With its star hobbled by an injury, Class AAAA No. 1 seed New Castle found itself in a vulnerable position in the semifinals. Luckily for the Hurricanes, they had built a large enough lead that it didn't really matter.

New Castle's Jaleesa Sams left with a left knee injury -- she did return later in the game -- and finished with a season-low eight points, but the Hurricanes (26-1) rolled to a 53-36 victory against Upper St. Clair (22-5) at Ambridge.

"USC made their run with Jaleesa on the bench, but we bounced back and made a run, too," said New Castle coach Luann Grybowski.

The Hurricanes had a 12-0 first-quarter spurt that proved to be the most significant.

Logan Hartman led New Castle with 12 points; Alex Gensler and Andrea Pion each matched that for Upper St. Clair.

Class AA

Greensburg Central Catholic 57, Beaver 54: Despite jumping to an 18-3 lead, defending champion Greensburg Central Catholic (20-6) held off an inspired comeback attempt from underdog Beaver (21-6) at Canon-McMillan.

The Bobcats took a two-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, but a basket by Centurions sophomore Megan DePrimio with 2:07 left gave them the lead for good at 53-52.

DePrimio and Ashley Henderson led the Centurions with 19 points apiece. Carly Vendemia led Beaver with 16.

Ford City 59, Bishop Canevin 51: Alyssa Young and Marisa Wolfe scored 16 points apiece to lead Ford City to the semifinal win at Canon-McMillan and its first berth in the championship game.

Ford City (25-2) went on a 12-2 run late in the second quarter to take a 28-21 halftime lead and hung on to defeat Bishop Canevin (21-7).

Destiny Ambrose led the Crusaders with 18 points and Kate McCaffrey added 16.