ALVERTON — Cambria Heights seemed on its way to a memorable performance. Instead, the Highlanders would rather forget the entire night.

Jayla Peterson scored 23 points, Erica Gribble added 21 and WPIAL champion Greensburg Central Catholic shook off a sluggish first-half performance to beat Cambria Heights, 61-31, Friday in a PIAA Class 3A first-round girls basketball game at Southmoreland High School.

“We played a good first half, but they came out and kind of put the clamps down in the second half,” Cambria Heights coach Eric Thomas said.

Leading by just three points at halftime, the Centurions (22-5) used a 35-8 edge to overwhelm the Highlanders (19-9) in the second half.

“Defensively, they didn’t let us have anything in the third quarter. They were phenomenal on defense,” said Thomas, who completed his first season as the program’s third coach in as many years.

Greensburg Central Catholic, which advances to the second round on Tuesday against WPIAL counterpart Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, made nine 3-point shots, led by Gribble’s five. A Richmond recruit, Gribble scored 18 second-half points.

“When you have a girl like her that can come out and shoot like she did,” Thomas said. “… She was 3-4 feet behind the line making those shots.”

Thomas, who also serves as Cambria Heights’ high school principal, took over the team just two weeks before the start of the season.

Thomas previously coached at Northern Cambria, where his Colts teams in 2008 and 2010 were PIAA runners-up.

“It was definitely a tough start under the circumstances,” he said. “These girls have had three coaches in three years, and that’s tough for them. The seniors really came together, especially about midway through the season. They just said, ‘Hey, we’re going to go as far as we can. We’re going to work our butts off.’ That’s what they did.”

Cambria Heights, the third-place team in District 6, nearly went scoreless in the third quarter before notching its only basket in the final minute, though Greensburg Central Catholic managed just nine points itself and clung to a 35-25 lead heading to the fourth.

“We were within 10 points, so I felt good about that,” Thomas said.

But he didn’t much care for Greensburg Central Catholic’s 26-6 fourth-quarter advantage that turned the game into a rout.

“They came out and kicked our butt in the second half,” Thomas said.

Greensburg Central Catholic coach Chris Skatell followed his players into the locker room at halftime before the team quickly re-emerged.

“We said a few things,” Skatell said. “I’ve been with this group of kids for a long time. I just told them they needed to defend better. For whatever reason, we were sleepy on defense. We made a couple of adjustments and … how many points did they score in the second half?”

Senior Sienna Kirsch, Cambria Heights’ second all-time leading scorer for the boys and girls programs combined, led the Highlanders with 20 points. Her total of 1,650 trails only former girls coach Amber (Dubyak) Fees’ 1,862 from 2003-07.

“It definitely means a lot,” said Kirsch, who was joined by Maelyn Dutko and Gracey Vinglish as the team’s three outgoing seniors. “I’ve put in countless hours in the gyms with trainers. It feels good and it’s rewarding.”

But the career-ending loss hurts just the same.

“I wish it could be different,” Kirsch said. “I wish we could keep playing.”

CAMBRIA HEIGHTS (31): Kirsch 6 8-8 20, Vinglish 1 1-1 3, Rogal 0 0-0 0, Bender 0 0-4 0, Dutko 3 0-0 8, Nelen 0 0-0 0, Crowell 0 0-0 0. Totals — 10 9-13 31.

GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC (61): Skoloda 0 0-0 0, Peterson 8 4-5 23, Gribble 7 2-2 21, Jones 3 0-0 6, Rodriguez 2 0-0 4, Bell 0 0-0 0, Kenney 0 0-0 0, Evans 2 0-0 5, Detwiler 0 0-0 0, O’Rourke 0 0-0 0, Althof 1 0-0 2. Totals — 23 6-7 61

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Cambria Heights 11 12 2 6 — 31

Greensburg Central Catholic 13 13 9 26 — 61

3-point goals: Cambria Heights 2 (Dutko 2); Greensburg Central Catholic 9 (Gribble 5, Peterson 3, Evans).

Records: Cambria Heights (19-9); Greensburg Central Catholic (22-5).