The consensus was the Grove City High School girls basketball team was going to lose to Mercyhurst Prep Saturday afternoon by 40 or 50 points.

"Including me," said Eagles' coach Roger Flynn.

Instead, Grove City gave Mercyhurst Prep a struggle before ultimately falling 56-33 in the District 10 Class AAA playoffs at Ft. LeBoeuf High School.

"We got off to a great start," Flynn said. "It was actually one of the better games we've played all season."

Grove City (15-9) led 10-8 late in the first quarter before Mercyhurst Prep (22-3) hit two 3-pointers at the end of the quarter.

In the second quarter, the Eagles were outscored 17-4 and couldn't recover.

"They were just so quick," Flynn said. "We never had to defend against anything that quick before."

Grove City was competitive in the second half as Mercyhurst Prep outscored it just 21-19 to cruise to the win.

Senior Alissa Chutz scored 12 points to lead Grove City.

"Alissa has been a long-time starter for our team," Flynn said. "She played very athletically against them. She played very courageously."

Mercyhurst Prep won the PIAA Class AAAA championship last season and have three Division I recruits playing for it this season in Class AAA.

"Even though we lost, I left feeling like we had won," Flynn said. "We played as well as we could."

The loss wraps up a very satisfying season for Flynn, his 26th season that leaves him with 520 career wins.

The team loses Chutz, Ashley McKnight and Christa Campbell.

"Our league is very difficult," Flynn said. "To get 15 wins with the schedule we had - I'm very happy with that. In terms of the year overall, I'm very pleased."

GROVE CITY 33

Christa Campbell 0 0-2 0, Julie Molloy 5 0-0 11, Alissa Chutz 4 3-6 12, Lauryn Franklin 0 2-2 2, Jenna Kelly 2 0-0 4, Sheila Ogden 12 7-12 33. Totals: 12 7-12 33

MERCYHURST PREP 56

White 1 0-0 2, VanVolkenburg 1 2-2 5, Gordon 8 1-2 17, Kerner 10 0-1 23, Williams 4 1-2 9. Totals: 24 4-7 56

3-point goals:

Molloy, Chutz, VanVolkenburg, Kerner 3