Blackhawk's offense dries up in second half, falls to North Catholic in PIAA quarterfinals
HAMPTON TOWNSHIP — Blackhawk and North Catholic girls basketball are no strangers to each other, having faced off several times in the past two years during the WPIAL and PIAA postseason.
While Blackhawk got the best of North Catholic the last time the pair met in the PIAA playoffs in 2022-23, it was North Catholic that had Blackhawk's number Saturday winning 51-44 marking the end of Blackhawk's PIAA Class 4A title defense.
Blackhawk came out strong offensively in the second quarter extending its lead to 12 points with around five minutes to play in the half.
The team looked to be in control of the game with the offense coming in bunches as Mia Sheesley knocked down two triples while also converting an and one.
But for the rest of the half, the team was held scoreless as North Catholic cut the lead down to a five-point deficit at the break.
“When we missed the layup when we were leading by 12 points, it was a momentum swing and they [North Catholic] took advantage of it,” Blackhawk head coach Greg Huston said. “They made a couple of shots to close the half and that is what good teams do, they took advantage of our mistakes and made us pay for it.”
In the first half, Blackhawk found success knocking down the outside shot and was converting in the paint which allowed the team to grow its second-quarter lead.
But in the second half, those opportunities for points dried up as North Catholic locked down on the defensive end holding Blackhawk to just one shot from long range and four total shots from the field.
“I don’t think anything changed from us from an offensive perspective,” Huston said. “We missed some easy ones and the three-point shot wasn’t falling. Give North Catholic credit because they did a nice job defending us, plugging the paint up and when they do that, you have to knock some outside shots down. That happened in the first half, but went cold in the second.”
With the outside shots not falling, Blackhawk turned to forward Aubree Hupp as it worked the ball in the paint during the second half.
After just a seven-point first half, the junior recorded 16 points in the final two quarters to finish with 23 points going 11-for-15 from the charity stripe.
“Aubree has stepped up all year long and she did a great job at attacking the hoop,” Huston said. “They didn’t have much of an answer other than to foul her. We needed shots to fall there and had an opportunity to tie late but that's how the game goes sometimes.”
Blackhawk’s season comes to an end after another strong year winning a section title, advancing to the WPIAL championship game and making it to the PIAA quarterfinals for the fourth straight season.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: PIAA Basketball Playoffs: Blackhawk falls to North Catholic
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