Slippery Rock’s Gia Kovacik (12) could be an x-factor in Saturday’s District 10 championship game against Harbor Creek. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Rob McGraw

Two years into the Jeff Steele era, the Slippery Rock girls basketball team is back in the District 10 championship game.

The No. 4 Rockets (19-4) return for the first time since 2022 thanks to Wednesday’s 46-38 win over No. 1 in the Class 4A semifinals — a game that was much closer than the final score hints at.

In their way is defending champion and second-seed Harbor Creek (20-4), which knocked out Corry in the semis this week and did the same to these Rockets a year ago. The title game will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Meadville High School.

Slippery Rock is already ensured a PIAA tournament berth (one of the four D10 sends in 4A). The winner will face the WPIAL sixth seed March 7 at a site and time to be determined when the brackets are announced Sunday; the loser of this one takes on the WPIAL’s fourth seed.

Here’s what to know about the championship matchup:

Livestream: The game will likely be livestreamed, but the site has not been picked yet. Rockets head coach Jeff Steele said it should be determined Friday. This will be updated once the information is released.

Tickets: $10 for adults, $7 for students. Can be purchased in advance by going to piaadistrict10.org or hometownticketing.com.

Slippery Rock: Madison Romanovich and Brielle Jordan are the headliners, absolutely. But let’s tap Gia Kovacik and Venessa Hinkle, a pair of freshmen. The two Rockets stars will get theirs, but they will need one of these two to have a big game to carry them over the top. Hinkle is averaging seven points, six rebounds and five assists, and Kovacik is averaging seven points and eight boards, according to Steele.

Harbor Creek: It starts with Arianna Denning, the 5-foot-5 senior guard who is used to this stage. She had 10 points, including five clutch free throws in the district championship a year ago (the Huskies won), and sent her team to the title game with a 17-point night against the Rockets the round before. Steele called her a “super athlete,” fast and skilled. “She’s a winner,” he said.

When Steele took over before the 2024-25 season, he brought a high-octane, get-up-in-transition offense that practiced with a shot clock. Tempo, tempo, tempo. Now?

“We have to rebound. We’ve gotten away from our pressure which got us away from all of our possessions,” Steele said. “Rebounding is key for us, it’s what was key for us (Wednesday).”