PIAA basketball: Blackhawk’s Aubree Hupp overwhelms North Catholic girls in quarterfinals with 35-point night
McMURRAY — The snowball started slowly, but once it built up some inertia, there was no stopping it.
Blackhawk girls basketball, led by an overwhelming performance from senior forward Aubree Hupp, overpowered North Catholic 59-37 in the PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals Saturday at Peters Township High School. The game was moved from North Allegheny to Peters Township because of a power outage at NA caused by Friday’s wind storm.
The Cougars (25-1) will get a rematch against WPIAL champion Oakland Catholic on Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. Oakland Catholic beat Blackhawk for the WPIAL title, its second straight, in February.
Hupp finished with 35 points on 11 of 14 shooting (11 of 12 at the foul line) and had an unofficial 10 rebounds and four assists.
She started 5 of 5 from the field and was 6 of 8 by halftime for 22 points. For the first 12 or so minutes, her only offensive flaw was a single missed free throw (out of six attempts).
“We knew coming in, and we spent the last two practices talking about ways to be in the paint and stop Aubree Hupp,” Trojanettes coach Molly Rottmann said. “But it didn’t work, and to her credit, she’s very good.”
“I give all credit to her, she’s a very good player,” North sophomore guard Sam Weir said. “But I think part of it is we had to guard her better.”
It’s tough to say what else WPIAL third seed North Catholic (22-7) could’ve done against the Canisius commit who came into the game averaging 21.4 points, 14.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 3.2 steals per game.
The 5-foot-10 force decimated the Trojanettes largely from the top of the key, where she could turn around for jumpers, drive and kick or simply bully her way to the rim. She even sprinkled in two 3-pointers.
Rottmann threw a variety of looks at her. Lauren Reitz got a shot and picked up two fouls early. Kristina Rushak subbed in and slowed the snowball that was Hupp for a bit, but then the senior simply forced her way to the charity stripe seven times in the second quarter.
Guard Harmony Jones, arguably North’s most consistent starter in this one with 10 points and eight boards, also matched up against Hupp at times and did her best. Hupp just couldn’t be stopped.
“(Jones) was going backdoor, she was getting to the rim, she was running hard,” Rottmann said. “I thought Harmony played really well.”
The only thing that stopped Hupp was when Cougars head coach Greg Huston pulled his starters with a few minutes left to play.
“Aubrey Hupp is a phenomenal player,” Weir said.
North should get another chance at this stage next year. The Trojanettes didn’t have a single senior this year and started five juniors and sophomores.
Weir scored eight points and had a handful of rebounds. Kate Vislosky, another sophomore, provided some “instant offense,” Rottmann said, with 10 points off the bench, eight of them in the second quarter.
But Rottmann and Weir said they can’t be the same next year. Weir expects a difficult offseason in the gym ahead. Rottmann said the defense has to improve, and offensively the Trojanettes will look to be more downhill attackers.
“(This loss is) a lot of motivation. We all understand we need to get into the gym in the offseason, get better,” Weir said. “The offseason has to be really tough for us. … We have to be ready to work.”
BLACKHAWK 59
Gracen Sehn 2 0-2 4, Aubree Hupp 11 11-12 35, Grace Huston 4 2-3 14, Mia Zachewicz 0 0-0 0, Olivia Royek 2 0-0 6, Ava Elich 0 0-0 0, Brooklyne Hartle 0 0-0 0, Shelby Stewart 0 0-0 0, Ari Davis 0 0-0 0, Alaina Desarbo 0 0-0 0, Libby Gill 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 13-17 59.
NORTH CATHOLIC 37
Harmony Jones 5 0-0 10, Brady Wehner 1 0-0 3, Sam Weir 3 0-0 8, Maggie Tatar 0 0-0 0, Lauren Reitz 0 1-2 1, Kristina Rushak 2 1-1 5, Kate Vislosky 4 2-2 10, Finley O’Shea 0 0-0 0, Mia McDowell 0 0-0 0, Evangeline Offi 0 0-0 0, Anabel Poirier 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 4-7 37.
Blackhawk 11 26 10 12 — 59
North Catholic 8 15 8 6 — 37
3-point goals: Blackhawk 8 (Hupp 2, Huston 4, Royek 2); North Catholic 3 (Wehner, Weir 2)
