ERIE, Pa. – This was the one the Greenville Trojans had been waiting for. A chance to avenge a loss in last season’s district semifinal.
And avenge it they did with a 46-38 victory over Fairview in their District 10 Class 3A semifinal at the Hagerty Family Events Center on Wednesday.
“We’d been working toward this, not since we knew we had to play them, but since we lost to them last year,” Greenville’s Grace Cano said. “We’ve just been waiting for this moment to beat Fairview. We know they’re an amazing team and nobody really was expecting us to beat them.”
See Cano’s full interview here:
“I sent them a text today that had a bunch of dates,” Greenville coach Samantha Faler said. “It had the date we lost to Fairview, it had the date of our first summer practice. I sent them the date of Midnight Madness where I gave them the quote, ‘Start unknown. Finish unforgettable.’ I gave the date that we lost to both Lakeview and West Middlesex and have not lost since. I told them that today is the day to finish unforgettable. And they just fought and they refused to lose.”
Wednesday’s game looked early on like it might match the low-scoring affair the teams played a year ago, a 36-16 Tigers (23-1) victory. Neither team was able to score until Fairview’s Sara Gennuso hit a free throw with 4:16 left in the first quarter.
Greenville’s (18-5) Anna Harpst answered with a 3-pointer just under a minute later, and the Trojans took a 3-1 lead.
They wouldn’t trail again.
Greenville led 9-5 at the end of the first quarter and just over a minute into the second, Fairview was able to tie the game at 9-9. The Trojans scored four straight to lead 13-9 and though the Tigers got it to a one-possession game several times through the remainder of the half, they couldn’t get the tie or retake the lead.
Josie Lewis hit a pair of threes in the quarter to help the Trojans keep the advantage and Cano went up and under for a layup just before the halftime buzzer to give Greenville a 21-15 lead at the half.
Half: Greenville 21, Fairview 16 pic.twitter.com/sna5m5aNYd
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“Something we learned a month ago was holding on to the lead,” Faler said. “Taking good shots, taking care of the basketball. My kids were just tough, physically tough, mentally tough. And every time Fairview gave us their best shot, my girls answered.”
See Faler’s complete postgame interview:
The Trojans opened the second half with an 11-2 run to break the game open. Cano had seven of Greenville’s 15 points in the quarter, while the defense held the Tigers to just five points in the frame to take a 36-21 lead into the fourth.
“For us to get up at the beginning was so important for us because we just build off of that,” Cano said.
Defensively, Greenville limited Fairview’s leading scorer, Hope Garrity, to just nine points through the first three quarters. But Garrity exploded for 13 in the fourth as the Tigers tried to claw their way back to the D10 title game.
Fairview outscored Greenville, 17-10, in the fourth, but the Trojans were able to run their half-court offense to perfection and bleed the clock away from the Tigers.
Garrity finished with a game-high 22 points. Gennuso added 10 in the loss and only three other Tigers registered points.
Grace Cano had 20 points to lead the Trojans. Josie Lewis finished with 13 points nine by way of 3-pointers, and Anna Harpst added nine points
Greenville will face Lakeview for the D10 Class 3A title on Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
Fairview takes on Mercyhurst Prep in the third-place game on Saturday at a site and time to be announced.
(2) LAKEVIEW 45, (3) MERCYHURST PREP 42
SHARON, Pa. – Lakeview’s Reece Gadsby turned in a signature playoff performance, scoring all 10 of Lakeview’s points in overtime in a 45-42 semifinal victory.
Gadsby finished with a game-high 25 points in the win.
Lakeview trailed 28-22 going into the fourth quarter, rallying to tie the game and force overtime.
Olivia Kulyk led Mercyhurst Prep with 16 points, while Joce Ollinger finished with eight.
*Andy Close contributed to this report
