JEFFERSON TWP — At the end of her fifth-grade season, Hattie McGraw made her first basket.

And a nickname was born.

Buckets.

It started as a joke, but McGraw has run with it. Her Twitter handle is HattieBuckets. Her teammates all call her Hattie Buckets.

She has certainly lived up to that billing this season.

On a Knoch girls basketball team that adores shooting 3-pointers, “Hattie Buckets” may be the most deadly from behind the arc.

“She's a crazy shooter,” said Knoch senior Nevaeh Ewing. “Whenever she gets the ball, look out.”

McGraw hit five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points as Knoch roared to a 69-33 rout of Hopewell in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs at home Tuesday night.

McGraw, who is only a sophomore, works endlessly on her shot, said Knoch coach Chris Andreassi.

“Every summer we do a 10,000 shot club. We didn't have one this year,” Andreassi said. “ But I guarantee you she still made 20,000 or more. Maybe 25,000. That's just me saying that because I know her work ethic. I've had her neighbors tell me they heard the ball bouncing early in the morning.”

McGraw will shoot no matter the conditions.

She was out taking jumpers in all matters of poor weather, she said.

“It's all about putting up shots,” she said. “You have to get them in during the offseason. When you're taking them in the freezing cold, when you're (in the gym) it's like second nature. It's natural.”

There was nothing freezing cold about McGraw — or Knoch for that matter — Tuesday night.

McGraw hit two of her 3-pointers in the first quarter against Hopewell (4-11) as Knoch stormed ahead 23-4.

The Knights (9-1) were only playing their 10th game in a season that has been continually interrupted by the coronavirus.

“It just makes us more excited for when we do get to play,” Ewing said. “Once we get our momentum going it just pushes us even harder.”

Knoch led 41-14 at the half and continued to roll in the third quarter, leading 63-22 heading into the fourth quarter.

Knoch was 11 of 33 from 3-point range.

And it's not just McGraw who can shoot them.

Four Knights hit at least one 3-pointer and nine Knoch players attempted at least one. That makes Knoch extremely difficult to guard.

“We have four shooters, six shooters — we have a lot of them,” Ewing said. “That's definitely to our advantage. It's not like we have two shooters, two post players. It's like everyone can do everything. We have big girls, too, and we can all do post moves and are very athletic.”

Madilyn Boyer added 16 and Ewing 15 for Knoch, which will host Blackhawk at 6 p.m. Friday in the next round of the playoffs.

Boyer showed her dual threat, hitting two 3-pointers and also slashing to the rim for points.

“It's really easy with Nina (Shaw) being such a great ballhandler to push the ball down the floor without turning it over,” Boyer said. “That makes it easier to get an open shot in the end.

“From the beginning until the end of practice, we do 3-point-shooting drills,” Boyer added. “Pretty much all of our drills incorporate some kind of shooting.”

The shooters feed off each other as well.

After McGraw got hot, everyone wanted to be “Buckets.”

“Everyone on our team can shoot and shoot very well,” McGraw said. “It's a very big advantage.”

HOPEWELL 33Dianna Santia 1-1 0-0 2, Ava Miller 4-13 308 12, Jadyn Sakson 0-2 0-0 0, Abigail Blumling 0-0 0-0 0, Marlee Mancini 0-6 0-0 0, Mallory Heranic 3-6 1-2 7, Christy Sundy 0-0 0-0 0, Lauryn Speicher 5-16 2-2 12. Totals: 13-44 6-12 33.

KNOCH 69Hattie McGraw 6-12 0-0 17, Nevaeh Ewing 6-10 0-1 15, Nina Shaw 2-8 2-4 7, Madilyn Boyer 5-9 4-5 16, Megan Vasas 4-10 0-0 8, CeCe Kosecki 0-1 0-0 0, Kenzie McGraw 0-2 0-0 0, Amanda Huckestein 1-2 0-0 2, Jess Burgard 0-1 0-0 0, Paige Rodgers 0-0 1-2 1, Naturelle Ewing 0-2 0-0 0, Lily Hawk 1-1 1-3 3, Emma Broman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-58 8-15 69.Hopewell 4 10 8 11 — 33Knoch23 18 22 6 — 693-point goals: Hopewell 1 (Miller); Knoch 11 (H. McGraw 5, Nev. Ewing 3, Shaw, Boyer 2)Friday: Blackhawk at Knoch