When Greensburg Central Catholic point guard Erica Gribble attended a showcase last summer at IMG Academy in Florida, she roomed with another Pennsylvania star.
Gribble and Makayla Presser-Palmer of Northwestern were roommates at the Elite 40 event.
Who knew the Division I players would meet in the state playoffs?
Gribble and GCC (20-7) will take on Northwestern, the District 10 champion, 6 p.m. Tuesday at Sharon.
Gribble and Presser-Palmer share more than a spot in the PIAA 3A second round. Two of the state’s best will make for a power matchup in the state bracket.
Consider:
• Gribble is a Richmond commit who has 2,317 career points, the most in GCC history. She is the No. 80-ranked player nationally in the Class of 2026 by ESPN.
• Presser-Palmer, an Arizona commit, is the all-time scoring leader in District 10 history with 2,528 points. She is ranked 63rd by ESPN.
Gribble thought she might see another gifted player, Quaker Valley 6-foot-4 center Mimi Thiero, in the second round. But Presser-Palmer and the Wildcats downed the Quakers, 35-22, in the first round.
A clash with Presser-Palmer is no consolation prize, but Gribble is anxious to take part in it nonetheless.
“Makayla and Mimi are different players,” Gribble said. “Makayla is just so athletic, and she can take it to the rim. It should be fun.”
Second-round sites
Three other local teams learned where their second-round games will be played Wednesday night.
The Penn-Trafford and Jeannette boys will play a doubleheader at the same site.
Penn-Trafford (21-6) will take on South Fayette (26-1) at 6 p.m. at Peters Township’s AHN Arena, followed by Jeannette (23-2) and Jefferson-Morgan (24-3) at 7:30.
The Belle Vernon girls (23-4) will play Blackhawk (23-1) at 7:30 at North Allegheny.
Jayhawks seek ‘redemption’
Jeannette junior guard Jayce Powell called the PIAA playoffs the “redeem bracket” after the Jayhawks throttled Northern Cambria, 72-34, in the Class 2A first round Saturday.
Jeannette is eyeing a rematch with Sewickley Academy in the state semifinals, which could stand in the way of a state title for the Jayhawks.
Sewickley Academy beat defending champion Jeannette, 52-38, in the WPIAL championship.
“It’s about both (beating Sewickley Academy) and (winning a state title),” Powell said of his redemption reference. “That loss hurts more every day. We didn’t play our best; we know that. It was only 12 points. We watched the film and know what we did wrong.”
Jeannette’s only other loss came against Woodford County, Ky., 57-54.
The Jayhawks have to win two more games — so does Sewickley Academy — for the rematch to happen.
Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said the loss to the Panthers is fading the rearview mirror.
“We moved on,” he said. “That’s behind us.
“We’ve bounced back pretty well (in the past) when we lost. It’s about getting better and doing what we do.”
Tall tasks
The Belle Vernon and Penn-Trafford girls had one PIAA playoff win combined in the last decade, but both are primed for second-round games Wednesday.
Both will play one-loss powers from the WPIAL.
Belle Vernon, which added to the winningest season in program history with a 58-46 victory over Clearfield in the Class 4A opening round, will take on WPIAL runner-up Blackhawk.
Penn-Trafford, meanwhile, will face WPIAL champion and defending PIAA champ South Fayette in the 5A second round.
Blackhawk features Aubree Hupp, a Canisius commit who had 22 points in a 45-34 win over Fairview in the state opener.
South Fayette has a Division I lineup. Ryan Oldaker is a Marist commit, Juliette Leroux is committed to Florida Atlantic and Haylie Lamonde is headed to USC Upstate.
In addition, Laila Wright and Ella Vierra have Division I offers, Vierra from Duquesne, Robert Morris, Kent State, Youngstown State and Bucknell.
Leroux had 14 points, Lamonde added 13 and Vierra chipped in 10 in a 64-35 win over Milton Hershey in the first round.
On the boards
Belle Vernon can highlight at least one key stat in its first-round victory over Clearfield: rebounding.
The Leopards cleaned the glass, with Saylor Lee pulling down 19 rebounds and Aubrey Brown adding 12.
Belle Vernon outrebounded the Bison, 44-20. Lee had 14 defensive rebounds.
“It was a major reason we won,” Leopards coach Cornelious Nesbit said. “We kept them to one and done, and we were able to get second-chance points all night.”