Serra Catholic takes down rival Greensburg Central Catholic in quarterfinals

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 22, 2018 | 9:42 PM

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It can be a blessing or a burden.

First-round byes in the WPIAL basketball playoffs are a reward for teams that win section titles. But the inactivity — OK, boredom — that follows can produce flat results in a stop-and-start tournament.

Greensburg Central Catholic's girls appeared to run into that situation Thursday night when they returned to the court after an 11-day layoff. The fourth-seeded Centurions could not overcome a scratchy start and fell to No. 5 Serra Catholic, 53-39, in a Class 2A quarterfinal at Fox Chapel.

The game was the rubber match between teams that shared the Section 2 title, and it was clearly GCC's least favorite of the three.

GCC (12-11) rallied late, cutting a 23-point deficit to 11 with 2 minutes, 21 seconds to go, but the cushion built by Serra (16-7) was too great to overcome.

It was clear from the get-go that the Centurions were not quite themselves — in half-court sets in particular. Passes were harried and offensive flow was lacking as Serra seized momentum late in the opening quarter and built on it.

“Sloppy play, that's what it was,” GCC coach Joe Eisaman said. “We were not sharp; it kept me up nights worrying about how we'd play (after the bye). It's tough to keep busy all that time. You try to stay as active as you can, but you can only do so much.”

Serra advances to play No. 1 Vincentian (21-1) in Monday's semifinals. GCC can still make the PIAA playoffs if Serra reaches the WPIAL final.

“Bill (Cleary) is a crafty coach,” Eisaman said. “We knew they would defend better. They just pounded us on the offensive boards.”

Serra closed out on GCC shooters and held the Centurions without a 3-pointer until Melina Maietta made one with 2:21 left in the fourth.

“They hit 10 (3s) on us on their floor,” Cleary said.

“That was something that concerned us. This is exciting for our girls. They had to raise their compete levels and really play defense, and they did that.”

Serra senior Rylan German made back-to-back 3-pointers in the first quarter to stake the Eagles to a 17-8 lead.

“Getting off to a good start like that gave me a sigh of relief,” Cleary said. “We were lucky we had that big lead. We knew they could come back.”

GCC had 10 turnovers in the first half and fell behind 28-13 at the break. That after the Centurions held an 8-6 lead.

But Serra reeled off an 18-1 run before GCC's next field goal, a layup by Bella Skatell that cut the deficit to 24-11. GCC went about six minutes between field goals in the second quarter.

Serra 5-foot-11 forward Shannon Sullivan gave GCC problems in the paint. She scored nine of her team-high 13 points in the first half and helped keep the Eagles in control.

“Shannon was all over it,” Cleary said. “Her rebounding was outstanding, and she knocked down shots.”

Izzy Caruso scored on a fast break to stretch Serra's lead to 38-15 in the third. But GCC started to cut into the deficit as Maietta found her scoring touch.

She scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the fourth as GCC crept to within 45-34. But Serra got baskets from Gigi Mele-Madigan and Emma Nilson to create breathing room at 51-37.

Mele-Madigan finished with 12 points.

Last year, on the same floor, GCC rallied from 16 down in the second half against Vincentian in the semifinals. But the Royals held on for a 43-39 win.

Again, the Centurions ran out of time.

“They are creatures of habit,” Eisaman said of his team.

“They were passing up good shots. We knew Serra would try to run us off the line. We didn't get the 50/50 balls.”

Anna Eisaman had eight points for GCC.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Greensburg C.C.