Vince Rogers didn't have a lot of time to get his bearings once he became the head basketball coach at Susquehanna Township.

Getting the job two days before the start of the season and replacing a longtime coach will do that to you.

After a tenuous start, Rogers has led the Indians into the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals, where they will meet Grove City at 7 p.m. Friday at Somerset High School.

"Legendary coach Emery Cook resigned. As the assistant coach, they handed the job to me," Rogers said. "I expected the team to be good."

Susquehanna Township, which is near Harrisburg, was the No. 2 seed out of District 3 and has defeated Central Cambria 70-58 and Milton 61-54 to reach the state quarterfinals.

That seems like a long way from the start of the season, when Rogers had a tough start.

"I thought I had a good rapport, but there was kind of a lot of anger, misrepresented anger, toward me," said Rogers."I'm not sure if the kids felt betrayed, abandoned that coach Cook quit. Team play was not there early.

"Stepping in, I didn't get the response I thought. We had a rocky start and lost three games early. We went through our first cycle (of section games), then we swept our second cycle then at a showcase event we beat East Patterson, (N.J.)," he added.

It was that showcase game in a tournament with some of the nation's best teams that got the the players believing they had turned things around.

At 25-4, the Indians are playing some of their best basketball, led by three double-figure scorers.

Matt Jones, a 6-foot-3 junior is averaging 14.5 points per game while Austin Cook, a 6-0 senior, has 13.3 points a game and Kirk Peters, a 6-foot-4 senior, 11 points.

Akeem Wilson, a 6-5 sophomore and Tahj Turner, a 5-10 freshman point guard, round out the starting five.

"Those three have been averaging double figures all year," said Rogers. "We have balanced scoring, so it's hard to stop our club. You take one away, the other two can hurt you."

The Indians also have six freshmen, and two of them see significant action.

Grove City coach Don Fee has talked with three coaches about the Indians and is impressed.

"They are very athletic. They have a little bit of size and a little depth," said Fee. "They use a pressure defense. They create offense through their defense."

Grove City (25-4) has made its mark in the post-season as well.

In notching a 4-1 record in five playoff games, the Eagles have won three in overtime, including both in the PIAA tournament. Their latest was a thrilling 70-64 triple-overtime win over Ambridge Tuesday.

They also won a four-point game over Warren Local.

"(The Eagles) don't panic. They hang in there," said Fee. "They do a great job and keep their composure. They play every play down to the end.

"There's a couple of moments where it gets frustrating, but they come back and make plays.

"Our confidence is higher now than its been all year. When you play games like that and come out on top, you can't help but feel confident,"Fee added.