WEST CHESTER – There has been a Greater Cincinnati team in the Ohio High School Athletic Association girls state tournament dating back to 2014 and 2022 will be no different.
Four local district champions squared off Tuesday night at Lakota West. Because Princeton was involved, the games had to be moved from the original hosting site, Viking Arena.
Advancing on to Saturday's Division I regional final will be Mason and Mount Notre Dame. MND is the defending state champion.
Here's how Tuesday's games went down:
Mason vs. Winton Woods
Mason showed their post-game experience early on by getting to a 14-0 lead on Winton Woods before Daysia Thompson hit a free throw with 2:44 left in the opening quarter. Eastern Cincinnati Conference-leading scorer Chance Gray didn't score until there were 44 seconds left in the frame.
By half, Gray had rallied for 11 points but the Warriors were just 1-of-17 on 3-pointers. They eventually connected for 6-of-33 but finished the game shooting just 27%. Gray finished with 27 points in her final high school game before suiting up for the Oregon Ducks.
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"That's an important aspect of big games if you can get to a decent start," Mason coach Rob Matula said. "It kind of allows us to do some things in terms of moving the basketball and getting it to the post."
They got it into the post enough to keep Miami Hurricane-bound Kyla Oldacre busy in the paint and at the foul line. Oldacre had her 10th double-double with 17 points and 17 rebounds. Mason outrebounded Winton Woods 40-24.
The Comets never relinquished the lead even though the Warriors twice cut the deficit below double digits. The final was 60-43 and it was the first loss for Winton Woods since Nov. 29 when they fell to Turpin.
Leading the 25-2 Comets was freshman Madison Parrish with 19 points who had some clutches drives down the stretch as well as free throws.
"She doesn't blink," Matula said. "If a mistake happens, she gets on herself a little bit and I get on her. She really lets it go well."
Added Parrish of the journey, "It feels great to continue playing. That's what we were looking forward to at the beginning of the season, playing through March."
In his first season, Carlton Gray lead Winton Woods to a 25-2 record and a regional appearance. The Warriors won but six games a year ago.
"I'm sure right now everyone that loses their last game feels like, 'If we would have did this or did that,'" Gray said. "End of the day. we just didn't make enough shots. We blew a few assignments on defense and had a few costly turnovers. There were some times where I felt we had a chance to get that lead down to six or seven points and we just couldn't do what we needed to do to get over that hump."
MASON 16 10 17 17 60
WINTON WOODS 3 13 14 13 43
M Johnson 1 0 2 Barnes 3 1 7 Parrish 5 8 19 Resig 3 0 6 Sanders 1 0 2 Razzano 3 0 7 Oldacre 5 7 17
WW Gray 10 4 27 Thompson 2 2 8 Walker 1 0 3 Davis 0 1 1 Trammell 2 0 4
Mount Notre Dame vs. Princeton
By the second game of the evening, there was nary a seat to be had. It was the highly-touted rematch of Mount Notre Dame and Princeton. On Dec. 22 it was a blemish on the Cougars' record as Princeton rolled 86-59. As documented, an issue over the number of quarters a girl played between junior varsity and varsity resulted in the game being forfeited to MND.
Because of that, MND entered the regional semifinal undefeated and with a 97-game win streak. You can add one more as the Cougars got the victory in front of a raucous, sold-out crowd, 62-50.
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Ohio Ms. Basketball and Notre Dame signee K.K. Bransford scored the game's first four points as the Cougars appeared to be primed for a hot start. But, by quarter's end Princeton held a slim 10-9 lead.
Bransford and the Cougars rectified that quickly with a 20-5 second quarter. At the half, the Cougars led 29-15 on a Crysta LaCrosse buzzer-beater. Bransford already had a day's work in with 16 points and 8 rebounds.
Even when she didn't score in the game, she was pulling down a key rebound or dishing a crucial assist. In the end, Bransford finished with 25 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists. It was her seventh double-double of the season.
"It meant so much to us," Bransford said of the game. "We were so locked in this whole tournament. It's all about our team. It's all about staying together, all about getting done what we have to get done. The tournament's not finished!"
There were six lead changes in the game, but none after the second quarter. The defeat ended Princeton's season at 23-4. Solé Williams led the Vikings with 17 points and will return for the second year of coach Dee Davis as a senior.
MND is now 26-0 and winners of 98 straight heading into the weekend war with the Greater Miami Conference champions.
"Princeton did their job. They had to win to get here too," Rogers said. "They were extremely well prepared. Tonight was just our night."
Rogers mentioned the experience of long runs in the tournament likely helped his girls. Should MND advance Saturday, the veteran coach will be going for his sixth state title and the school's ninth.
MND and Mason square off Saturday night at 7 p.m. to decide who goes to Dayton for the Division I state semifinals. The two last played March 7, 2018, with Mason ending MND's season.
"I learned a long time ago, there's no easy way to get there," Rogers said. "You've got to beat all the good teams."
MND 9 20 19 14 62
Princeton 10 5 18 17 50
M Harrison 1 2 4 Broughton 1 2 4 Wolterman 5 0 10 Lacrosse 2 2 7 Bransford 9 6 25 Stanley 3 0 8 Francisco 2 0 4
P Carter-Hartley 2 1 5 Hill 4 3 12 Wilson 1 0 2 S. Williams 7 0 17 Fortson 2 0 4 Abrams 4 0 9
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