Girls Hoops - GCC vs East Allegheny

February 05, 2020

GCC Girls Win Home Finale 53-41 over East Allegheny

Given the consequences of all the personal fouls called, to say it was a battle might be an understatement. Greensburg Central Catholic fought back from a double-digit second quarter deficit, eventually taking advantage of East Allegheny's second-half foul trouble, in winning their final home game of the season 53-41 on Wednesday, February 5th in Carbon.

The game could be characterized as physical, to say the very least. Reach-ins, steals, collisions, and turnovers dominated the early minutes and set the tone for the game. GCC's Natalie Ward broke the ice with a field goal two minutes into the game. The teams battled back and forth throughout the quarter with East Allegheny holding a 11-10 lead at the end of one. Emma Riley had 4 points for GCC, and Amaia Johnson and Makala Ruffin scored 5 and 4 respectively for the Wildcats in the first quarter.

East Allegheny's aggressive defense put the Lady Centurions on their heels in the second quarter, and when the Wildcats dropped four 3-pointers, GCC was looking at a 10 point deficit at 29-19 with a minute and a half left in the second quarter. However, the Centurions fought their way back, while the Wildcats had three starters in serious foul trouble, and GCC went into the locker room down only 29-25.

When play resumed in the second half, GCC started to take control. The Wildcats were hurt offensively when Amaia Johnson picked up her fifth foul with 5:15 to play in the third, taking her 14-point performance in just over one half of play to a seat on the bench for the rest of the game. GCC was up 34-31 at that point, and they capitalized on a 14-5 scoring advantage in the third quarter, taking a 39-34 lead into the fourth.

East Allegheny got as close as trailing 41-39 with 5:44 left to play, but only managed two more points to GCC's 12 points in the remaining minutes. The Wildcats scoring troubles were compounded in the final quarter as starters Casmere Marshall and Abby Henderson both fouled out. GCC was able to dribble out the final seconds of the game uncontested and pick up the 53-41 win for the home crowd. East Allegheny also had a pair of technical fouls called on them for aggressive actions, one in each half, as opposing players engaged for control of the ball.

Senior Gia Scala had 19 for the Centurions to lead all scorers. Recent transferee Bailey Kuhns had 7 points and provided help on the boards in her first game since becoming eligible to suit up for GCC. Amaia Johnson's 14 points led East Allegheny and Abby Henderson added 12.

Next up for GCC (14-5, 9-0) is their final conference game of the season at Clairton on 2/7. East Allegheny (12-9, 9-4) travels to South Allegheny for a non-conference game on 2/6.

Watch this link for a full gallery of action photos available for purchase or sharing the day after the game.

Keywords: basketball, east allegheny, gcc, girls, high school, westmoreland county