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.”
- Princeton went on a quick 9-0 run to start the second half after leading 24-22 at the break. Williams began with a layup in transition. Gerton and Kali Fortson scored on the break. Senior Dede Carter-Hartley scored on a putback. Keara Brooks hit a free throw and Williams hit a 3-pointer to put Princeton up 13, 37-24, in the third quarter, forcing the Comets to go uphill the rest of the way.
Top performers
Sole Williams: Princeton’s senior guard, who has committed to the University of Louisville, had 11 points and five rebounds but had the primary defense on Parris.
Mari Gerton: Princeton’s sophomore guard had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, including two key 3-pointers in the first half to help Princeton get the lead into the locker room.
“Mari did a phenomenal job,” Davis said. “She’s been a huge addition to our program. I let her know she's a vital, vital piece to this and we need her. And I think tonight that she stepped up in a tremendous way and without her efforts, we might not have pulled this out.”
Kali Fortson had 10 points and nine rebounds, almost a double-double, and Carter-Hartley had 11 points and seven boards.
Carly Prows led Mason with 17 points. Freshman Anna Habra had 15 points and nine rebounds. She scored Mason’s last 9 points as the Comets closed to within 3 points down the stretch.
Senior sendoff
Mason seniors are Carly Prows, Bradyn Johnson, Amanda Barnes, Lillian Ehlers, Joy Resig, Payton Black and Gabby Razzano.
Barnes posted five points and eight rebounds against Princeton. Razzano had two points and seven rebounds.
Prows was Mason’s second-leading scorer (12.5 ppg.) and rebounder (4.9 rpg.) going in. Razzano averaged seven points and a team-high five rebounds.
Coach’s perspective
Davis said: “We have three more to go and that's the goal. We're on to the next one. We can't get complacent. We can't get comfortable. It's a great accomplishment, but we have more work to do. So we got to get back in the lab. We'll be here tomorrow paying attention to the next opponent and we'll get in the gym and get better.”
Purcell Marian, Badin to meet in Division II regional final
Despite upgrading to Division II, the Purcell Marian Cavaliers are one of the final eight teams for the fifth straight year.
The defending Division III state champions easily got past Columbus Bexley by a score of 63-24. Ky’Aira Miller led the Cavaliers with 16 points on four three-pointers. Dee Alexander added 14 points, Cy’Aira Miller had 12 points on four threes and Jayda Mosley added nine points on three triples.
The Cavaliers will return to Springfield High School to face Badin on Friday at 7 p.m.
The Rams advanced to their third straight regional final after getting past GCL-Coed foe Alter, 49-47. The teams entered the contest with nearly identical records and split their two regular-season meetings. Badin led by as many as seven in the fourth quarter, but the Knights fought back to tie the game with 5.7 seconds left. Brealyn Even sealed the game for Badin, converting the winning layup with 2.2 seconds left.
The Rams and Cavaliers enter Friday’s matchup with identical 24-2 records.
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