SLIPPERY ROCK — The scowl that formed on Don Fee's face early and stayed affixed there long after the final buzzer told the tale.

His Grove City HighSchool boys basketball team never really was in the game in a 62-41 loss to General McLane in the District 10 Class AAA championship game at Slippery Rock University's Morrow Field House Friday night.

"I'm very disappointed," Fee said. "We're a much better ball-handling team than what we showed."

Grove City had more than 20 turnovers, missed several layups inside and looked lost at times running its halfcourt set.

It was hardly the look of a team that had rattled off 20 straight wins and entered the game with a lofty 23-3 record.

"I think our guys were tentative and didn't attack," Fee said. "I can remember only one game this season when we had more than 20 turnovers. Hopefully, these guys will learn from this."

It was a tough lesson.

Grove City never led. The Eagles trailed 8-6 with five minutes gone in the first quarter, then watched the Lakers roll off the next 10 points to take a double-digit advantage.

The lead never dropped below eight points again.

GeneralMcLane (23-4) led by 17 midway through the second quarter and were up by as many as 24 points midway through the fourth period.

Grove City had little cause for hope.

"It would be tough to look at anyone (on our team) and say he had a good game," Fee said.

Jordan Fee scored 13 points to lead the Eagles, but he often was surrounded by Lakers.

On the other side, McLane was extremely balanced.

Four players attempted 10 shots for the Lakers, led by 6-foot-4 center Shawn Walker, who made all 10 of his attempts for a game-high 21 points. He also had 15 rebounds.

"We're very unselfish," said McLane coach Andy Schulz. "We look at Shawn first and everyone else second."

Fee was well aware of Walker's prowess inside. He was also well aware of his gaudy final numbers.

"That's a pretty good effort," Fee said with a hint of sarcasm. "We told these guys we have to put a body on him. He takes up space, he's big and he's long and he finishes well."

Finishing well is somethingGrove City has not done the past few seasons.

Last year, the Eagles had a similar long winning streak during the regular season, only to sputter in the playoffs.

This season, Grove City struggled in its first two district playoff wins before stumbling badly against McLane.

This was the third district tital game loss for the Eagles in the last four seasons.

"I'm very concerned," Fee said. "It would be very disappointing to end the season on a performance like we had tonight."

Luckily, Grove City doesn't have to end the season just yet.

The Eagles now will prepare for their state playoff opener against either West Allegheny or Chartiers Valley next Friday.

"We'll take a couple of days off and come back with a new attitude," Fee said. "This stings, you know? It stings."

GROVE CITY 41Keith Donaldson 0-2 0-0 0, Maxx Stutz 3-9 2-3 8, Ben Liebling 2-5 1-3 6, Danny Keil 2-6 0-0 4, RyanMcNamara 1-3 2-2 4, Jordan Fee 5-11 3-4 13, Kyle Perrine 1-7 0-0 3, Kent Denbow 0-1 0-0 0, DerekForesee 1-2 0-0 3.

Totals: 15-46 8-12 41GENERAL McLANE 62Drew Astorino 4-10 0-0 9, Bob Stauffer 4-10 2-4 12, Shawn Walker 10-10 1-2 21, Dan Skelton 1-1 0-0 2, Kelley Ponsoll 2-10 0-0 5, Steve Roach 3-3 4-5 10, Blidi Wreh-Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Bryan Lowther 0-0 2-2 2, Dan Mulligan 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Suman 0-0 1-2 1.

Totals: 24-44 10-15 62Grove City 6 11 14 10—41General McLane 18 15 14 15—623-point goals: Grove City 3 (Liebling, Perrine, Forese); General McLane 4 (Stauffer 2, Astorino, Ponsoll)Friday: PIAA first round playoff, Grove City vs. West Allegheny or Chartiers Valley at site and time TBD