The Oakland Catholic Eagles defeated the Blackhawk Cougars, 52-50, in the Class 4A girls basketball finals Saturday at Petersen Events Center, taking home their seventh WPIAL title and first since 2006.
The Cougars trailed 39-32 halfway through the third quarter. Nevertheless, Blackhawk battled back and took the lead early in the fourth quarter, going on a 9-0 run.
That led to a tense fourth quarter that featured six lead changes and five ties.
Down 50-46, a Blackhawk 3-pointer from Olivia Rabich and a Mia Sheesley free throw tied it up.
Knotted up at 50, Blackhawk's Aubree Hupp drove to the hole and made a shot, but a controversial charge call gave Oakland Catholic the ball.
This led to Alayla Bivins coming around a screen and sinking a layup to go up 52-50 with 6.1 seconds left to play. The Eagles forced a stop on a deep 3 from Andrea Kinger that was wide right at the buzzer.
This was Blackhawk's fourth straight WPIAL title appearance, with a WPIAL title win in 2022 and three consecutive losses.
Oakland Catholic's six previous titles came from 1999-2002 under coach Suzie McConnell Serio and in 2005 and 2006 under coach Rich Irr.