Aubree Hupp was undeniable in Blackhawk’s WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinal victory over Elizabeth Forward on Monday night.
The senior forward and Canisius commit was everywhere on the floor and left her impact on the game.
Led by 29 points and 21 rebounds from Hupp, the top-seeded Cougars advanced to their fifth straight WPIAL championship game with a 54-40 victory over the Warriors at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.
“That’s the funny thing. If you asked Aubree, she would probably tell you she had an awful game,” Blackhawk coach Greg Huston said. “She’s a competitor. She’s a game-changer. I would gladly take a 29-point, 21-rebound night as a bad night. She finds ways to impact the game.”
Elizabeth Forward coach Noah Yartin agreed that Hupp was a dominant figure in the game.
“Aubree Hupp was tough to slow down,” Yartin said. “There’s a reason why Blackhawk is undefeated and why she is a Canisuis recruit. She’s a big, strong girl. She owned the glass, and we just gave up way too many offensive rebounds against her.”
The Cougars (22-0) will now turn their focus to the finals, as they will face No. 2 Oakland Catholic, a 46-29 winner over North Catholic, in a rematch of last year’s title game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
“It feels like a little bit like destiny seeing Oakland Catholic in the finals,” Huston said. “I thought last year we played well enough to win, but it wasn’t our night. I told the girls to find that mental edge from last year and bring it with us. We have to be fearless and play our game.”
Blackhawk is 8-5 in the championship game all-time. Its last title was in 2022.
The Warriors (18-7) were trying to make their fifth finals and their first since 2012-13. In that season, EF upended Blackhawk in the final four. The Warriors’ lone district title was in 1975.
“I think we had more live-ball turnovers in this game than the whole season,” Yartin said. “I don’t think they were forced. We didn’t do a good enough job of taking care of the ball and making hard cuts on offense. We were dribbling too much and couldn’t find an open shot.”
Blackhawk quickly grabbed a 5-0 edge after five straight points by Gracen Sehn, but EF got on the scoreboard with an athletic three-point play by Mia Sostaric at the 5:44 mark of the first.
The teams traded points and turnovers over the next couple of minutes, as the Cougars garnered baskets from Hupp and Mia Sheesley, while the Warriors countered with treys by Kaelynn Settles and Kaylin Staszak.
A foul shot by Staszak gave EF a brief 10-9 lead with 1:56 remaining in the opening period, but Blackhawk responded with the final four points of the frame to take a 13-10 lead.
The top seed stretched its lead to 20-12 in the early stages of the second quarter with a 7-2 spurt, but the Warriors battled back and made it 22-17 after a pair of foul shots by Staszak plus a straight-away 3-pointer by Addison Wach.
Hupp tallied the final bucket of the second, as she registered nine points in the second and the Cougars carried a 24-17 lead into intermission.
“It was an ugly game for us,” Huston said. “But we found ways to knock shots down and make a stand on defense on a couple of occasions. The big thing for us is when you are struggling on offense is to create turnovers and get those transition points. That’s a backbreaker.”
EF came out of halftime with a spark and used a 7-2 spree to get back into the game. The run was jump-started by a trey from McKenna Bittner, followed by back-to-back inside takes from Sostaric that made it 26-24 and forced a Blackhawk timeout.
“We are a resilient group,” Yartin said. “We stayed close, and I thought we came out of halftime with more intensity on both ends of the floor. We had to battle some foul trouble, and that kind of limited our man-to-man defense. I liked our zone tonight, but it was tough stopping Hupp.”
Sostaric worked her way in the interior for another bucket that made it 28-26, but the Cougars countered with a 12-3 run to get the final separation to end the quarter.
After the squads split the opening eight points of the fourth, Blackhawk secured the contest by ending the night on a 10-7 rally and draining a lot of the clock. Hupp and Sehn scored seven points apiece in the final period. Sehn finished her night with 16 points.
“We fed off Aubree’s energy in the second half,” Huston said. “She was screaming and yelling at the very end for us. I love her leadership and her passion. I thought Gracen had a really steady game for us. She got her points in spurts and was really effective on the defensive end.”
Sostaric finished with a team-high 13 points for Elizabeth Forward while Staszak chipped in with nine. Both Settles and Wach collected eight points each in the loss. With a PIAA berth already clinched, the Warriors travels to North Catholic on Wednesday for the third-place game.
“We just have to keep our heads on right and stick together,” Yartin said. “We got a little frustrated at the end, but I think we can bounce back. We have a quick turnaround. The goal now is to win Wednesday with the hope of hosting a state playoff game. We will be ready to fight.”