PIAA basketball playoffs
Girls
Class 3A
Quarterfinals
Greensburg Central Catholic (21-7) vs. Trinity (23-2)
5 p.m. Friday at Altoona
District seeds: Greensburg Central Catholic 7-2; Trinity 3-1
Winner plays: Winner of 7-1 Shady Side Academy (25-2)/6-1 Central Cambria (22-6) on Monday in semifinals (time, site TBD)
Players to watch: Jayla Peterson, GCC; Ashley Berkheimer, Trinity
Layup lines: Greensburg Central Catholic returned to the quarterfinals for the third time in four years — the first time in 3A — with a 50-36 victory over Northwestern in the second round. Avery Jones scored 18 points, Erica Gribble added 13 and Peterson chipped in 10. Gribble, a Richmond commit, focused on defense in the first half as she guarded Makayla Presser-Palmer, the all-time leading scorer in District 10 and an Arizona commit. Presser-Palmer scored 32, but Gribble earned the victory to move on. GCC made the 2A semifinals in back-to-back years and lost to Kennedy Catholic before falling in the 3A second round last year to OLSH. Gribble averages 23 points and Peterson 12. Gribble has 2,330 career points. Peterson, a Division II Wheeling recruit, has over 1,000. GCC could get a rematch with rival Shady Side Academy in the next round — the semifinals and Western final. Shady Side Academy beat GCC in the WPIAL final after GCC rallied to beat the Bulldogs in last year’s title game. … Trinity, located about 30 miles north of York, also made the state quarterfinals for the third time in four years. Trinity split the Mid-Penn Capital League with Susquehanna Township, both with 13-1 records. The Shamrocks average 56.8 points, including 7.3 3-pointers a game. Emma Kostelac-Lauer (12.7 ppg) and Berkheimer (11.6), both seniors, average in double figures. Kostelic-Lauer, a smooth-shooting lefty, is a Division II Shippensburg commit. Other starters are junior Belle Dupes, sophomore Kensie Fox and freshman Aryana McCleary. The Shamrocks reached the PIAA quarterfinals last year and lost to Shady Side Academy, 46-43, at Altoona. Trinity won state titles in 2001 and 1986. Head coach Norris Cole played for the Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder, winning two titles with the Heat. The Shamrocks have wins over Susquehanna Township, Lebanon and Delone Catholic.