There will be only one WPIAL girls championship game contested Thursday at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, with five more to follow on Friday and Saturday — but this year’s slate is starting off with a bang.
In a rare clash of reigning champions both looking to go back-to-back, defending Class 3A champion Shady Side Academy will put its undefeated record on the line against last year’s Class 2A champion, Greensburg Central Catholic (20-5). After dominating its way to last year’s WPIAL Class 2A title, the Centurions bumped up to Class 3A for the current two-year cycle and slotted into Class 3A Section 2, right alongside the Bulldogs (24-0).
The two high-powered teams met twice during the regular season, with Shady Side Academy sweeping the season series on its way to earning the No. 1 seed for the WPIAL tournament. The Bulldogs won the first matchup at home in lopsided fashion on Jan. 9, 62-33, then they broke open a tie game in the fourth quarter for a 59-48 win at Greensburg Central in the rematch on Feb. 3.
When they square off for the third time at 7 p.m. Thursday, though, everything that happened in the first two meetings can be thrown out the window.
“I’m hoping for a close game,” said Shady Side coach Jonna Burke. “When the brackets came out, everybody thought it was heading here.”
Despite losing standout guard Maggie Spell, who transferred to Thomas Jefferson after finishing as the leading scorer for the Bulldogs last season, Shady Side didn’t take a step back like many would have expected. Instead, the Bulldogs found a way to get even better, completing an undefeated regular season while picking up a handful of marquee victories along the way. Refusing to shy away from any challenges, Shady Side defeated four Class 6A foes — Butler, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley and Woodland Hills — not to mention wins against Class 5A Baldwin and reigning PIAA Class 4A champion Blackhawk.
And that doesn’t even include the Bulldogs’ domination over a loaded section that included the Centurions and 2023 WPIAL Class 3A champion Avonworth, the team Shady Side dethroned in last year’s WPIAL title game.
“I have coached for 30 years and I’ve been in a lot of ‘final four’ situations, and this will be the sixth time that I’ve had a team advance to the championship game,” Burke said. “But there are probably at least 10 or 12 times in there where we lost in the semifinal round. So I know it’s hard to get there. … There was a lot of pressure on them all season long too, I think. They were able to live up to that standard that was placed on them.”
With Spell no longer in the mix, highly touted junior Karis Thomas took over as the Bulldogs’ unquestioned leader and floor general. Already one of the most talented players in the area, the 5-7 point guard took it upon herself to provide more of a scoring presence on top of her role as the team’s primary ball handler and facilitator.
The result? Thomas averaged a team-high 18.2 points per game during the regular season — and she just poured in a career-high 46 points in a 69-33 win against Ellwood City on Saturday in the WPIAL semifinals.
“I don’t believe in all that junk stuff. I don’t think that wins games,” Greensburg Central coach Chris Skatell said. “We just have to take the challenge on and try to defend [Thomas] better and get her flattened out when we can. She’s going to score. You can’t shut her out. You just don’t want her to have 46.”
All year long, Thomas had a trusted sidekick in the form of 6-2 junior forward Cassie Sauer, a double-double machine who averaged 15.3 ppg during the regular season. But Sauer is out for the remainder of the season after sustaining a hip injury during a WPIAL quarterfinal win against Riverside on Feb. 19.
For most teams, a blow like that would simply be too much to overcome, especially at this stage of the postseason. But somehow, someway, Shady Side just keeps finding a way.
“Certainly nobody is replacing Cassie,” Burke said. “It is kind of a committee situation, where everybody has to be responsible for a few more rebounds per game. Everybody has to be responsible for a few more points per game. What she brings as far as a presence in the paint, we don’t have a replacement for that. We’re working hard to try to figure it out right now.”
A 5-10 sophomore forward, Leah Buford is taking on a bigger role in the frontcourt for the Bulldogs in the aftermath of Sauer’s injury, and senior guards Cameron Capel and Makiyah Mitchell will both be relied on to help ease some of the scoring burden on Thomas’ shoulders.
Plus, Burke pointed to 5-8 freshman guard Laila Banner as a player who could be ready for her breakout moment on the big stage against the Centurions on Thursday night.
“We are going to be a little different now,” Burke said. “I’m just anxious to see how we stack up now against them.”
For No. 2 Greensburg Central, Thursday’s game isn’t about avenging the pair of losses the Centurions took against Shady Side earlier this season. It’s not about trying to be the team to end the Bulldogs’ perfect season, either.
That being said, their goal is to win — and if they can find a way to do that, the revenge that comes with it will be even sweeter.
“It definitely helps to have been there. There’s no doubt about that,” Skatell said. “But every year is a new year. Every team is a new team. There are certain things you still have to try to get them prepared for. They’re going to be anxious, and that’s natural. They want to play well. They want to win. It’s a big stage. But it’s also a lot of fun, so you want to make sure you enjoy it.
“You don’t always get that opportunity, and we were fortunate enough to get back, so let’s make sure we enjoy it.”
A Richmond recruit and PUP second-team all-star who ranks No. 5 in the WPIAL with an average of 22.3 ppg, Erica Gribble is a 5-11 junior guard capable of taking over a game at any time for the Centurions. Just look at her 28-point performance in last year’s WPIAL championship win over Serra Catholic for proof.
“Erica should be playing with a lot of confidence,” Skatell said. “She has had a good year. She has done just about everything I’ve asked her to do and more. … I think she’ll play well, and I know she’ll play hard.
“I don’t know what her personal goals are. We haven’t talked about them for Thursday night, other than to try to win.”
While Gribble is the driving force behind Greensburg Central’s success, junior point guard Jayla Peterson has emerged as a trustworthy secondary scoring option for the Centurions. Peterson came on strong and earned a starting role toward the end of her sophomore season, but her overall play has improved tremendously as a passer, scorer, rebounder and defender.
“She has been very, very good on the point guard side, running the offense and getting us into the offense and trying to keep Erica off the ball as much as we can,” Skatell said. “You can’t ask [Gribble] to do everything.”
After losing junior forward Abby Dlugos to a torn ACL early in the season, Skatell wasn’t sure where the rest of Greensburg Central’s production would come from, especially in the frontcourt. Sophomore forward Avery Jones has eased some of those concerns with her steady improvement in the paint for the Centurions, highlighted by a career-high 14 points in a 41-18 WPIAL semifinal win against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on Saturday.
“I’ve got to be honest, I’m really proud of them,” Skatell said. “No matter what a coach does or says, the coach doesn’t play the game. The kids have to go play. I’m pretty proud of that group, no matter what else happens.”
Although Shady Side has already gotten the better of Greensburg Central twice this season, there will be no clear favorite when the Bulldogs and Centurions take the court Thursday night. The only thing fans can count on is a great game between two evenly matched teams, with the winner cementing its spot in history as back-to-back WPIAL champions.
“We always want to try to promote the sport and have people come and see it. And I think if they come, they’re going to see a really good basketball game,” Burke said. “You have two champs, and two really premier players playing in [Erica] Gribble and [Karis] Thomas. … I’m just focused on getting the team ready on Thursday night.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
