Two of the top three teams in Ohio Division I girls basketball, according to the final Associated Press state media poll, met in the "Sweet 16" of the OHSAA state tournament, aka the regional semifinal round.
Princeton, No. 3 in the state poll, avenged two previous losses to top-ranked Mason Tuesday night at Lakota West, winning 59-55 over the Comets. Princeton, 25-2 overall, advances to Saturday’s regional final, 7 p.m. at Lakota West, against the winner of Wednesday night’s semi between Kings and Lakota East. Mason finishes 25-2.
Princeton avenged its only two losses of the year, 54-48 at Mason Nov. 30 and 63-62 at home Jan. 11, and as a result, will play in a regional final for the first time since the Vikings’ state championship season in 2014.
Three keys to Princeton’s win
Princeton had three of the top four offensive outputs against Mason all year with its fast-paced offensive attack. The Vikings shot 38.9% from the floor tonight and had 10 assists on 21 field goals.
Princeton limited Mason to 26.3% shooting and held sophomore standout guard Maddie Parrish to 13 points on 3-of-16 shooting. Princeton senior Sole Williams guarded Parrish and freshman Heaven Sneed did as well. Parrish had scored 28 in the teams’ last meeting.
“We challenged her (Williams),” Princeton head coach Dee Davis said. “We said we need you to be on No. 20. And Heaven Sneed, our spark plug off the bench, she takes pride in her defense. Collectively, the team knew that Madison is the key to that team and we wanted to take her out of the play as much as possible and they did that.”
