COVINGTON — The stage is set in Northern Kentucky's Ninth Region.
Notre Dame Academy and Dixie Heights will battle in the regional championship game with a berth in the KHSAA Sweet 16 on the line. The title bout is slated for Monday night at Holmes High School after each team won in their respective semifinals on Saturday.
Notre Dame ends Ryle's regional reign
Notre Dame girls basketball coach Kes Murphy couldn't watch.
The third-year head coach looked up into a crowd full of Notre Dame faithful for the final seconds of the Pandas' regional semifinal against Ryle.
If he had looked, he would've seen Ryle's attempt at a game-tying shot come up short and his team punching its ticket to the regional final with a dramatic 53-50 victory.
For Murphy, it was a mixture of nerves and letting his kids get the job done themselves.
"I've been pushing and challenging the kids to get to the point where their mental toughness is super solid, because that's where we've been deficient and that's what killed us last year," Murphy said. "I told them, 'I just need to trust you guys. I've been pushing too much. I need to be sitting back, drinking Coke and eating popcorn.'
"I had to step away and just let them go finish and they did."
Notre Dame scratched and clawed its way back into the game behind the sizzling second-half shooting of Noelle Hubert and Jillian MacKnight. The duo combined for 31 points, including a collective 9-for-17 effort from downtown.
The Pandas were 9-of-20 from deep, a far cry from last year's regional final loss to Ryle when they went 3-of-17 and fell by five.
"Absolutely, I expect it go in," Murphy said. "I made them watch last year's game (against Ryle). Noelle (Hubert) didn't even play, but now she's gaining confidence every day. Just go out there and shoot. No uncertainty or doubt, just do what you do."
Ryle led 34-30 with 2:41 left in the third quarter when MacKnight brought the Pandas within a point with a three, then Hubert connected from deep on back-to-back possessions, including to beat the buzzer, giving Notre Dame a 39-34 lead going into the final stanza.
A 9-2 Ryle sprint to open the fourth put the Raiders back in front, 43-41, but MacKnight hit two 3-pointers in 33 seconds to give Notre Dame a 47-43 advantage. After four-straight Raider points tied it, Hubert knocked down her final trey to make it 50-47, but Ryle once again answered with a free throw, offensive rebound and lay-in to tie at 50-all with 41 seconds remaining.
Despite a barrage of long-range buckets, the game-winner came from sophomore Lacey Bradshaw, who drove to the lane and gave Notre Dame the lead for good with 21.1 ticks remaining. A pair of Ryle shots were no good and forward Kate Moore hit 1-of-2 to make it 53-50.
Division I player of the year Brie Crittendon raced to the end of the floor and split a Notre Dame trap, but went beyond the 3-point line and her mid-range jumper was no good, sending the Pandas into celebration mode.
MacKnight finished with a game-high 22 points, while Bradshaw poured in 15. Moore and Macie Feldman each pulled down six boards.
For Ryle, Crittendon led the way with 15 points and eight rebounds while Quinn Eubank scored 13. Austin Johnson, named to the all-tournament team along with Crittendon, had five. Freshman center Sarah Baker fouled out with seven points.
After the Pandas opened the game with a 13-9 lead, Ryle answered with a 19-5 run to stretch its lead to double digits with 2:56 left in the first half. That burst was highlighted by and-1s from Eubank and Lele Nguyen, along with a triple by Crittendon and a mid-range jumper from Baker.
Notre Dame cut the lead to 28-22 at the half behind a Kylie Yates' jumper and two Feldman free throws, which was a big swing, according to Murphy.
"I felt like we took one of their best punches," Murphy said. "Down 10, but we got to within six. The first message (at halftime) was I'd rather be down six than them be down six and coming out with a killer instinct against us. I had to make sure they knew we were playing to win."
The loss ends Ryle's 16-game winning streak and three-year run of regional crowns. It's the defending state champ's first postseason defeat since losing in the state quarterfinals in 2018.
The win was Murphy's first over the Raiders during his tenure at Notre Dame after dropping the first four, including the last two regional tournaments.
"It was fun, but we cut it (the celebration) off quickly because we haven't won anything," Murphy said. "We've got one game left to win the region."
Notre Dame 53, Ryle 50
Notre Dame (21-4): Hubert 3 0 9, Feldman 2 2 6, MacKnight 8 0 22, Bradshaw 4 5 13, Aytes 1 0 2, Moore 0 1 1. Totals: 18 8 53.
Ryle (23-3): Eubank 4 5 13, Baker 3 1 7, Crittendon 5 3 15, Holtman 1 3 5, Johnson 2 1 5, Nguyen 1 1 3, Crist 1 0 2. Totals: 17 13 50.
Dixie Heights rallies past Highlands
Dixie Heights head girls basketball coach Joel Steczynski needed his best player to take over.
With the Colonels trailing Highlands, 30-29, with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter of Saturday's Ninth Region semifinals at Holmes High School, Sydney Lockard did just that.
The senior guard and Kentucky Wesleyan commit drove to the basket and finished a tough lay-in through traffic to put Dixie Heights in front, 31-30. On the ensuing possession, Lockard blocked a Bluebirds shot, drove the length of the floor and flipped to Ella Steczynski for a three-pointer that put the Colonels up four.
That sequence commenced a game-ending 25-12 run by the 34th District champions en route to a 54-42 victory and a spot in Monday's regional championship game.
Dixie Heights has now won 21 consecutive games.
"Sydney (Lockard) can score zero points and still make a huge impact for the team. She's one of the great ones," Joel Steczynski said. "She's one of, if not, the best I've ever coached. She's made my life a whole lot easier these last five years as our starting point guard."
Lockard did not score her first points until the 3:06 mark of the second quarter but still managed a game-high 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Steczynski, a sophomore guard, had 12 points off four 3-pointers and senior Laci Reinhart had 10.
Highlands was in foul mode trailing 45-38 in the final minutes of the game when Reinhart opted for a corner 3-pointer with 1:06 on the clock that proved to be the dagger.
"My feeling is, if she (Reinhart) is comfortable taking that shot, I'm comfortable with it," Joel Steczynski said. "I know that certainly changes the ending of the game. It forces them to do some things that maybe they didn't wanna do at that point.
"She said during the timeout, 'If I didn't hit that shot, coach was gonna have me.' If she's taking it, then she's confident in it and so am I."
Madelyn Lawson had six points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Colonels, which owned a 31-26 advantage on the board and pulled down a dozen on the offensive end. Samantha Berman kept Highlands from grabbing any last-second momentum with a pair of fast-break lay-ins over the final 30 seconds. She finished with nine.
Highlands was led by senior forwards and all-tournament selections Kelsey Listerman and Emma Riccobene.
Riccobene had a game-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and Listerman had 13. Rory O'Hara added six and Emma Mallery chipped in with five off the bench for the Bluebirds.
Dixie Heights' advantage game from beyond the arc, where they went 8-for-20 as a team. Highlands went 4-of-17 from downtown and managed just one field goal over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter.
Dixie Heights led by five at the half, then a Lockard bucket coming out of the locker room made it 27-20 with 7:07 left in the third. Over a minute later, Highlands caught fire with an 8-0 run — highlighted by a Riccobene and-1 and a three-pointer by Mallery — that gave the Bluebirds their first lead since it was 9-8 early in the second quarter.
O'Hara hit a 3-pointer with 3:35 left in the third that pulled the Bluebirds within a point, but Lawson drove for an and-1 to end the stanza and Highlands would never get that close again.
"Highlands is always tough. We know they're gonna come out with a great gameplan and play the right kind of basketball — tough, physical. It's always a challenge and it was a three-point game during the season, so we expected another close game," Joel Steczynski said.
"We're fortunate that the buckets went our way tonight and we keep rolling on."
Dixie Heights 54, Highlands 42
Dixie Heights (26-2): Lawson 3 0 6, Steczynski 4 0 12, Reinhart 3 2 10, Lockard 5 2 13, Smith 2 0 4, Berman 4 0 9. Totals: 21 4 54.
Highlands (20-7): Listerman 6 0 13, Riccobene 6 2 15, Harris 1 1 3, O'Hara 2 1 6, Mallery 2 0 5. Totals: 17 4 42.
Halftime: DH 25-20. 3-pointers: DH 8 (Steczynski 4, Reinhart 2, Lockard, Berman), H 4 (Listerman, Riccobene, O'Hara, Mallery).
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