WEXFORD — In a three-point game midway through the third quarter, the Freeport girls basketball team was trying to pull off an upset.

Things were going the Yellowjackets’ way. Freshmen Sidney Shemanski was scoring. Junior Jenna Manke was dominating on the glass and Blackhawk was reeling.

Then the Cougars drew on their vast playoff experience and outscored Freeport 32-12 over the final 14 minutes to down the Yellowjackets, 67-44, Thursday night in the WPIAL 4A quarterfinals at North Allegheny High School.

“They’re a good team. We knew what they were about and we held them in check for most of the game,” said Freeport coach Fred Soilis. “I’ve seen other teams they’ve blown out in the first half.”

Freeport (14-10) never led, but made things difficult on Blackhawk (15-8) for most of the game.

The Yellowjackets trailed by two after the first quarter and by just six at the half.

Blackhawk coach Steve Lodovico said he stressed quite strongly the need to “wake up” to his players at halftime.

“I think we came out in that first half very sloppy,” Lodovico said. “We didn’t play the way that we needed to. We were a little bit off. Our defense was bad and our communication wasn’t very good.”

And the Cougars’ top scorers, Mady Aulbach and Mackenzie Amalia, were held to four points each.

That changed in the second half as the duo combined to score 19 points.

Amalia finished with 14 and Aulbach 13 to lead four Blackhawk players in double digits.

The Cougars came in with a storied playoff history that included seven WPIAL and four state titles.

Meanwhile Freeport started three freshmen, had one senior on the roster and was coming off its first playoff win in more than a decade.

Blackhawk tried to rattle Freeport with a press from the opening tip to the final buzzer.

The Yellowjackets handled the pressure well for the most part, but still had 14 turnovers in the first half and 23 in the game.

“We made our share of mistakes at costly times,” Soilis said.

Lodovico said it was just a matter of time before the press wore down Freeport.

“Our philosophy with our press is teams can maybe handle it in the first quarter and the second quarter, but when you’re feeling it for four quarters, your legs start to go,” Lodovico said. “They didn’t sub that much, so we wanted to keep the press on them.”

Manke scored 14 points and Shemanski added 13 for Freeport, which can still qualify for the PIAA 4A playoffs if Blackhawk beats South Park in the semifinals Monday.

That leaves Freeport in limbo with its fate in the hands of another team.

The Yellowjackets will be the biggest Cougar fans come Monday.

“I told them, ‘Don’t hang your heads,’” Soilis said. “I’m proud of what they did. If Blackhawk wins Monday, we’re in the state playoffs.”

FREEPORT 44

Kim Mixon 0-4 0-0 0, Samantha Clark 2-7 0-0 6, Madeline Clark 1-12 2-2 5, Sidney Shemanski 6-13 0-0 13, Jenna Manke 7-20 0-4 14, Asti Brestensky 2-3 0-0 4, Haley Graham 0-2 2-2 2, Ashley Sullivan 0-1 0-0 0, Tori Radvan 0-1 0-0 0, Sarah Copeland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-63 4-8 44.

BLACKHAWK 67

Tailyn Silver 5-6 3-4 13, Mackenzie Amalia 4-11 4-4 14, Mady Aulbach 5-14 2-2 13, Madison Amalia 3-11 0-0 8, Breanna Hoover 3-8 2-4 10, Olivia Roberts 1-3 0-0 2, Taylor Lambright 2-4 1-2 7, Vanessa Potts 0-2 0-3 0, Chloe Pyle 0-0 0-0 0, Sierra Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Sierra Richards 0-0 0-0 0, Ri’Charindae Siebenlist 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Faller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 23-60 12-19 67.

Freeport 14 13 9 8 — 44

Blackhawk16 17 17 17 — 67

3-point goals: Freeport 4 (S. Clark 2, M. Clark, Shemanski); Blackhawk 6 (Mac. Amalia 2, Mad. Amalia 2, Lambright 2)