SLIPPERY ROCK — Grove City never lost its lead. Harbor Creek never got into its offense.

And the Eagles are headed to the District 10 Class 4A boys basketball championship game, courtesy of a 60-46 victory Tuesday night at Slippery Rock University's Morrow Field House.

The 14-point final margin was Grove City's biggest lead of the night. The Eagles (19-5) didn't get a double-digit lead until a Logan Lutz free throw with 6:02 remaining upped the margin to 45-35.

“My heart and my head never felt comfortable in this game,” Eagles coach Jeff Loughry said. “That was a dangerous team we played. They could get on a run at any time.

“I thought we played a very good second half against them.”

Harbor Creek (17-7) had a seven-game winning streak snapped. The Huskies allowed an average of 45 points per game during their streak.

But Grove City sank 20 of 34 shots from the floor in maintaining the lead all night.

“It was important that we jumped out in front right away,” Loughry said. “They only play six guys and they like to take the air out of the ball and slow things down. We never allowed them to do that.”

Harbor Creek pulled within 22-21 on a 3-pointer by Riley Boyd with 2:08 left in the first half. The Eagles took a scant 27-23 lead into halftime.

A trey by Kameron Patterson and layup by Lutz expanded that lead to 32-23 less than a minute into the second half. The Huskies never got closer than five for the rest of the third quarter and didn't get closer than seven in the final quarter.

“They play good man-to-man defense and they get up on the ball very well,” Harbor Creek coach Ryan Smock said. “But I was disappointed in our execution tonight.

“We never got into our offense.”

Lutz led the Eagles with 17 points while Isaac Thrasher added 14 points, Marco Cintron nine points and three assists, Patterson seven points and six assists.

“Our plan defensively was to limit No. 14's (Boyd) open shots from outside and collapse down low on No. 44 (Ryan Blakney) to limit his production,” Lutz said. “We play a lot of guys, too, and that helps.

“I thought they were wearing down in the second half.”

Loughry pointed out that “they use six players in a game and we played nine in the first half alone.”

Troy Martin paced Harbor Creek with 13 points. Blakney had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Trailing by double digits in the final two minutes, the Huskies were unable to run a quick offense, instead taking precious seconds off the clock before getting off a shot.

“Their depth helped them, sure, but I don't think it hurt us,” Smock said. “We're used to playing with six.”

“We practice defense hard for a half-hour every practice,” Lutz said. “It's a big part of our game.”

Grove City is allowing only 43 points per game on average this season.

“We have a bunch of unselfish players on this team,” Patterson said. “We work the ball around and we like to dictate the tempo.

“It's all about quality over quantity for us,” Patterson said of the team's offensive approach.

Grove City will meet Strong Vincent — a 66-51 winner over Sharon in the other semifinal — for the District 10 championship.

“They are multitalented and have a legitimate Division I player,” Loughry said. “They will be a major challenge, that's for sure.”

HARBOR CREEK 46

Peyton Ellis 2-4 1-2 5, Mike Rocco 3-6 0-0 6, Riley Boyd 1-5 3-4 6, Troy Martin 4-12 3-4 13, Ryan Blakney 4-9 3-6 11, Brandon Burnett 0-0 0-0 0, Benjamin NJohnson 2-2 0-0 5, Linden Hoover 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 16-39 10-16 46.

GROVE CITY 60

Qadir Mohammad 0-0 0-0 0, Isaac Thrasher 5-10 2-4 14, Kameron Patterson 3-5 0-0 7, Marco Cintron 4-5 0-1 9, Andrew Mason 0-1 0-0 0, Martin Beatty 2-5 3-4 7, Logan Lutz 5-7 7-10 17, Brayden Martin 1-1 2-2 5, Kyle Barger 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 20-54 15-23 60.

Harbor Creek 7 16 12 11 — 46

Grove City13 14 16 17 — 60

3-point goals: Boyd, Martin 2, Johnson; Thrasher 2, Patterson, Martin, Cintron

Friday: District 10 Class 4A Championship-Grove City vs. Strong Vincent, site, time TBA