No. 1 Blackhawk girls overpower Burrell, reach 5th straight WPIAL semifinal

By: Antonio Rossetti
Thursday, February 19, 2026 | 10:58 PM

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The top-seeded Blackhawk girls cruised past ninth-seeded Burrell, 50-33, in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals Thursday to earn their fifth straight trip to the semifinals.

The Cougars (21-0) were led by Aubree Hupp, who delivered 22 points — 10 in the fourth quarter — and 12 rebounds. Gracen Sehn added 12 points, five rebounds, three blocks and two steals, and Grace Huston had nine points on three 3s.

The Bucs (16-8) played a 2-3 zone, and as soon as the ball got low, Burrell crashed on Hupp. However, Hupp made adjustments in the second half.

“It was really difficult in the first half,” Hupp said. “I definitely had a hard time. I had like seven points in the first half, not my best, but in the second half, I got my confidence back. I figured I’d talk to my coaches, and I asked ‘What can I do?’ They helped me out, and I definitely figured it out and ended the game on a strong note.”

Burrell’s Casey Brancato posted 16 points, and Chase Coury scored nine.

The Bucs kept things tight early, but Blackhawk broke a 6-6 tie by ending the first quarter on 8-0 run with Sehn capping off the surge with a steal and layup.

Blackhawk led the rest of the way.

However, Burrell prevented Blackhawk from pulling away in the second and third quarters with its tight defense and strong rebounding.

Burrell trailed 25-18 early in the second.

“We knew we couldn’t match them on size inside,” Bucs coach Shaun Reddick said. “We had to have a little something to change it up for them, and that’s not something we normally do, but it’s something we’re comfortable with.”

The Cougars were forced to shoot, but were able to make seven 3s to keep them ahead.

Hupp, Huston, Sehn and Mia Sheesley all nailed early 3s.

“We kind of expected any type of defense from them,” Huston said. “We prepared for literally everything possible, and it was great that they played the zone. We were kind of hoping that they would. That way we would have those looks for the 3s. And we had a lot of people hit a lot of 3s, and at a lot of important times.”

With six- or eight-point leads, Blackhawk continued to make timely 3s to stay ahead.

“It was really important because I feel like we would have never gotten the lead we had,” Sehn said of the 3-pointers. “I feel like if Grace and me and everyone didn’t hit our 3s, then I think we would have definitely had a way harder time keeping the lead. I feel like attacking it was harder than normal because they packed the paint, so I think the shooting came in handy. It’s good that we did it.”

With Blackhawk being consistent enough from outside, Burrell switched to man-to-man. Hupp made them pay, hammering an undersized Bucs team in the fourth quarter.

“I definitely knew coming in tonight if they played man, I had a big size advantage,” Hupp said. “I lift like every day, and so I knew coming in, I was going be a lot bigger and stronger than a lot of the girls on their team, so I kind of took advantage of that.”

Added Huston: “When they’re not clogging up the paint, that’s where she can really start to shine and play her game. That was great for her, and it was good to kind of get that ball rotation moving in the paint to help her find some looks.”

Reddick knew he had to try something different defensively.

“We ran a little man in the fourth quarter, and you saw they just hammered it right inside and we don’t have anybody who can match her size,” he said. “When you’re a little undersized, and you go man against a team like that, they’re going to make you pay a price. Obviously, they’re the No. 1 team for a reason. So they see us go man — they just immediately hammered inside.”

Coach Reddick, however, commended his team’s effort throughout the season.

“Everybody expects win, win, win and win now,” he said. “We’ve won our share of games, and I think we’ve proven that maybe we were a little more than a No. 9 seed. But when you’re running four freshmen for a lot of minutes in a game, the future’s obviously very bright. It’s a nice compliment to our seniors and our juniors who are playing very well too.”

He said he is happy to have coached seniors Brancato and Mikayla Coury.

“Casey and Mikayla are outstanding kids,” Reddick said. “I’m happy for Casey that she was the one who got us over the hump, got us our first playoff win in a long time. Mikayla has been sick. She was sick for the Hampton game, and I felt terrible for her there. She came out, and she was sick the last two days, missed practice, and came out today and contributed some great minutes for us. I couldn’t be more proud of those two, and I’m honored to be their coach.”

Blackhawk advances to face No. 5 Elizabeth Forward in the semifinals Monday at a site and time to be determined.

“Everyone really stepped up all season long,” Hupp said. “Grace stepped up tonight. Mia stepped up tonight, played amazing defense on their point guard. I’m really proud of us. It was a great team win. Overall, we did great. I’m really proud of us.”

Sehn was happy to contribute for the seniors, especially Hupp’s last WPIAL home playoff game.

“It was really big for Aubree,” Sehn said. “This is her last home playoff game, so I think it meant a lot to her, and I think that us winning showed her that we can win against anybody and any defense. I think it gave her a lot of confidence, not just for me, but for everyone else.”

Tags: Burrell