Feb 22, 2023 3 min read

McMURRAY – It is routine for Burgettstown’s Jill Frazier to make shots from deep behind the three-point line.

Wednesday night was no different as the senior drilled a 24-foot three-pointer from the right wing with 18 seconds to go to break a tie with Greensburg Central Catholic, and she added two free throws with five seconds remaining to seal the Blue Devils’ thrilling 50-45 win and send them to the WPIAL semifinals.

“Thank God she had the courage to take that shot right then,” 10th-year Burgettstown coach Megan Zitner said. “That’s normal for her and isn’t the first time she had a buzzer-beater from deep.

“Jill’s always has the green light. She’s got range. And I was saying a prayer when she was at the (foul) line.”

Frazier spoke about the distance of the shot.

“Sometimes I don’t notice it and that is my range,” she said humbly. “It was an adrenaline rush when it went in.”

GCC coach Chris Skatell said his team gave Frazier too much room.

“We knew she liked to shoot threes and talked about not losing her,” he said. “Little details mattered.”

With the win, Burgettstown made program history.

“I believe this is the first (WPIAL) semifinal in school history and just the third time in the quarters, including last year,” she said. “I am so happy for my team, and we made history.”

Frazier made a three to open the fourth quarter to give the Blue Devils (19-5) a 38-29 lead, but a quick 8-0 run by GCC (19-5) trimmed the Burgettstown lead to 38-37 with 6:40 to play.

Junior Kaitlyn Nease went on a five-point run to give the Blue Devils some breathing room, but the Centurions tied the game at 45-45 with 2:32 to go.

Neither team scored again until Frazier’s program-elevating three.

Burgettstown led for all but a few possessions, and it had a nice mix from the outside as well as through Nease on the inside.

Frazier finished with 16 points, Nease had 13 and Addie Cairns added 11 while GCC freshman Erica Gribble, who already has two Division I offers, led all scorers with 19 points. Mya Morgan and Avery Davis each added 12 for GCC, which started a pair of juniors, a sophomore and two juniors.

“We played a tougher schedule early and it was for situations like this,” she said. “I am glad we did even though there was a time I was second-guessing that because we were losing some of the bigger games.

“We were considered the underdogs, but we felt we were better than a five-seed. I told the girls to prove them wrong, and that’s what we did.”

Next up for the Blue Devils is top-seeded Shenango, a 43-39 winner over brentwood, in the semifinals Saturday at a time and site to be determined.