HAMPTON — Knoch’s lead never reached double figures. Blackhawk couldn’t seem to get the lead at all.

But when the Cougars finally went in front — on an Alena Fusetti trey with 6:06 remaining — they stayed there in holding off the Lady Knights, 38-35, in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball tournament game Wednesday night at Hampton High School.

“They made one more shot than we did. That’s what it came down to,” Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said.

A Hattie McGraw trey gave the Knights (18-10) a 9-3 lead with 1:40 left in the first quarter. A Nina Shaw layup handed Knoch its biggest lead of the night, 19-11, with 3:15 left in the first half.

Blackhawk (23-4) closed the half on a 6-0 run, capped by a last-second layup by senior Kassie Potts, to get within two by halftime.

“That flurry gave us some momentum,” Blackhawk coach Steve Lodovico said. “We always felt like we would find a way to win this game. We had to battle through. This was our 27th game and that was the best defense any team has played against us.

“We run a lot of sets — it’s like a football playbook — but Knoch seemed to know everything we were gonna do. They took away all the gaps and made it hard on us. We had to adjust some things at halftime.”

Blackhawk was limited to 10 field goals on the night. The Cougars missed 15 of their first 17 shots from the field. Averaging 58 points per game this season, Blackhawk was held to under 40 for only the fourth time all year.

“We’ve been playing great defense all season and I knew we’d play great defense tonight,” Andreassi said. “It’s just a matter of scoring enough points to win. We didn’t do that tonight.”

Fusetti’s trey snapped a 32-32 tie. Freshman forward Aubree Hupp stuck back an offensive rebound for a 37-33 Blackhawk lead with 3:10 to play. The teams traded empty possessions, the last being a missed one-and-one by Fusetti. Nina Shaw drove the other way for a layup, cutting Knoch’s deficit to 37-35 with 1:03 remaining. Andrea Kinger sank a free throw to extend Blackhawk’s lead to 38-35 with 30 seconds left.

The Knights’ McGraw got off two highly-contested 3-point shots in the waning momernts, but neither found the mark.

The victory was the 346th of Lodovico’s coaching career at Blackhawk. The Cougars start only one senior.

“We’re young in terms of age, but we’re experienced in terms of deep playoff runs,” Lodovico said. “This is a seasoned team. No moment is too big for them. They’re used to the spotlight.“

Hupp led Blackhawk with 18 points and nine rebounds. Potts scored 10 points and had six boards. The Cougars defeated Knoch in the WPIAL 4A title game last season.

“That didn’t matter tonight,” Andreassi said. “It didn’t matter who the opponent was. Our girls were hungry, motivated and ready to play.”

Shaw paced the Knights with 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Megan Vasas had 10 rebounds, McGraw nine points and Naturelle Ewing eight.

“Everything starts with defense for us,” Shaw said. “That’s where winning begins, especially at this time of year.”

Tuesday’s loss ended the Knoch basketball careers of McGraw, Paige Rodgers, Jeassica Burgard, Shaw, Alessandra Natali and Vasas.

Knoch was 67-23 during their four-year careers, including a section title, WPIAL title game appearance and two state tournament wins.

“That group put together the best four-year period in the history of Knoch girls basketball,” Andreassi said.

“All we wanted to do was get better each gfame,” Shaw said. “Play every game like it’s your last, because you never know when it’s gonna be your last.”

BLACKHAWK 38

Kassie Potts 4-12 0-1 10, Alena Fusetti 2-13 2-3 7, Aubree Hupp 4-8 10-10 18, Haley Romigh 0-2 1-2 1, Piper Romigh 0-2 1-2 1, Ava Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Andrea Klinger 0-3 1-2 1. Totals: 10-41 15-20 38.

KNOCH 35

Hattie McGraw 2-8 3-4 9, Naturelle Ewing 3-7 1-3 8, Paige Rodgers 2-4 0-1 5, Nina Shaw 4-9 5-5 13, Megan Vasas 0-0 0-0 0, CeCe Kosecki 0-3 0-0 0, Karlee Buterbaugh 0-2 0-0 0, Adah Fuller 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-13 9-13 35.

Blackhawk 6 11 13 8 — 38

Knoch 12 7 13 3 — 35

3-point goals: Blackhawk 3 (Potts 2, Fusetti), Knoch 4 (McGraw 2, Ewing, Rodgers)