SLIPPERY ROCK — One by one, members of the Slippery Rock High girls basketball team ascended the stairs from their locker room with red eyes and damp faces Monday.

They were on their way to a Senior Night party, but they weren't much in the mood for a celebration following a 50-49 loss to rival Grove City.

Meanwhile, the Eagles were elated.

The win pushed Slippery Rock (10-11, 5-6) and Grove City (10-11, 5-6) into a fourth-place tie in the region and, potentially, the final District 10 Class AAA playoff spot.

“It's by far the biggest win we've had,” said Grove City coach T.L. Eller. “Now we go to Meadville (Thursday) with a chance to make the playoffs.”

The win also snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Rockets dating back to January 2003.

Eller and Slippery Rock coach Adrienne Orris played together at Grove City College and started their coaching careers at the same time. Eller was 0-9 against Orris coming into this game.

But Eller is looking at the bigger picture.

“This group has gotten better every game,” Eller said. “Finally, we're not playing our best basketball in December. We're playing it at the end of the season, and that's what you want to see.

“We're going into the last game with a chance to make the playoffs,” Eller said.

And they are doing it with a young team.

Freshman Corianne Hyduchak scored 18 points, including 10 in the final quarter.

Junior Mariah Jenkins also scored 18 points and junior Vanessa Sprando added 10 to help the Eagles overcome a 38-25 deficit with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Grove City switched its defense, putting Brogan Foster on Slippery Rock's Morgan Siebka.

The Rockets offense sputtered after that as the Eagles went on a 14-2 run to cut the lead to one point with a little less than six minutes remaining in the game.

Grove City went ahead for good at 48-47 with 50 seconds remaining on a 3-pointer by Jenkins — her third of the game.

Siebka scored 12 points in the first quarter, but finished with 19.

“What happened was we quit attacking offensively and defensively,” Orris said. “We got the lead because we attacked.”

Foster didn't score a point, but she might have been the Grove City MVP Monday.

“I usually don't like putting Brogan on the best player on the other team because she's our point guard and she has a lot of pressure on her,” Eller said. “But she is the girl who puts the clamp down defensively.”

Bre Northcott had 12 points for the Rockets.

Orris said her team will quickly put this loss behind them.

“(Thursday) is just another game,” Orris said. “We're not treating it any other way.”

GROVE CITY 50Brogan Foster 0-1 0-0 0, Mariah Jenkins 6-11 3-8 18, Vanessa Sprando 5-7 0-2 10, Corianne Hyduchak 8-16 2-2 18, Arianna Sprando 0-4 0-0 0, Jen Ferguson 0-1 0-0 0, Hailey Hall 0-1 4-5 4.

Totals: 19-41 9-17 50.

SLIPPERY ROCK 49Molly Weitzel 2-7 1-4 5, Jackie Basta 1-6 0-0 3, Haley Angerett 1-7 1-2 4, Morgan Siebka 7-16 1-4 19, Bre Northcott 6-12 0-0 12, Anna Cessar 0-3 0-0 0, Ellie Shaw 2-2 0-0 4, Riley McGonigle 0-2 0-0 0, Nicole Papley 1-2 0-2 2.

Totals: 20-57 3-12 49.

Grove City 11 8 16 15—50Slippery Rock 16 10 14 9—493-point goals: Grove City 3 (Jenkins 3); Slippery Rock 6 (Siebka 4, Basta, Angerett).

Thursday: Slippery Rock at Franklin; Grove City at Meadville