PIAA basketball: North Catholic girls make semis after comeback win vs defending champ Blackhawk
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North Catholic's Brady Wehner (2) looks to pass the ball in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Anna Lazzara (3) reacts to a hit in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal game against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Sam Weir (14) looks to pass the ball in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic reacts to their team's win over Blackhawk in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Lauren Reitz (33) tries to prevent Blackhawk's Aubree Hupp (20) from reaching the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Sam Weir (14) looks to pass the ball in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Anna Lazzara (3) blocks Blackhawk's Aubree Hupp (20) from scoring in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal game at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Anna Lazzara looks to pass the ball in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Sarah Loughry (22) looks to pass around Blackhawk's Andrea Kinger (4) in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Brady Wehner (2) attempts to reach the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Brady Wehner (2) attempts to reach the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic Head Coach Molly Rottmann coaches from the sidelines of the PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal game against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Brady Wehner (2) attempts to reach the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Anna Lazzara (3) stops the ball from going out of bounds in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal game at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Brady Wehner (2) looks to pass the ball in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Lauren Reitz (33) reacts to the teams win over Blackhawk in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Brady Wehner (2) attempts to reach the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Lauren Reitz (33) reacts to the teams win over Blackhawk in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Sarah Loughry (22) catches a pass from Brady Wehner (2) in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Sam Weir (14) looks to stop Blackhawk's Mia Sheesley (22) from scoring in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Brady Wehner (2) attempts to reach the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal against Blackhawk at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Sarah Loughry (22) looks to pass the ball while Blackhawk's Alivia Rabick (15) and Aubree Hupp (20) block in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Sam Weir (14) looks to stop Blackhawk's Mia Sheesley (22) from reaching the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Anna Lazzara (3) looks to steal the ball from Blawkhawk's Mia Pagani (31) in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Brady Wehner (2) attempts to reach the net while Blackhawk's Ava Pagani (31) blocks in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Anna Lazzara (3) blocks Blackhawk's Aubree Hupp (20) from reaching the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal game at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Anna Lazzara (3) looks to steal the ball from Blawkhawk's Andrea Kinger (4) and Mia Sheesley (22) in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Anna Lazzara (3) and Harmony Jones (4) block Blackhawk's Aubree Hupp (20) from reaching the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal game at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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North Catholic's Lauren Reitz (33) tries to prevent Blackhawk's Aubree Hupp (20) from reaching the net in a PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal at Hampton High School on Saturday, March 15, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
HAMPTON — The heat was on for North Catholic.
Down by a dozen nearly midway through the second quarter in a stuffy Hampton High School gym, the Trojanettes weren’t sweating — figuratively speaking.
Coach Molly Rottmann’s crew powered back to grab a 51-44 PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal win over defending state champion Blackhawk on Saturday afternoon.
“Defensively, we were happy,” Rottmann said. “We were in the gaps. We were sort of limiting (Cougars post player Aubree) Hupp to not totally dominating. I thought that we were doing a nice job. We were just struggling to score initially. ... We relaxed. We realized that (if) we got Hupp away from the hoop a little bit, the driving lanes were open.
“Our kids kept persevering, and they kept defending.”
Over a seven-minute span bridging the halves, the Trojanettes (24-4) enjoyed a 15-2 surge, scoring eight straight to kick off that run.
“We missed a layup in there, and it was kind of a momentum swing,” Cougars coach Greg Huston said. “They took advantage of it, got a couple quick shots and got a little bit closer to the half.”
Sophomore Brady Wehner nailed a 3-pointer with 1:54 remaining in the second frame, stole the ball on the other end and dished it past Hupp to Anna Lazzara to cut the Blackhawk’s lead to 23-18.
“The coaches were harping on defense, defense, defense,” said Wehner, who finished with a team-high 17 points. “Once I hit that 3, I knew I needed to get back on defense and do the same thing and get another stop.”
North scored on each of its first four possessions in the third quarter. Sam Weir’s left-wing trey gave the Trojanettes their first lead of the day at 26-25. The Cougars (25-4) went 2 for 9 (22.2%) from the field in that stanza and turned it over five times.
“I don’t think anything changed,” Huston said. “It being a thousand degrees in there probably didn’t help a whole lot, but but both teams had to deal with it. ... They did a nice job defending us.
“They plug the paint up, and when they do that, you’ve got to knock some outside shots down. We did a little bit in the first half, and then we kind of went cold a little bit in the second half.”
Rottmann exaggerated the same temperature Huston mentioned during a conversation with an official before the start of the second half. Her team’s defense forced Blackhawk into being one-dimensional, primarily trying to use Hupp in the post for layups or to draw fouls.
Hupp — who already has 1,000 career points and led Blackhawk to gold last year with a 21-point performance in Hershey — bucketed all but five of her team’s 21 second-half points. The junior finished with a game-best 23.
The Cougars started the game on a 10-2 run.
“I mean, warmups was so odd,” Wehner said. “We were all dripping sweat. Me and (Sarah) were touching our undershirts, and we were like, ‘It literally feels like we just got out of a pool.’ It was so hot.”
North will face District 12’s Lansdale Catholic, which beat WPIAL champ Oakland Catholic 63-29 in the other quarterfinal, in the state semifinals at 1 p.m. Saturday at Chambersburg High School.
NORTH CATHOLIC 51
Brady Wehner 5 4-4 17, Sam Weir 4 2-2 13, Sarah Loughry 2 6-6 10, Anna Lazzara 4 0-2 8, Lauren Reitz 1 1-2 3. Totals: 16 13-16 51.
BLACKHAWK 44
Aubree Hupp 4 15-19 23, Mia Sheesley 4 1-3 13, Alivia Rabick 2 0-0 6, Andrea Kinger 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 16-22 44.
North Catholic 7 11 15 18 — 51
Blackhawk 12 11 9 12 — 44
3-point goals: North Catholic 6 (Wehner 3, Weir 3); Blackhawk 4 (Rabick 2, Sheesley 2)
Next: North Catholic vs. Oakland Catholic/Lansdale Catholic
