Blackhawk too much for S. Fayette
PITTSBURGH – The venue was different but the result was the same as the Blackhawk girls basketball team defended its Class AAA WPIAL championship over upset-minded South Fayette, 65-54, Saturday afternoon at Petersen Events Center.
The title was the third in five years for the Cougars, who are also the defending PIAA champions.
“When we won last year, it was a great accomplishment,” Cougars head coach Steve Lodovico said. “You come back this year and everyone is gunning for you and you are getting everybody’s best game. To come back and do it again is extra special.”
The championship appearance was the first in school history for the Lions (19-7). South Fayette will now face McGuffey (19-8), the WPIAL’s seventh-place team, in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA Playoffs Saturday at a site and time to be determined. The two teams split their regular-season series in Section 5-AAA.
“It was a great experience,” Lions coach Matt Bacco said. “It was a lot of fun. It is just a reward for what we put in. I tell the team that you get out what you deserve in this life. They got what they deserved by having a shot today. Obviously, we would have liked a better result, but it was just a great experience for the kids. I was happy to see so many people from the community come out. We never played in front of a crowd like that.”
It took the Lions a few minutes to get acclimated, but once they did, they gave the Cougars (23-3) all they could handle.
After trailing 12-6, South Fayette went on a 12-0 run to take its first lead of the game. The run started on five quick points by junior Autumn Mozick. After a timeout, the Cougars followed suit with their own 6-0 spurt to tie the game, 18-18, after the first quarter.
“We started out well,” Lodovico said. “We jumped on them pretty good, but then we got a step slow. We tried to get in transition. We struggled a little bit defending the pick-and-roll.”
A question mark entering the game with a knee injury, junior Emily Anderson performed admirably with seven of her team-high 17 points in the first quarter. Unfortunately for Anderson and the Lions, it would be the last game she will partake in this season.
“I was happy the way I performed out there, and this was the last game of my season so I was happy with how I played,” Anderson said. “They told me I am sitting out for states. I have some some cartilage damage.”
Through the pain, Anderson led her team to a 30-30 tie late in the first half, but that’s where Blackhawk would make their push. The Cougars finished the half on a 7-0 run to give them a lead they would not relinquish.
“Defensive pressure,” Lodovico said. “We led the WPIAL in points and it all stems from our ‘D’. We adjusted into a trapping zone defense and it caught them off-guard, and that gave us that run in the second quarter.”
The Cougars would eventually push their lead to double digits with 3:15 left in the third. Much of the Lions’ troubles stemmed from turning the ball over. South Fayette had 19 turnovers to Blackhawk’s nine.
“We got a little bit careless with the basketball,” Bacco said. “They are a veteran group and have been there and done that. They are senior-laden. We are not. At times, maybe the fact that it was our first time here showed. It was a stepping stone to where we want to be.”
Like she has all season, senior Chassidy Omogrosso, a Duquesne recruit, led the Cougars with 26 points, just shy of her WPIAL-leading 27.5 points per game.
“It starts and ends with Omogrosso,” Bacco said. “You can’t simulate that. She is quick and deceptive with the ball. We can watch film until we are blue in the face. You have to guard her as a team not one-on-one. When she gets loose, she is going to the foul line.”
Courtney Vannoy also had a stellar game for the Cougars, registering 19 points and seven rebounds.
Anderson grabbed 12 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Mozick and Carlee Kilgus both scored 11 points each.
“It is a good feeling to get to this point since we never did,” senior Lauren Crites said. “I guess now with the loss you get to look forward to states and get into another championship.”