After a thriller last season that saw Oakland Catholic defeat Blackhawk with a basket in the final 10 seconds, the Eagles and Cougars met again Saturday for Class 4A’s WPIAL championship.

Oakland Catholic won its eighth WPIAL championship and second straight by knocking off previously unbeaten Blackhawk, 51-44.

The Eagles never trailed despite a big push in the third quarter.

In a first quarter where the Eagles shot 8 for 10 from the field, their press helped turn the sharp start offensively into a 12-2 lead early, then a 20-6 edge after eight minutes of play. Senior Josie Fontana, a Richmond commit, pulled down six rebounds and scored nine points in the stanza, while five Oakland Catholic players scored.

Senior Aubree Hupp scored four of Blackhawk’s six points in the first but was 1 for 6 from the floor for a team that shot 2 for 13 from the field in the first.

The second quarter was anything but like the first for the Eagles (21-2), but the defensive effort remained similar. Oakland Catholic shot just 3 for 11 but held Blackhawk to eight points to take a 26-14 lead to the locker room for the break.

Fontana finished the half on pace for a triple-double of the tough variety with 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks.

After a tough first half, the third quarter became the Aubree Hupp Show. The Canisius recruit had seven points on 2-for-10 shooting in the first half but did have nine rebounds. By the end of the third quarter, Hupp had a double-double of her own to join Fontana in that department. The Cougars’ four-time WPIAL finalist had 15 points and 11 rebounds after three quarters.

Thanks to that production, steady effort around her and a big four-point play by senior Grace Huston that made it 31-30 with 2:27 left in the third, Blackhawk (22-1) made a game of it in the stanza and trailed 37-33 heading to the final quarter.

Oakland Catholic weathered the storm, however. With the lead cut again to 37-36 by a Hupp free throw, the Eagles used a 3-pointer by Savanna Daye and another by Zephaniah Troxler-Scott 37 seconds later to catapult back ahead with a 11-0 run before a Hupp layup stopped the scoring drought for the Cougars at 2:20.

Fontana finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds, six blocks, two assists and two steals, while Troxler-Scott contributed 12 points and five steals to the winning effort.

Hupp scored 20 and grabbed 14 boards for the Cougars as the only Blackhawk player to reach double figures.

The championship also pulled Oakland Catholic into a tie for third most in WPIAL history with three other teams, including Blackhawk.

The PIAA playoffs begin for both teams March 7. Oakland Catholic will play District 10’s fourth-place finisher Corry while Blackhawk will play D-10’s third-place team, Fairview.

This story will be updated.