Some hearts were full and some were broken on Valentine’s Day as the No. 12 Lady Hawks won an intense first-round game in the WPIAL basketball championships, knocking off the fifth-seeded Panthers, 46-45.

Freshman forward/guard Fiona O’Neill, sophomore forward AJ Elphinstone, junior guard Kathryn Boff, senior point guard Sadie Orie and senior forward Ella Sabatos were the Hawks’ starting five for the contest.

From the tip-off, it was a back-and-forth game. After the first quarter of play, Franklin Regional led Bethel Park 14-11.

The Hawks closed the gap in the second quarter and led 21-20 at the half. 

“At halftime, we just talked about how even though we weren’t shooting great we were in the lead and getting stops on defense,” mentioned Head Coach Norman.

In the third quarter, Sabotos had a great pass to O’Neill for a big 3. Sabatos also assisted Boff twice for three big 3s making it 36-20 with just 9.7 seconds left in the third.

At the end of the third, Sabatos had 10, Boff with nine, Orie with seven, O’Neill with seven and Coleman with three.

In the fourth, the Panthers rallied back but the Hawks were able to hold off their last-second surge.

Relive every second of the game here.

“We really focused on our zone defense and defensive rebounding in practice to prepare for the game. We also spent a lot of time scouting for their plays,” said Coach Norman.

Sabatos finished the game with 16 points, O’Neill had 11, Boff nine, and Orie eight.

The Hawks will be moving on in the WPIAL 5A bracket to Wednesday’s quarterfinals to take on No. 13 Mars who upset fourth-seeded Shaler.