Unbeaten Blackhawk surges past Knoch in WPIAL Class 4A title game

By: George Guido
Saturday, March 5, 2022 | 4:40 PM

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After Blackhawk hit just 12 of 31 shots over three quarters, Cougars coach Steve Lodovico had one bit of advice for his girls Saturday.

Keep shooting.

The advice worked as the Cougars hit all seven field goal attempts in the fourth period to pull away from Knoch, 55-35, and win the school’s eighth WPIAL girls basketball championship at Petersen Events Center.

Knoch had taken a 25-18 lead early in the third quarter, but Blackhawk worked its way back in the Class 4A championship game.

Haley Romigh’s basket with 38.8 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Cougars the lead for good, 33-31. Blackhawk proceeded to score the first 10 points of the fourth period to pull away.

“If you know anything about us, we shoot the ball very well,” Lodovico said. ‘The first half, we didn’t. But we said keep with it and stay confident.”

“I think the first half might have been a little shaky,” said Quinn Borroni, who led the way with 22 points. “In the second half, the nerves shook away. We been saying our whole lives to keep shooting and the ball will go in.”

It was the first WPIAL title for the Cougars (24-0) since 2015. Blackhawk will enter the PIAA tournament at home Wednesday against an opponent from District 3 (Harrisburg-Reading area).

Knoch, making its first appearance in a title game in the school’s 51-season basketball history, had junior point guard Nina Shaw setting up some solid offensive sets until the Cougars adjusted.

“We weren’t turning the ball over, but they were successful in keeping the ball out of Nina’s hands and that’s a big change in our offense when she doesn’t have the ball a lot,” Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said. “Besides that, sometimes it just comes down to making shots.”

Said Lodovico: ”Shaw completely controlled the tempo the first half of the game. We decided at halftime on a made basket or a dead ball, we were going to double-team Nina. Once you take the ball out of their quarterback’s hands, they kind of got a little off-balanced.”

The Knights (21-3) will make the program’s first PIAA appearance on their home floor Wednesday against an opponent from a play-in round.

Known as a 3-point shooting team, the Cougars didn’t make their first trey until Borroni hit with 6:32 to go in the third period. Borroni and Nixon each had a 3-pointer in the fourth period. It was Blackhawk’s lowest total of 3s on the season.

“We held them in check pretty well there for a while,” Andreassi said. “We worked in practice every day on everything they do. When we started the fourth quarter, we over-committed to the help and they got in a rhythm.”

Shaw scored 11 points in the first half and managed just two in the second half. Leading scorer Maddie Boyer was held to just two baskets, both in the second half. She was coming off a career-high 26 points in a semifinal victory over Southmoreland on Tuesday.

Boyer, however, hit a 3-pointer to start the second half to give Knoch the 25-18 advantage.

Freshman Karlee Buterbaugh led the Knights in rebounds with nine.

Borroni also led the Cougars with nine rebounds and sophomore Alena Fusetti scored 14.

Tags: Blackhawk, Knoch