CAMBRIA TWP — Jence Rhoads had seen enough.

She gathered her teammates at the foul line and let them know that this wasn't going to happen.

Not on this night. Not after how well the Slippery Rock HighSchool girls basketball team had played for three quarters against Lewistown.

"I told them, 'Look at the score,'" the senior point guard said. "'They're coming up on us. We have to start defending and pick it up right now, or we are going to lose this game.'"

What looked like a romp — Slippery Rock led 48-26 after three quarters — had suddenly turned tense when the Panthers closed to eight points with 2:48 remaining in the game.

But the Rockets held on for a 56-49 win over Lewistown in the second round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs at steamy Central Cambria HighSchool Wednesday night.

"I want her to be that floor leader," said Slippery Rock coach Adrienne Orris. "Each game I see new things out of her. Today, when we really needed it, she pulled the girls together at the free throw line. To the common person, they don't notice those things, but that was the first time we have done that all year."

The common person got another uncommon performance from Rhoads. She nearly had a quadruple double with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 10 steals and eight assists.

Slippery Rock (20-9) was adept at forcing Lewistown turnovers that led to quick points and a huge early lead.

When the Panthers (19-10) were able to get a shot off in the first three quarters, it usually was off the mark.

It took Lewistown 14 minutes of play to crack double digits and it went into halftime down 30-16.

The third quarter was worse. By the end of the frame, the Panthers were down by 22 and were shooting a mere 17.9 percent from the floor.

Then Lewistown found its range and Slippery Rock started turning the ball over.

It nearly was a fatal combination.

"They can shoot, and we knew that they could shoot," Orris said. "We frustrated them for three quarters, but we allowed them to get hot and get confident."

Lewistown's Hannah Geedy missed her first 10 shots of the game, but hit five 3-pointers in the second half. She took 17 shots from beyond the arc in the game and finished with a team-leading 15 points.

Lewistown finished 13-of-58 from the floor and 7-of-22 from beyond the arc.

"We had a really good start," Orris said. "Maybe part of the problem in the fourth quarter was the exhaustion set in. It was a few (degrees) hotter in here than we are used to. I know we were exhausted."

Rhoads in particular felt the heat. Drenched in sweat, she went 0-for-4 from the field in the fourth quarter and a mere 2-of-6 from the free throw line.

Slippery Rock was 2-of-10 from the line in the fourth quarter and committed eight turnovers.

"But we won," Orris said.

And that's been the bottom line for the Rockets, who have won 12 straight games.

Six-foot forward Emma Walter netted six points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who had a distinct height advantage over Lewistown.

"She was a rebounding machine tonight," Rhoads said of Walter, who also took nine shots — more than double the amount she has taken in the previous five playoff games combined.

The Rockets are going to need her more than ever Saturday when they face WPIAL champion Hopewell, which beat Greensburg Salem 56-36 Wednesday night.

Hopewell features 6-2 Joyce Novacek and 6-1 Rebecca Novacek. They are the nieces of former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jay Novacek.

To Slippery Rock, though, being an underdog matters little.

"No one thought we could get this far," Rhoads said. "We didn't have a great beginning of the season because we were still learning. I'm happy we've made it this far.

"This is obviously beyond my wildest dreams. But now that I've gotten a taste of it, I want more."

SLIPPERY ROCK 56Jence Rhoads 9-15 4-8 22, Emma Walter 3-9 0-0 6, Karly Rhoads 2-6 2-4 6, Sarah Cessar 4-7 0-1 8, Kourtney Rhoads 3-7 2-2 8, Jenna Rinker 2-5 0-0 4, Ali Doyle 0-0 0-1 0, Adele Campbell 1-1 0-0 2, Shanea Raabe 0-0 0-0 0, Ashley Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Danielle Drake 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 24-51 8-16 56

LEWISTOWN 49Hannah Geedy 5-20 0-0 15, Heather Wilson 3-10 6-6 14, Spring Krepps 0-1 0-0 0, Kayla Espigh 4-10 5-9 13, Brittney Zimmerman 1-8 1-2 3, Dani Rhoades 0-5 4-4 4, Matasha Recht 0-4 0-0 0.

Totals: 13-58 16-21 49

Slippery Rock 12 18 18 8—56Lewistown 5 11 10 23—493-point goals: Lewistown 7 (Geedy 5, Wilson 2)

Saturday: Slippery Rock vs. Hopewell, TBD