Mar 14, 2026 By Jerin Steele 3 min read

Peters Township has gone to the center part of the state three times in its PIAA playoff run and has come home with three victories.

Now the Indians are in the state semifinals for the second consecutive season.

The Indians defeated District 3 champion York Suburban 52-48 in overtime in the PIAA Class 5A girls basketball quarterfinals Saturday at Pitt-Johnstown.

They beat three District 3 teams (Susquehannock, Manheim Central and York Suburban) in their run. To beat York Suburban they used some hot outside shooting, speed and good defense.

“We made nine threes, so it starts there,” Peters Township coach Steve Limberiou said in a phone interview. “We played some different defenses against them that I think kind of had them off balance a little and we gave them some issues spreading the court. We had more quickness than they had probably seen in a long time that led to some drive and kicks and we knocked some shots down. We hit some big ones when it mattered most and hit our free throws at the end.”

Peters Township will face defending state champion South Fayette in the PIAA semifinals on Tuesday. It’s the second year in a row the two teams will play for the right to advance to the state championship.

Taylor McCullough made a driving layup to tie the game at 43-43 and force overtime. McCullough had a game-high 20 points.

The Indians were strong at the free-throw line in the fourth. Maddyn Mehl made a free throw to put the Indians up for good at 47-46. Bri Morreale added two more that stretched the lead to three. Mehl finished with 17 points.

The game got off to a tough start for the Indians as standout sophomore forward Jordyn Welsh went down with an injury less than a minute in and did not return.

Limberiou said that sophomore Caitlyn Malloy did a good job filling in for Welsh.

“Not that you’re ever prepared for a situation like that, because you’re just not, but (Welsh) did miss four games in the regular season, so we did have a little bit of experience playing without her,” Limberiou said. “You have to give a lot of credit to Caitlyn Malloy. With the game going to overtime, she probably played 32 minutes and she did a great job. (York Suburban) has some size and is pretty athletic around the rim and she really fought in there. She also hit a big three. I’m really proud of her. When her time came, she was ready for it.”

York Suburban led 26-23 at halftime, but the Indians rallied in the third quarter to take a 36-33 lead.

York Suburban again led 43-41 with two and a half minutes remaining in regulation, but the Indians held them off the scoreboard the rest of the way and McCullough’s late basket forced overtime.