They will meet for the first time this season on Saturday night in what shapes up as a blockbuster showdown in the conference championship game at Saint Francis University’s DeGol Arena at 6 p.m.

Both punched their tickets to the conference title game with semifinal-round wins Thursday night, as Carroll got 13 points from three different players and defeated Hollidaysburg, 51-40, at the Bishop Carroll High School gymnasium, while BG posted a 65-54 home-court victory over Central Cambria.

BG won its second consecutive Class 1A girls basketball state championship last March, but Carroll put up a strong fight against the Lady Marauders in the PIAA semifinals before BG squeezed out a victory.

According to first-year Carroll coach Nick Smith, Saturday’s conference championship matchup with BG is one that his players have circled on their collective calendars all season.

02/12/26 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Bishop Carroll's Emily Lucko puts up a shot by Hollidaysburg's Alana Lightner.

“Both teams have been waiting for this game, and both teams will be ready,” Smith said. “It will be a fun night at Saint Francis.”

Carroll (now 21-2 overall and 17-2 in conference play) gained separation against Hollidaysburg in the second quarter of their semifinal game Thursday, and the Lady Huskies were able to stave off a decent Hollidaysburg comeback in the fourth quarter.

Juniors Ava Pablic and Adelyn Myers, along with sophomore Emily Lucko, each scored 13 points for Carroll, which built a 27-15 halftime lead and expanded its advantage to as many as 15 points, 32-17, in the third quarter before Hollidaysburg (17-5, 15-4) made a game of it.

“I’m real proud of everybody on this team, we all came out here tonight and did what we needed to do,” said Pablic, who yanked down a game-high 14 rebounds. “All of us contribute something for this team, or we wouldn’t be headed to the Laurel Highlands championship game.

“We played with lots of energy tonight on both ends of the court,” Pablic added.

Carroll made 18 of its 49 floor shots for a 36.7 percent clip, and converted 12 of its 20 free throws. Hollidaysburg, meanwhile, made just 16 of 52 floor shots for 30.7 percent and only three of its 12 free throws.

“Basketball games often come down to free throws and layups,” Hollidaysburg coach Deanna Jubeck said. “We were missing ours, and Bishop Carroll was making theirs.”

Even so, Hollidaysburg – which was led by senior guard Makenna Weimert’s game-high 18 points and team-high eight rebounds — managed to shave its deficit to as little as six points, 38-32, when senior Alana Lightner converted junior Kate Steiner’s feed under the basket with just over four minutes left in the game.

Bishop Carroll bore down from that point on, however, as Pablic drained a huge 3-pointer from the left side to give the Lady Huskies a 41-32 lead, and field goals by Adelyn Myers and Pablic boosted the Carroll lead back up to 11 points, 45-34, as Hollidaysburg could draw no closer than to within seven points the rest of the way.

“Our energy came out a little bit too late tonight,” Jubeck said. “We weren’t aggressive enough on the defensive end.”

Hollidaysburg gets a bye into next Friday night’s District 4-6 Class 5A championship game against either Johnstown or Shikellamy at Mount Aloysius College. The Lady Tigers have dominated the District 4-6 Class 5A tournament in recent seasons, and are heavy favorites to defend their championship this year.

“At this point in the season, every team that you meet is a good team,” Jubeck said. “But this is what we’ve been preparing for all season.”

Carroll has been preparing for a long time for a coveted rematch with Guilfoyle that will finally come to pass on Saturday, and could very well happen again late in the PIAA Class 1A state tournament.

“We’re really excited – this is what we’ve been waiting for all year,” Pablic said of Saturday’s conference showdown with BG. “We all have to put our trust in our teammates, and go out there and play our game.”

HOLLIDAYSBURG (40): Padamonsky 0 0-0 0, Sydney 3 0-0 9, Weimert 7 2-10 18, Lightner 4 1-2 9, Steiner 1 0-0 2, Hayer 1 0-0 2, Leighty 0 0-0 0. Totals – 16 3-12 40.

BISHOP CARROLL (51): Delauter 1 2-2 4, Pablic 3 5-6 13, Avery Myers 2 2-7 6, Lucko 6 1-2 13, Long 0 0-0 0, Adelyn Myers 5 2-3 13, Miller 1 0-0 2. Totals – 18 12-20 51.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Hollidaysburg 8 7 7 18–40

Bishop Carroll 13 14 7 17–51

3-point goals: Hollidaysburg 5 (Sydney 3, Weimert 2); Central Cambria 3 (Pablic 2, Adelyn Myers).

Records: Hollidaysburg (17-5 overall, 15-4 in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference); Bishop Carroll (21-2, 17-2).

Officials: Dan Amrhein, Doug McNulty, Jason Moschgat.