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Grove City Beats Hickory in 4A Title Game for First D10 Championship Since 1999; Farrell (1A), EFC (2A) Claim Crowns; Prep Edges DuBois

            

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Grove City Eagles are partying like it’s 1999.

                  

The Eagles (16-9) led from start to finish, beating Hickory for the third time this season, 47-40 in the D10 3A title game, capturing the program’s first District 10 title since 1999.

“It’s just so unreal,” said Grove City’s Nathan Greer, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “All of our teammates hyping us up on the bench that just gets us really hyped up and all of our fans, they did a phenomenal job coming out.”

Grove City never trailed but did get off to a bit of a slow start offensively, leading 7-3 after the first quarter, with Greer scoring all seven points.

                                      

The lead was just three at halftime before the Eagles went on a 10-3 run to open the second half and take a double-digit lead, 26-16.

“With Hickory, we know it’s always going to be a battle,” said Grove City’s Brett Loughry, who finished with 14 points. “Hickory has been our rival since we were little kids. We knew they were going to do something different to slow us down. We knew they were probably going to zone us. We were zoned the last two games in the playoffs so we weren’t shocked by it. We stuck to our game plan, hit some shots the stretch, and won the game.”

The magnitude of the championship wasn’t lost on Grove City coach Chris Kwolek.

“The good news is that I know what 1999 feels like, they have no clue,” Kwolek said. “I think we may have been more excited to beat Hickory for the third time than win the District 10 championship, just because of the past we’ve had together and the rivalry we have and the great respect we have for them.”

Rylan Dye kept Hickory (15-9) within striking distance, with his 3 to start the fourth quarter cutting the margin to four, 30-26.

                          

Grove City stretched the lead to as much as 11, 39-28 after a pair of Loughry free-throws, but the Eagles also missed a number of free throws down the stretch, allowing the Hornets to stay close.

Hickory got as close as four in the final minute, 42-38 on a pair of Aidan Enoch free throws with 34.4 seconds to play, but the Eagles were ultimately able to close it out.

“A lot of that is because we don’t shoot free throws very well,” Kwolek said. “Until we can do that more consistently, we’re going to be in games and not close out very many games without a struggle.”

Grove City was 11-of-20 from the line, while Hickory was 10-of-11.

Loughry scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, while Greer had seven points over the final eight minutes. Gavin Lutz also knocked down a pair of big second-half 3s to finish with 10 points.

Dye led Hickory with 14 points, while Enoch added 10.

Both teams advance to the PIAA championships, with Grove City drawing WPIAL No. 5 South Allegheny and Hickory facing WPIAL runner-up North Catholic.

“We’re super proud to be able to host a state playoff game,” Kwolek said. “We’re going to enjoy this one this weekend and get back to work on Monday.”

                                   

GROVE CITY 47, HICKORY 40

Score By Quarters

Hickory     3 10 10 17 – 40
Grove City 7  9 13 18 – 47

HICKORY – 40

Rylan Dye 5 2-2 14, Aidan Enoch 3 4-4 10, Devin Daniels 1 1-1 3, Tyson Djakovich 2 2-2 7, Landon Bean 1 1-2 3, Ryan Robich 0 0-0 0, Ben Swanson 1 1-1 3, Marco Miller 0 0-0 0, Totals 13 10-11 40

GROVE CITY – 47

Jimmy Irani 0 0-2 0, Nathan Greer 7 7-10 21, Brett Loughry 5 4-4 14, Gavin Lutz 4 0-0 10, Kam Martin 1 0-4 2, Paul Gubba 0 0-0 0, Totals 17 11-20 47

Three-point FGs: Hickory 2 (Dye 2); Grove City 2 (Lutz 2)

CLASS 1A CHAMPIONSHIP

(1) FARRELL 59, (2) KENNEDY CATHOLIC 40

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – After a slow start Farrell was off and running, beating Kennedy Catholic for its third consecutive D10 title, 59-40 in the 1A title game.

The Steelers (20-4) led 13-12 after the first quarter but went on a 16-8 run in the second quarter to take a 29-20 halftime lead.

It was Kylon Wilson and Nasir O’Kane leading the way for the Steelers, scoring 15 points each.

Coach Myron Lowe’s Steelers also got 13 points from Lamont Samuels.

Leading by 10 going into the fourth quarter, the Steelers pulled away over the final eight minutes, outsourcing Kennedy (13-10) 18-9 in the fourth.

                                  

Thorsten Hart had 13 points, Remington Hart 10 and Levi Hailstock nine for the Golden Eagles.

Both teams advance to the PIAA championships, with Farrell taking on WPIAL No. 4 Geibel Catholic on March 10, while Kennedy Catholic will get WPIAL runner-up Union-New Castle.

CLASS 2A CHAMPIONSHIP

(3) ERIE FIRST CHRISTIAN 49, (1) MERCER 44

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Erie First Christian raced out to a big lead and held off a late Mercer rally to capture its first District 10 title in program history, 49-44.

EFC (13-10) led 23-11 at halftime thanks in large part to Avery Collins, who poured in a game-high 24 points.

Mercer (20-) cut the lead to eight, 36-28 after the third quarter and got as close as five in the fourth quarter, but the Eagles were able to hold them off.

Anthony Collins added 13 points in the win for Erie First Christian.

Jake Mattocks led Mercer with 17 points, while Dae Mattocks added 11.

Both teams advance to the PIAA championships, with first-round action on Saturday, March 11.

EFC will take on the sixth-place team from the WPIAL, while Mercer will battle the third-place team from District 6, Southern Huntingdon.

CLASS 5A 8-9-10 SUBREGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

(10-1) CATHEDRAL PREP 40, (9-1) DUBOIS 32

DUBOIS, Pa. – Trailing 21-15 at halftime, Cathedral Prep rallied for a 40-32 win over DuBois in the Class 5A 8-9-10 subregional final.

Tavion Spencer powered the comeback for the Ramblers (21-3), scoring 12 of his 20 points in the second half.

DuBois (11-13) had upset on its mind in the first half, as Maddox Bennett and Cam Thompson drilled first-quarter 3s to help the Beavers to a 10-6 advantage after one quarter.

Thompson finished with 10 points and Rudy Williams eight for DuBois.

Prep allowed just five points in the fourth quarter to close the game out, as Jake Sambuchino added seven points for the Ramblers.

Both teams advance to the PIAA championships, with Prep facing WPIAL No. 5 South Fayette in the first round on March 10, while DuBois faces WPIAL champion Penn Hills.

                       

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