SLIPPERY ROCK - Fast and furious.

Those two words best describe the Grove City High boys basketball team's first-half play Friday against Slippery Rock.

The Eagles defense forced 20 turnovers while their offense made 19 of 33 field goal attempts (58 percent) en route to a commanding 40-15 halftime lead over the host Rockets.

Grove City (17-6, 10-4) emptied its bench in the second half before leaving with a 74-42 victory to close the regular season.

It was Senior Recognition Night for the Rockets, but the team was short-handed before the opening tip.

Senior forward Brett Hines, the team's leading scorer with 14.7 points per game, was suspended for undisclosed reasons.

Slippery Rock coach Sean Strickland could not be reached for comment following the game.

"Mentally, it was tough coming into a game like this," said Grove City coach Don Fee. "We knew Hines wasn't playing and Slippery Rock is having a down year. But our kids did well on both ends of the court."

Andy Geibel led the win with 15 points while Ben Husband and Jordan Fee each added 11.

The Rockets (2-21, 1-13) committed nine turnovers in the first quarter and faced an 18-9 deficit after one period.

Their snowball of troubles became an avalanche in the second quarter, thanks to Grove City's full-court press defense.

The Eagles went on a 13-4 run in the first five minutes of the period before leading by 25 at intermission.

"Our kids feed off the press," said Fee. "They executed it well."

To the Rockets' credit, they posted a 17-8 run in the final six minutes of the third period, making the score 53-28.

"We had a bit of a letdown there," said Fee. "But you have to give credit to Slippery Rock because their kids didn't give up.

"But we were able to get a lot of kids playing time in the second half," added Fee.

Senior Tim Busi led Slippery Rock with 14 points while David Hewitt added nine.

The Eagles end the regular season tied with Oil City for second place in Region 5-AAA and now await the District 10 playoffs.

GROVE CITY 74

Ben Husband 4 2-2 11, Justin McNamara 4 1-2 9, Ben Liebling 2 0-0 6, Ryan King 2 0-0 4, Dan Keil 3 0-0 6, John Fee 3 0-0 6, Jordan Fee 5 0-0 11, Andy Geibel 7 1-4 15, Dustin Van Hook 1 0-0 2, Tony Aloisio 2 0-0 4, Maxx Stutz 0 0-0 0, Nate Thomas 0 0-0 0, Joe Hazy 0 0-0 0. Totals: 33 4-8 74.

SLIPPERY ROCK 42

Josh Hoover 2 0-0 5, Billy Messer 4 0-0 8, Ben Collins 0 3-4 3, Bill Stoughton 1 0-0 3, Tim Busi 6 0-0 14, David Hewitt 3 3-6 9, Rhett Gordon 0 0-0 0, Joe Bryan 0 0-0 0, Jake Crocker 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 6-10 42.

3-point goals:

Liebling 2, Jordan Fee, Husband; Busi 2, Stoughton, Hoover.

JV:

Grove City 57-51

Saturday:

Slippery Rock @ Erie Central