All-time WPIAL girls basketball championship games No. 1: 2000 Blackhawk edges West Mifflin in triple overtime

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, February 27, 2018 | 6:33 PM

The TribLive High School Sports Network will be counting down the Top 10 boys and girls WPIAL basketball championship games leading up to the 2018 title games March 1-3 at the Petersen Events Center.

TRIBHSSN is the exclusive audio and video home for all 12 WPIAL championship games, which will be broadcasted and video streamed live at TribHSSN.triblive.com.

Here is the 10th installment of a 10-part series ranking the top WPIAL girls basketball championship games in district history.

No. 1: 2000 — WPIAL Class 3A finals: Blackhawk 81, West Mifflin 78 (3OT)

John Miller wasn't the only great head coach at Blackhawk High School back in the 1990's. Dori Anderson had built a Beaver County dynasty with WPIAL girls basketball championships in 1996, 1997 and 1999. But in order to win a fourth crown in five years and start the new century off on a golden note, the Cougars had to have the “Wright” stuff and beat one of the top players in the district.

When Tanisha Wright was in eighth grade, West Mifflin made it to the WPIAL Class 3A title game but lost 48-19. As a junior in 2000, Wright had her eye on the championship prize.

It felt like 1997 early on as Blackhawk built a 17-point first-half lead and took a 38-25 lead into the locker room. But Wright took over in the third quarter, going 9 for 9 from the field and scored 21 points in that quarter alone as West Mifflin took a 51-50 lead into the fourth quarter.

It was tight the rest of the way as Blackhawk regained the lead at 59-56 with a half minute left in regulation. But Wright nailed a 3-point shot with 13 seconds left to send the game in the first overtime.

Wright scored all five Titans points in the first overtime, but they trailed again 67-64 when she hit a 10-foot shot and was fouled with 5 seconds remaining. She hit the free throw and West Mifflin and Blackhawk headed to a second overtime. Even though the game did not end in the second overtime, the tide turned in the defending champ's favor when Wright fouled out with 1:42 left in the second overtime. West Mifflin's Janet Davidson helped pick up the scoring slack for the Titans as they led 72-70 late. But Becky Davison's shot rolled around the rim before falling through to tie the game at 72, forcing a third overtime, the only WPIAL girls basketball championship game to extend beyond two overtimes.

Without Wright, West Mifflin was scoreless in the first three minutes of the third overtime as Blackhawk built a 77-72 lead. Blackhawk was up 80-76 with six seconds left when Leah Karpa scored for West Mifflin to pull the Titans to within two. But officials called a technical foul on the Titans when they called a timeout they did not have, sealing the deal on another Cougars crown.

Davison and Terra Guandolo, who also fouled out, led Blackhawk with 22 points each. Leah Strohecker had 17 points and Heidi Helsing added 15 for the Cougars. But the star of the game was Wright. She ended up with a championship-game record 51 points, 43 which came in regulation. She was 17 of 28 on two-point field goals and 4 of 10 from behind the arc. Whether she was pulling up or driving hard, Blackhawk never had an answer for her dominance.

While her hope of a district title in her junior year ended in heartbreak, Wright and West Mifflin beat Blackhawk in the 2001 title game 63-53 for the Titans' only title. That game, by the way, only needed four quarters to decide a winner.

Don Rebel is a TribLive High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Blackhawk, West Mifflin