MEADVILLE — Steph Croll sat slouched and sobbing with her head buried in her jersey.

Bailey Boyd sat stunned, staring blankly ahead.

Jenna Whitmer shook her head and wiped away a few tears that had streamed down her cheeks.

It was a scene of gut-wrenching silence minutes after the Slippery Rock High girls basketball team had three chances to score the go-ahead basket in the waning seconds of the District 10 5A championship game Saturday at Meadville High School but came up empty in a 35-34 loss to Central Tech.

Trailing by one with 17 seconds left, Croll drove to her left toward the hoop and put up a shot that missed.

Slippery Rock got another chance when Whitmer drove the lane, but also missed. Sedona Campbell got the rebound and went up, but was stripped as time expired.

“There’s definitely stuff we could have done better, without a doubt,” said Slippery Rock coach Amber Osborn. “Do I think that all three of those calls at the end of the game were fouls? Absolutely. But, you know, you can’t blame the game on those non-calls. There was stuff we did wrong throughout the game that got us to that point. But it sure would have been nice to get a call.”

Slippery Rock (19-5) entered the fourth quarter on a high after Whitmer drained a 3-pointer from the corner at the buzzer to give the Rockets a 32-25 lead.

But Slippery Rock’s offense fizzled in the fourth, producing just two points on a layup by Macy McCall.

Meanwhile, Central Tech (15-10) charged back and got what would be the winning basket with 2:23 left on a layup by Shaquoya McCray.

“Some of the stuff that killed us was they put their head down and went to the hoop,” Osborn said.

Slippery Rock’s plan was to keep the ball out of the hands of Central’s playmaker, point guard Jamiya Eaddy.

It worked for the most part. Eaddy did finish with 13 points, but Roshay Benjamine scored 14 for Central — six coming in the fourth quarter.

Central Tech was the fourth seed and not expected to even reach the title game, let alone win it.

“Someone forgot to tell the girls they weren’t supposed to do this,” said Central coach Nick Desantis. “It’s a great feeling.

“Playing such a good team — they knew all the sets,” Desantis added. “It just came down to whatever it was, 35-34? This game could have gone either way. It really could have.”

Whitmer finished with 13 points for Slippery Rock, which led 18-16 at the half after the two teams went a combined 1-for-23 shooting from the field in the second quarter.

Slippery Rock was just 9 of 43 in the game.

“They contest everything,” Osborn said. “And they’re so athletic. They recover very quickly and then their shot blockers underneath threw Sedona off.”

Slippery Rock will play Hampton, the fourth place team out of the WPIAL, Saturday at 3 p.m. at Slippery Rock University in the first round of the PIAA 5A playoffs.

The Rockets will try to quickly regroup after this heartbreaking loss.

“They have bounced back before,” Osborn said. “But this is definitely a dagger for them and for me. I didn’t want this for me. I wanted it for them. This is one of the hardest-working group of kids I’ve seen. I feel so much for them.”

CENTRAL TECH 35

Kalayziah Gore 0-3 0-0 0, Roshay Benjamin 5-9 4-4 14, Jamiya Eaddy 4-14 4-6 13, Kayla DePalma 0-5 0-0 0, Shaquoya McCray 4-5 0-2 8, Emily Scheppner 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 13-38 8-10 35.

SLIPPERY ROCK 34

Jenna Whitmer 2-8 7-8 13, Bailey Boyd 0-4 2-2 2, Macy McCall 3-11 2-5 8, Steph Croll 1-6 2-2 5, Sedona Campbell 3-13 0-1 6. Totals: 9-43 13-18 34.

Central Tech 13 3 9 10 — 35

Slippery Rock14 4 14 2 — 34

3-point goals: Central Tech 1 (Eaddy); Slippery Rock 3 (Whitmer 2, Croll)

Saturday: Slippery Rock vs. Hampton at Slippery Rock University, 3 p.m.