A rankings, going from No. 5 to No. 4.
Jeannette (10-1), in the meantime, remained at No. 2 in Class 2A.
Dukes offer Martin
Greensburg’s Brandon Martin, a 6-7 wing who transferred from Greensburg Central Catholic to The Phelps School, is up to eight Division I scholarship offers after Duquesne joined the list.
Martin visited Duquesne last week with Jeannette’s Kymon’e Brown and A.J. Tarpley of The Kiski School.
Martin’s largest offer is from Penn State.
Games to watch
Friday night’s schedule includes two big games in Section 2-6A with Norwin at Canon-McMillan and Upper St. Clair at Hempfield.
Albert Gallatin visits Franklin Regional while McKeesport travels to Latrobe in Section 1-5A; Burrell plays at Valley in Section 1-4A; Section 3-4A has Greensburg Salem at Belle Vernon and Yough at Elizabeth Forward; Southmoreland at Mt. Pleasant and Waynesburg at Ligonier Valley are Section 4-3A matchups; and St. Joseph at Monessen is a Section 2-A game.
Nonsection matchups include Derry at Deer Lakes and Penn-Trafford at Warwick.
Layups
Section 1-5A now has a three-way tie at the top. Franklin Regional (8-3, 4-1), Gateway (5-4, 4-1) and Penn-Trafford (5-5, 4-1) are all in first place. … Jeannette is averaging 69.5 points per game, tops in Westmoreland County. … Jeannette honored Brown on Tuesday for scoring his 1,000th career point. … Southmoreland (6-6, 3-0) is alone at the top of Section 3-4A.