Thursday basketball rundown: Blackhawk stingy again on defense, tops Beaver to finish section play unbeaten

Blackhawk has been tremendous defensively this season, particularly as of late.

Its latest sparkling effort came Thursday night, and it helped the Cougars finish unbeaten in section play for the second season in a row.

In a battle of the past two WPIAL Class 4A champions, Kassie Potts scored a game-high 13 points and Blackhawk’s stingy defense stepped up again in a 31-21 win at Beaver in Class 4A Section 2.

Beaver (13-7, 6-4), which had scored 94 points in a game three nights earlier, finished 7 of 43 (16%) from the field against Blackhawk (19-2, 10-0), which claimed its fifth win in a row. In that stretch, the Cougars have given up only 21 points per game. On the season, they have surrendered 31.6 a game.

“I thought we did a good job defensively on them,” said Blackhawk coach Steve Lodovico, whose team picked up its 25th consecutive section win. “We weren’t able to get on our press like we usually do because we usually don’t score like that, but I felt like down the stretch we did a great job defensively.”

Beaver was held scoreless in the second quarter and scored only 3 points in the fourth. Chloe List led the Bobcats with 7 points.

Blackhawk, the defending WPIAL champion, needed to play well defensively due to what was a surprisingly poor offensive performance. The Cougars also shot 16% from the field, finishing 9 of 55. Standouts Quinn Borroni and Alena Fusetti combined to shoot 1 of 28. Borroni finished with 5 points and Fusetti 3.

Other girls games

• In a game in which each team was hot from outside, North Allegheny (16-4, 9-1) outlasted Hempfield (9-12, 3-7), 75-62, in Class 6A Section 1. North Allegheny’s Caroline Henderson made five 3-pointers among her game-high 21 points. Sarah Podkul (18 points) and Brooke McCoy (14 points) each made four 3s for Hempfield.

• Kate Robbins scored her 1,000th career point while leading Upper St. Clair (19-2, 12-0) to a 65-31 win against visiting Bethel Park (7-13, 4-8) in Class 6A Section 2. Robbins, a Marist recruit, finished with 19 points and teammate Ryle Kalocay added 22. Mary Boff led Bethel Park with 7 points.

• Mt. Lebanon (15-6, 9-3) dealt Chartiers Valley (10-9, 6-6) its third loss in a row, 37-31, in Class 6A Section 2. Ava Dziubek scored a game-high 11 points for the host Blue Devils, who outscored Chartiers Valley, 8-4, in the fourth quarter. Ella Cupka and Lilah Turnbull scored 8 apiece for the Colts.

• Cam Rogers scored 9 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter as host Plum (12-9, 6-6) handed Indiana (15-7, 11-1) its first section loss, 58-52, in Class 5A Section 1. Megan Marston led Plum with 17 points. Eve Fiala poured in 23 for Indiana, including the 1000th of her career.

• Trinity (14-6, 8-2) won for the seventh time in eight games by beating visiting Lincoln Park (17-4, 6-4), 57-47, in Class 5A Section 4. Macie Justice scored 12 points for Trinity, which outscored Lincoln Park, 35-22, in the second half. Aizlyn Thompson scored 15 points for Lincoln Park.

• North Catholic (18-3, 12-0) finished unbeaten in section play for the seventh season in a row after claiming a 51-36 home win against Knoch (14-7, 9-3) in Class 4A Section 1. Alayna Rocco paced North Catholic with five 3-pointers and 21 points, while Nina Shaw led Knoch with 13. North Catholic has won 91 consecutive section games dating to the 2015-16 season.

• Sophomore Anna Bradley converted the winning layup with 17 seconds left in overtime to lift Avonworth (15-5, 9-1) to a 54-52 win at Seton LaSalle (12-9, 4-6) in Class 3A Section 2. Greta O’Brien scored 25 points and Becca Goetz added 17 for Avonworth, which claimed its eighth consecutive win and won the outright section title. Mallory Daly led the Rebels with 17 points.

• Despite Mount Pleasant (14-8, 5-5) getting a game-high 34 points from Tiffany Zelmore, the Vikings lost to visiting Apollo-Ridge (19-3, 8-2), 54-45, in Class 3A Section 3. Brinley Toland led Apollo-Ridge with 27 points.

• Shaye Bailey followed up her 51-point performance by scoring a game-high 18 in Freedom’s 60-16 win at New Brighton (0-19, 0-12) in Class 2A Section 1. Lex Weiser led New Brighton with 7 points. Freedom (16-4, 11-1) will share the section championship with Shenango.

• Greensburg Central Catholic (18-4, 11-1) earned a split of the Class 2A Section 3 title after a 65-41 win at Winchester Thurston (10-11, 7-5). Mya Morgan led the Centurions with 28 points and Erica Gribble chipped in with 16 to secure a tied for the section crown with Serra Catholic. Sky Still paced Winchester Thurston with 19.

North Hills’ Gie Sturdivant goes up for a shot against visiting Hampton Thursday night in the Indians’ 52-46 victory. (Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Union Progress).

Three stars

*** — Katelyn Myers, Highlands. Myers converted seven 3-pointers and scored a game-high 25 points as Highlands doubled up host Valley, 84-42.

** — Madison Zavasky, Pine-Richland. Zavasky tallied 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help Pine-Richland defeat visiting Butler, 54-50.

* — Tia Yellock, Rochester. Yellock scored 18 of her 27 points in the second half of Rochester’s 62-46 win at South Side.

Hot from deep

Players with 3 or more 3-pointers: Katelyn Myers, Highlands, 7; Alayna Rocco, North Catholic, 5; Caroline Henderson, North Allegheny, 5; Kat Milon, Hampton, 4; Meghan Murray, Hampton, 4; Brooke McCoy, Hempfield, 4; Sarah Podkul, Hempfield, 4; Lauren Speicher, Hopewell, 4; Alexa Kadilak, Mohawk, 3; Cam Phillips, North Allegheny, 3.

Girls scores

Apollo-Ridge 54, Mount Pleasant 45

Avonworth 54, Seton LaSalle 52 (OT)

Blackhawk 31, Beaver 21

Burrell 40, Deer Lakes 24

Elizabeth Forward 51, West Mifflin 41

Franklin Regional 63, Belle Vernon 52

Freedom 60, New Brighton 16

Hopewell 67, Ambridge 25

Greensburg Central Catholic 65, Winchester Thurston 41

Greensburg Salem 37, Freeport 27

Highlands 84, Valley 42