SLIPPERY ROCK — Everything that went wrong for the Grove City High boys basketball team in the first 16 minutes went right in the final 16 minutes.

The Eagles shot just 6-of-24 from the floor and were 40 percent from the free throw line in a first half Saturday that saw them trail Central Valley by nine at the break.

But in the second half, Grove City shot 50 percent from the floor and was 21-of-24 from the line in a 57-50 victory in the first round of the PIAA 4A playoffs at Slippery Rock University.

“We got some stuff to go,” said Grove City coach Jeff Loughry. “We had good effort in the first half, but we missed some point-blank shots and open 3s.

“In the second half we played just as hard,” Loughry added. “We just played better.”

The win was the 20th of the season for the Eagles (20-6) — the first 20-win campaign since 2006-07.

It was also the first state playoff win for the program since 2006-07.

Not much was certain for the Eagles heading into this season, Loughry’s second as head coach after taking over for Don Fee, who led the program for 23 years.

Grove City had to find a way to replace 30 points per game of scoring after the graduation losses of Kaiden Young and Brendon Record.

What Loughry found was a deep stable of solid, interchangeable players that have meshed well.

“Since the second week in January, we’ve really jelled,” Loughry said. “We’ve continued to guard and we have a nice balance. Even though we don’t have a superstar guy, you look at our averages and everyone is in that eight-to-10 point range. Everyone plays their role and trusts each other.”

Marcos Cintron was the leading scorer against Central Valley with 15 points and Isaac Thrasher and Brayden Martin each added 11.

Thrasher was 6-for-6 from the line and hit all four of his free throws in the fourth quarter to help the Eagles salt away the game.

Grove City also only committed six turnovers in the win while forcing 18 from Central Valley (14-11).

“When you have a ratio like that, you’re going to win a lot of the time,” Loughry said.

Grove City will face WPIAL 4A runner-up Quaker Valley in the next round of the state playoffs at 6 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny.

It’ll be another big challenge for the Eagles.

“Quaker Valley is a very well-coached team, very disciplined and they play excellent together,” Loughry said. “They’re a team that if they get out on top of you early, they never let you up.”

CENTRAL VALLEY 50

Michael Simmons 2 4-6 9, Parker Hudson 2 2-3 7, Nick Powell 2 0-0 5, Josh Kline 6 2-5 14, Tyler Walker 1 2-2 5, Dominic Samangy 3 1-2 9, Nico Battish 0 1-2 1. Totals: 16 12-20 50.

GROVE CITY 57

Qadir Muhammad 0 0-0 0, Isaac Thrasher 2 6-6 11, Kameron Patterson 2 2-5 7, Marcos Cintron 4 6-8 15, Andrew Mason 0 0-0 0, Martin Beatty 0 0-0 0, Logan Lutz 1 4-7 6, Brayden Martin 3 4-4 11, Kyle Barger 2 3-4 7. Totals: 14 35-34 57.

Central Valley 8 15 6 21 — 50

Grove City7 7 17 26 — 57

3-point goals: Central Valley 6 (Simmons, Hudson, Powell, Walker, Samangy 2); Grove City 4 (Thrasher, Patterson, Cintron, Martin)

Wednesday: Grove City vs. Quaker Valley, second round of PIAA 4A playoffs at North Allegheny, 6 p.m.