Feb 25, 2015 By Eleanor Bailey 3 min read

Chartiers Valley spotted the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class AAA girls’ basketball tournament 16 points and could not overcome that disadvantage as Blackhawk held on for a 64-52 victory at Moon High School.

With the win, the Cougars advance to their third district championship game in four years. They are the defending champions.

Blackhawk (21-3) will face South Fayette in the Class AAA final set for 3 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Petersen Event Center. The Lady Lions are making their first trip to the finals by virtue of their victory, 66-63, against Elizabeth-Forward in the other semifinal game played at Canon-McMillan High School.

Chassidy Omogrosso, the WPIAL’s leading scorer, fired in 33 points to pace the Cougars to victory. Courtney Vannoy (11) and Bridgette Shaffer (10) also finished in double digits for Blackhawk.

Melissa Rickens pumped in 21 tallies for the Colts. Alexa Golden followed with 17 markers.

After falling behind, 16-0, the Colts scored their first points on free throws from Rickens at the 3:24 mark in the first frame. Her three-pointer capped an 18-6 run that allowed CV to close the gap to 24-20 with 3:03 left in the second stanza. CV trailed, 29-23, at the half and 40-34 after three quarters before making another run. With 6:26 to play, Nicole Olkosky cut the lead to two, 40-38, with a put-back.

Blackhawk, however, went on an 11-point run. Omogrosso’s 3-pointer and hoop provided the Cougars a 51-38 advantage with 3:48 to play. Omogrosso finished off the Colts by draining nine of her 10 final free throws.

Meanwhile, in the other semifinal game played at Canon-McMillan High School, Lauren Crites scored the game-winning basket and tacked on two free throws in the game’s final 12 seconds to lift South Fayette to victory, 66-63, against Elizabeth-Forward.

Crites finished with 11 markers. Autumn Mozick tossed in a game-high 17 points for the Lions. Carlee Kilgus supplied 14 and Sam Kosmacki followed with 12 tallies.

Olivia Barkley led the Warriors with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Abigail Sporio followed with 18 points and nine rebounds.

The Lions used a 17-2 run to grab a 23-12 at the end of the first quarter. South Fayette led by seven at halftime but the Warriors used an 18-5 run to pull ahead late in the third quarter. EF led going into the final frame, 56-51. Trailing by as many as eight points in the fourth quarter, South Fayette surged back with an 11-2 run. With 1:58 remaining, the Lions took the lead, 62-61.

South Fayette’s talented junior center, Emily Anderson, left the game early with an injury to her right knee. She did not return.