WEST CHESTER, Ohio — Mason and Mount Notre Dame will play for a Division I girls basketball regional championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lakota West.
The game will be the first meeting between the programs since the postseason tournament in March 2018 in which the Comets won 53-32.
A sold-out crowd saw both teams advance in their respective regional semifinals Tuesday night. MND defeated Princeton 62-50 in a rematch of a regular-season game from December.
Senior forward KK Bransford — the 2021 Ohio Ms. Basketball — scored a game-high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds, six assists and two steals for the Cougars (26-0), who won their 98th consecutive game. Senior forward Abby Wolterman scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
"It's what all the hard work goes into," MND coach Dr. Scott Rogers said. "I said last year there is a lot of kids that see the MND and want to play like that. There is great programs all over the city. Our kids take an awful lot of pride in theirs. I'm awful proud of the way they handled it."
Princeton was led by junior point guard Solè Williams, who scored a team-high 17 points and had three steals. Junior guard La'Sonja Hill added 12 points and three steals.
Mason defeated Winton Woods 60-43 in the night's first regional semifinal. Freshman guard Madison Parrish scored six of her 19 points in the first quarter to help pace the Comets.
Mason senior center Kyla Oldacre scored 17 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to go along with four assists and three blocks for the Comets (25-2).
Mason has won 12 consecutive games entering the regional final.
"Consummate team," Mason coach Rob Matula said. "If you watch us, the ball is delivered to open people. Open people are making baskets. Our kids are so willing to go to other people. It's awesome (to be in the regional final). There is nothing like it except getting to the final four and hopefully winning it."
Winton Woods senior point guard Chance Gray scored a game-high 27 points and moved up to No. 21 on the state's all-time scoring list (2,237 points) in her final high school basketball game.
The night featured three McDonald's All-Americans, including Gray (University of Oregon signee), Oldacre (University of Miami) and Bransford (University of Notre Dame).
