Fusetti sizzles as Blackhawk downs Lady Warriors
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Elizabeth Forward鈥檚 Bailie Brinson (35) is fouled by Blackhawk鈥檚 Quinn Borroni as she attempts a shot during Tuesday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game at West Allegheny. Brinson scored a team-high 14 points but the Lady Warriors lost, 76-53.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Elizabeth Forward鈥檚 Brooke Markland (12) takes a forearm to the head from Blackhawk鈥檚 Quinn Borroni as she drives to the basket during Tuesday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game at West Allegheny.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Elizabeth Forward鈥檚 Haven Briggs attempts a 3-point shot as Blackhawk鈥檚 Kassie Potts defends during a WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game at West Allegheny on March 1. The Lady Warriors open PIAA play tonight with a game at Bedford.
Elizabeth Forward's Joselyn Dawson puts up a shot in the lane as Blackhawk's Alena Fusetti (11) defends聽during Tuesday night's WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game at West Allegheny.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
A jump ball is called as Elizabeth Forward鈥檚 Alyssa Terza (left) and Blackhawk鈥檚 Kassie Potts wrestle for possession during Tuesday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game at West Allegheny.
IMPERIAL 鈥� Elizabeth Forward prides itself on its defense but ran into a sizzling shooter and a potent offensive team when it took on unbeaten Blackhawk in a WPIAL Class AAAA girls basketball semifinal game Tuesday night.
Alena Fusetti poured in a game-high 28 points, including eight 3-pointers, as the top-seeded Lady Cougars rode a strong start to a 76-53 victory at West Allegheny High School.
Blackhawk (23-0) advances to Saturday afternoon鈥檚 championship game against No. 3 Knoch at Petersen Events Center.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a very tough team to match up against,鈥� Lady Warriors coach Krystal Gibbs said. 鈥淭hey throw the ball so fast, they can move, they can drive. You go into man, they drive on you. You go into a zone, they hit the three. They鈥檙e hard to defend.鈥�
Elizabeth Forward鈥檚 season isn鈥檛 over yet as it has qualified for the PIAA tournament.
Fusetti drained five 3-pointers in the opening period, including two in the first two minutes when the Lady Cougars raced to an 8-0 lead.
Undaunted, EF came roaring back.
Alyssa Terza hit a 3-pointer to get the Lady Warriors on the board and Brooke Markland鈥檚 three-point play got EF within 10-6.
Elizabeth Forward (19-5) whittled the gap to 12-11 after a 3-pointer by Haven Briggs and a layup by Markland on a pass from Joselyn Dawson, prompting Blackhawk coach Steve Lodovico to use a timeout.
The Lady Cougars鈥� Casey Nixon made a 3-pointer out of the break. Fusetti took over from there.
The sophomore guard hit two 3-pointers in a row, then added another after Markland made a shot from beyond the arc to put Blackhawk ahead 24-14 and it ended the quarter with a 29-16 lead.
The Lady Cougars opened the second quarter with a 9-2 burst, keyed by two baskets and a 3-pointer by Kassie Potts, to make it 38-18.
Again, Elizabeth Forward battled back.
Terza hit another 3-pointer to ignite a 10-point run that included seven points by Bailie Brinson and a free throw by Chloe Zombek as the Lady Warriors pulled to within 38-28.
鈥淲e kept fighting and we got it to 10,鈥� Gibbs said. 鈥淚 think these kids are very resilient. That鈥檚 why they鈥檙e here.
鈥淚 thought they played well. They were just up against a really, really good team. They kept trying their best to get back into it and then Blackhawk would make some shots and pull away again.鈥�
The Lady Cougars ended the half with a 6-2 run to take a 44-30 lead at intermission.
Blackhawk started the third quarter with a steal and basket by Jillian Mandarino and a layup by Fusetti before Markland鈥檚 3-pointer made it 48-33.
Fusetti again swished a 3-pointer and Potts scored to put the Lady Cougars ahead 53-33.
Down by 20 again, the Lady Warriors were out of comebacks at this point and never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.
Brinson led Elizabeth Forward with 14 points and Markland followed with 13. Terza added eight points.
Potts finished with 14 points and Quinn Borroni had 12 for Blackhawk.
Gibbs wasn鈥檛 down on her team after the loss.
鈥淥ther teams would love to be in our position, to be in the final four and be in the states,鈥� Gibbs said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e had a great year. Now they鈥檝e got to shake this off, have their moment of sadness, which I understand, but then we have a state run to make now.鈥�
Elizabeth Forward won鈥檛 take much time off with its PIAA opener set for March 9 with the opponent, site and time to be determined.
鈥淭hey don鈥檛 do well with days off,鈥� Gibbs said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l probably give them one and then we鈥檙e back in the gym.鈥�