An enormous fourth-quarter comeback fizzled into a crushing defeat for the Franklin Regional girls basketball team as its first playoff appearance in six years ended with a near miss.
A mid-game sigh turned into a ray of hope for the Panthers, but it ended in tears.
The fifth-seeded Panthers, section champions for the first time since 1979, rallied from 16 down to get within one of No. 12 Bethel Park in the closing seconds. But a Madison DeRiggi-led rally came up short as the Black Hawks pulled out a 46-45 upset in the first round Friday night in Murrysville.
“Our hearts are ripped out,” Franklin Regional coach Bernie Pucka said. “I wish I had another timeout left. Man, this was a tough one.”
Bethel Park (12-11) led 40-26 early in the fourth quarter after a punishing third that saw it outscore the Panthers, 15-2. Franklin Regional’s only field goal came with 1.4 seconds left in the quarter on a layup by DeRiggi, who was tremendous down the stretch, scoring more than half of her team’s points.
DeRiggi erupted for 14 of her game-high 23 points in the final frame — the Panthers scored 13 points in the final 1:40 — and nearly led the Panthers (15-7) all the way back.
Sophomore Chloe Pucka ignited an 11-0 run with a 3-pointer, then DeRiggi scored eight straight, including three layups off of steals, to close the gap to 44-43 with 43.6 seconds left.
Senior Ella Sabatos made two free throws for the Black Hawks, who were in the bonus, for a 46-43 edge with 17.4.
Senior Anna Novelli then scored inside for the Panthers with 7.2, but the ball was knocked away from under the hoop before Bethel Park could inbound and Bethel Park was able to let the clock run out.
Out of time and wanting one more chance, Franklin Regional players and coaches looked stunned as the buzzer sounded.
“These girls hadn’t won in the playoffs since three years ago at Norwin,” said Bethel Park coach Steve Norman, who celebrated his first playoff win as the Black Hawks’ coach. “It’s great to see them experience this. It wasn’t the greatest game, but we’re moving on.”
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Norman wore his trademark bucket hat after the game: orange to match his suit and personalized T-shirt that peeked out of his sport coat. Sabatos led Bethel Park with 16 points, freshman Fiona O’Neill had 11, junior Kathryn Boff nine (all on 3s) and senior Sadie Orie eight.
The Black Hawks stepped on the gas in the third after taking a 21-20 lead into halftime.
O’Neill opened the half with a 3, and Boff connected on two 3s from the corner to quickly extend the lead to 36-20.
“We got stagnant offensively,” coach Pucka said. “It was a story of too little, too late. We preached transition and defense all night.”
Pressure is what led to the comeback, with the Black Hawks unable to get the ball over the midstripe on lob passes. DeRiggi was there to intercept and quickly score.
“We got a little careless with the ball, but these girls haven’t been in a situation like this,” Norman said. “In the third quarter we locked in defensively and limited their second-chance opportunities. In the last three minutes, I should have used timeouts more judiciously.”
Bethel Park will play No. 13 Mars (14-9) in the quarterfinals Wednesday. Mars knocked off No. 4 Shaler, 44-23.
Franklin Regional’s last lead was 17-16 on a 3 from senior Toryn Fulton.
Fulton added seven points in her final basketball game for Franklin Regional.
The Panthers will lose five seniors who helped the program turn a long-awaited corner.
“This senior group, they’ll never forget,” Bernie Pucka said. “They can look up at that banner and remember the 2025 Lady Panthers.”