Apparently, Oakland Catholic and Greensburg Central Catholic gave up losing for Lent. On the figurative ride to Hershey, both are in Breezewood.

Each of these girls' teams has won two PIAA tournament games, and each is two wins shy of playing for titles at the Giant Center.

Oakland Catholic (29-1) throttled Section 2-AAAA rival Gateway, 46-23, Tuesday, and will take on New Castle (25-4) tomorrow in the quarterfinals. The Eagles are pursuing a PIAA repeat.

Greensburg Central (29-1) had to rally from 13 down in the third quarter Tuesday to defeat Bishop McCort, 61-56, in overtime. The Centurions will meet Lakeview (24-5), the District 10 runner-up, tomorrow in another quarterfinal.

A win there and the Centurions could have a semifinal showdown Tuesday with Westmont Hilltop (29-1). Westmont is ranked No. 1 in the state, Greensburg No. 2.

Trivial pursuit

Ten years ago, this 6-foot-5 junior was the Post-Gazette's WPIAL Class AAAA Player of the Year. Name him.

First is last

Three East End teams -- Central Catholic, the Peabody boys and the Wilkinsburg girls -- had their seasons end last weekend in the first round of PIAA play.

Following an 0-4 start, Central rallied to earn a sixth consecutive playoff berth and 11th in 12 seasons.

Small and inexperienced when the season began -- senior Pat Ionadi was the only returning starter -- Central made it to the WPIAL Class AAAA semifinals. It lost Saturday to Erie Prep, 77-66.

Two junior guards played well this season: 6-3 Chris Saltzman, who averaged a team-high 17.2 points, and 6-2 Joe Berenato, who scored 33 Saturday.

Peabody (9-18) improved down the stretch. A 47-46 win against favored Perry in the City quarterfinals earned the Highlanders a PIAA berth, where they lost to Thomas Jefferson, 52-41, Friday.

The Wilkinsburg girls (21-7) ended a streak of seven consecutive losing seasons and made the playoffs for the first time since 1989. The Tigers shared the Section 4-AA title with Shady Side Academy and reached the WPIAL quarterfinals. They lost to Sharon, 71-51, Friday.

Dark side of gold

Coaches love WPIAL titles. Many also believe that the effort spent in winning one can lead to an immediate PIAA letdown.

There is merit to this. Despite playing a lower seed, 14 WPIAL boys' and girls' champions have fallen in their PIAA openers over the past 20 years. Only one did so this year: the Mt. Lebanon boys, who lost to Chartiers Valley, 53-43, Saturday.

Since 1987, eight other boys' champs have lost in the first round of states: Seton-LaSalle (1989), Sto-Rox (1991), Highlands (1995), Sto-Rox (1995), Upper St. Clair (1996), Clairton (1997), Chartiers Valley (2001), Moon (2005).

Over that time, five WPIAL girls' champs have been first-round casualties -- but just one in the past 12 years. Those five: Monaca (1987), Apollo-Ridge (1991), Serra Catholic (1992), Geibel (1994) and Greensburg Central Catholic (2003).

This group doesn't include the 1986 Norwin boys, who entered PIAA play undefeated then were upended by Meadville.

Eagles update

The Serra Catholic girls had to beat Farrell last night, and would have to continue winning in PIAA Class A for Laura Grimm to have a shot at 2,000 points. Grimm, a 5-foot-6 senior guard, had 1,919 before last night. A Serra win against Farrell would give the Eagles a chance for three more games.

Serra boys' guard Jordan Cleary scored 20 Tuesday, but his Eagles were ousted by Blairsville, 73-56. Cleary ended his career just five points shy of 1,000.

Jack's girls

They have all their front teeth, they haven't body-slammed anyone to the floor, and they're not enshrined in Canton.

But Lauren and Elizabeth Lambert are following their father's athletic example.

Lauren, a 5-foot-11 senior forward, and Elizabeth, a 5-7 sophomore guard, play for Kittanning, which lost to Westinghouse, 49-39, in a PIAA Class AAA first-round game Saturday at Allderdice.

They are the daughters of former Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert.

Trivia answer

Aaron Lovelace of Franklin Regional, who averaged 20.3 points in the 1995-96 season. He led the Panthers to WPIAL silver that year and WPIAL and PIAA silver as a senior. Lovelace scored a school-record 1,786 points.