Hazleton Area’s powerhouse girls basketball team is at a familiar crossroads: lofty ranking, high expectations, an elite eight berth, PIAA Class 6A title favorite from suburban Philadelphia as its quarterfinal opponent, Bethlehem Liberty as the site and tons of nervous anticipation accompanying its journey.

To continue into uncharted territory, the Lady Cougars must navigate past District 1 champion-Upper Dublin on Friday in what shapes up as yet another challenge if they are to reach to reach the state semifinals for the first time in their program’s 33-year history. Tipoff is 6 p.m.

Hazleton Area’s past two seasons have ended against the state’s eventual big-school champion at Liberty: Cardinal O’Hara in the second round in 2024 and Perkiomen Valley in the quarterfinals in 2025. A few bad stretches in both games doomed the Lady Cougars.

Now, with most of their key players from those battles still around, the Lady Cougars are hoping the third time will be the charm against an Upper Dublin team that has steamrolled its way to a 29-2 record with its only two losses coming against Sidwell Friends, of Washington D.C., (55-51) and Friends’ Central, of suburban Philadelphia (54-53). Only one PIAA opponent – Villa Maria Academy – has come within 10 points of the Cardinals all season, and that was nine points back in December.

Upper Dublin (29-2) beat its four opponents in the District 1 tournament by an average of 30 points per game, including the same Garnet Valley team that the Lady Cougars whipped in the opening round of the state tournament. In their two interdistrict playoff games, the Cardinals thumped Cedar Cliff (55-30) and Perkiomen Valley (72-50), though the defending state champs played Upper Dublin on even terms in the second half after a shaky second quarter.

“We’ve been here and we’re good, but they’re also obviously very good,” Hazleton Area head coach Joe Gavio said. “They’re ranked No. 1 in the state for a reason. They haven’t lost anybody from the state of Pennsylvania all season. They’ve got a lot of talented players.”

Senior point guard Megan Ngo, a Fairleigh Dickinson recruit, runs the show for the Cardinals on both ends of the floor. She was a first-team All-State pick as a sophomore, before missing all of her junior year with a knee injury. Classmate Emilia Coleman, a 5-foot-11 wing headed to La Salle, provides ample length and shot-making ability. She drilled five of six from beyond the 3-point arc on her way to a game-high 22 points in Tuesday’s win over Perkiomen Valley.

Six-foot junior Bridget DiMartile, a Michigan lacrosse commit, is known more for her defense as reflected by her six rebounds and five blocked shots against the Vikings, but she also stepped up to contribute 17 points. Ngo and Tamia Clark, a 5-8 wing and fellow Division I recruit, added 11 points apiece. Sophomore guards Ella Norris and Lexi Ngo chipped in seven and four, respectively.

“We have to hope they don’t shoot 10-of-14 (from the field) and make eight threes like they did in the first half against Perk (Valley),” Gavio said. “Saying that, we have to shoot the ball (well) and get them to play our game because they don’t have much of a bench, even though their starters are tremendous athletes. We do feel like there are some things we can exploit.”

The Lady Cougars (26-2) have displayed similar balance, firepower and athleticism in racking up their third straight Wyoming Valley Conference and District 2 championships and pummeling Garnet Valley and Parkland to start their PIAA tournament quest. Five Hazleton Area players and nearly a sixth reached double figures as the never-stop-pressing Lady Cougars outscored the Trojans, 54-21, over the final two-plus quarters of their second-round game on Tuesday.

Junior guard Kaitlyn Bindas leads her team in scoring at 19.1 points per game, but she gets plenty of help from senior Alexis Reimold (11.1). juniors Mariah Marolo (8.5) and Sophia Benyo (8.5.) and senior Kayla Lagowy (4.6) when the starters are on the floor. Reserves Molly Temchatin (6.8), Addy Fritz (6.7), Juliana Silva (3.1), Sofia Rodgers and Miranda Chupela also are important ingredients to the Lady Cougars’ winning formula.

“We have to hope they don’t shoot 10-of-14 (from the field) and make eight threes like they did in the first half against Perk (Valley),” Gavio said. “Saying that, we have to shoot the ball (well) and get them to play our game because they don’t have much of bench, even though are tremendous athletes.”

Like coach Morgan Funsten’s Upper Dublin team, the Lady Cougars haven’t had many close games this season. Their lone losses have been to Red Bank Catholic (N.J.), now ranked No. 6 nationally by MaxPreps, and WVC rival Crestwood, which is still alive in the PIAA Class 5A tournament. Hazleton Area also has beaten the Lady Comets twice, including 60-55 in the conference title game.

“I really think we can play with them (the Cardinals) because we’re very good, too,” Gavio said. “When we played Perk Valley last year, they were 6-3, 6-2, 6-1, they were all going to big-time (colleges) and they were a tremendous mismatch for us, but we still played them tough. This year (Upper Dublin) is 5-11, 5-11, 5-10, 5-3, 5-1, so that’s a little different than last year.”

While the Cardinals rely on their talented regulars, Gavio again will have no qualms about turning to his deep bench.

Or even returning to Liberty, where he has fond memories of student teaching long ago and of his 2023-24 basketball team turning in one of its better performances in recent years, although that came in a non-league against the Hurricanes and not in a playoff setting. Now, he’s confident that he his latest basketball team can create its own special memory there.

“We love that gym. We feel comfortable there. We’re ready to go,” Gavio said. “The bottom line is we have to get over the (quarterfinal) hump.”

The Hazleton Area-Upper Dublin winner will face the Red Lion-Archbishop Carroll survivor in Monday’s semifinals.

Tickets

Tickets for Friday’s game are $9 for advance online purchases and $10 day-of-game online purchases. Tickets at the door are $10, cash only, and exact change is required. Please note that due to capacity limits, tickets may not be available for purchase at the door. Pre-kindergarten children are admitted free of charge.