Gabby Blackburn has basketball in her genes.
Her dad, Paul, is Hershey’s boys’ basketball varsity head coach. He played college hoops for Slippery Rock and has also coached at Lebanon.
Her mom, Tara, played basketball in college for Towson, and she’s coached in midstate circles.
And big sister Victoria, who capped a standout prep basketball career after playing for Trinity and then Hershey last season, earned a scholarship to play hoops for Division I Sacred Heart in the Northeastern Conference.
Gabby, a junior point guard for the Trojans, transferred from Trinity to Hershey along with her sister before the start of last school year. This is her second season with the Trojans.
Blackburn has been the consummate floor general so far this season for coach Randy Gambelunghe and the Trojans.
Heading into this week, Hershey is 6-7 overall and 3-6 in the Mid-Penn Keystone, but the Trojans pulled off the upset of the season so far, snapping Palmyra’s 44-game regular-season unbeaten streak last Wednesday with a 39-38 eyebrow-raising win over the Cougars.
Blackburn played a starring role that night, burying three 3-pointers and scoring 18 points as Hershey knocked Palmyra — the fourth-ranked Class AAA team in the state — out of sole possession of first place in the Keystone.
Hershey’s momentum did not carryover to Friday’s game, a 37-21 setback at Mechanicsburg, when the Trojans shot just 5-for-34 from the field.
But after beating Palmyra, Hershey proved that it could be a factor in the race during the stretch run.
Blackburn is averaging a team-best 11.4 points and she’s splashed 17 treys — 11 in the last six games.
Her season-high was 21 points on Dec. 13 in a 48-43 setback to her former team, Trinity.
Blackburn also has another full season to go at Hershey, where she’s hoping to keep the family tradition going.