OIL CITY — A trip to a fourth straight District 10 title game was still very much in doubt for Slippery Rock's girls basketball team.

After three quarters of Wednesday's Class 5A semifinal game, the Rockets were in a 30-30 deadlock with Harbor Creek.

Then Hallie Raabe provided Slippery Rock with valuable breathing room.

The junior forward scored the first seven points of the final period that dealt the Huskies a deficit they would never recover from as the Rockets advanced with a 43-39 victory at Oil City High School.

Raabe's personal run featured three baskets in the first 2:17 of the fourth, including a 3-pointer that put the Rockets up 35-30 with 6:18 left.

“She's a gamer,” said Rockets' coach Amber Osborn. “When Hallie is poised and playing smart, that's when you get good stuff out of her.”

Slippery Rock will face rival Grove City, a 53-45 winner over Warren, in Saturday's district final at a time and site to be determined.

Raabe finished the game with a team-high 12 points. The performance was made even sweeter since she missed much of this season with an ankle injury.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game and we all had to step up,” she said. “We had to step into our roles and feed off the energy.”

The Huskies (13-10) did not score in the fourth period until 3:32 was left on the clock.

“We switched things up a bit defensively,” said Osborn. “I always talk about a change like that with the girls because if they're not comfortable with it, it's not going to work.”

Harbor Creek closed the gap to 39-34 with Rylee Kapsar's two free throws with 2:57 left.

Shaelie Born's trey made it 41-37 with 1:07 remaining, but free throws from Bronwyn McCoy and Anna Kadlubek put the game out of the Huskies' reach.

“The intensity was there on both sides,” said Harbor Creek coach Mark Corey. “We missed a lot of shots we usually make and give credit to Slippery Rock because they made some shots that were well-contested.”

Harbor Creek led for the final time following Lily Pulvino's bucket that gave the Huskies a 24-23 edge with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter.

The Rockets could have fallen further behind, but a turnover led to Kadlubek's wide-open trey from the left wing that put Slippery Rock up 26-24.

Pulvino's two free throws tied the game at 30 late in the third, setting the stage for Raabe and the Rockets to open the final quarter with the clutch flurry of points.

Kadlubek added 11 points for the Rockets and Kelly Benson scored all eight of her points in the first half.

Ella McDermott's trey with 36 seconds left in the second quarter gave Slippery Rock a 19-17 lead at the break.

Pulvino paced the Huskies with 12 points and Jenna Babay, who reached the 1,000-point milestone this season, scored 11.

Slippery Rock (18-6) will meet Grove City (20-3) for the third time this season. The Rockets won both meetings in the regular season.

“Grove City is a very good team and we are not taking them lightly,” said Osborn. “It's round three, I guess.”

HARBOR CREEK 39

Jenna Babay 4 1-2 11, Alexis Barton 2 0-0 4, Lily Pulvino 5 2-2 12, Shaelie Born 2 0-0 5, Rylee Kapsar 0 2-2 2, Nya Farrell 2 0-0 5. Totals: 15 5-6 39.

SLIPPERY ROCK 43

Anna Kadlubek 3 3-6 11, Hallie Raabe 4 2-4 12, Kelly Benson 2 2-2 8, Ella McDermott 2 0-0 5, Bronwyn McCoy 3 1-2 7. Totals: 14 8-14 43.

Harbor Creek 10 7 13 9 — 39

Slippery Rock11 8 11 13 — 43

3-point goals:3-point goals: Babay 2, Born, Farrell; Kadlubek 2, Raabe 2, Benson 2, McDermott

Saturday: Slippery Rock vs. Grove City in District 10 Class 5A championship game, TBD