Mount Notre Dame coach Drew Fladung spent a little extra time in the gym on East Columbia Avenue after the Cougars’ morning walk-through before taking on Seton in The Division II, Region 8 final.
He stared at the banners from previous state tournament teams, thinking about coaches like Dante Harlan and Dr. Scott Rogers, or former volleyball coaches Greg Ulland and Joe Burke, who helped reshape his mindset after a double-overtime loss to Springboro to end the 2023-2024 season.
Now, Fladung can add his name to that list of coaches after leading MND to a 63-53 DII regional title over league foe Seton.
“It was a special moment for me to sit there and realize that we have the opportunity to go to state again. It’s been five years. We’ve been to regionals twice and haven’t been able to get over the hump, so to be able to get over the hump, it means the world to this group,” Fladung said.
The Saints gave the undefeated Cougars their three best games this season, losing by six on Dec. 2, by three on Jan. 13 and by 10 to end the season. Saturday’s mountain was a little more difficult to climb as Seton was without seniors Callie Combs and Lauren Bain.
“Three of our losses were to the No. 1 team in the state. That’s all you need to say. One of these days, we’ll get them,” Seton head coach Scott Smith said. “They set a high standard, they’ve been the benchmark, not just in the league, but our city and the state. When they look at their history, that’s where we wanna get to.”
The defining characteristic of this Seton team was that they never quit. MND opened up a 19-11 lead before a Breylee Schmutte 3-pointer ended the first quarter and sparked an 8-0 run to tie the game.
But the Cougars dealt the defining blow shortly after. A Reece Hackney layup sparked a 19-2 run over the span of five minutes to take a 40-25 halftime lead. During that stretch, senior twins Mia and Bella Vieth totaled four 3-pointers.
“Just getting two feet in the paint and passing it out, taking care of the ball, and getting an open shot that was a good shot and not forced,” Bella said.
Mia added: “We prepared a lot. We knew what we had to do, so we just had to execute it.”
Coming out of the locker room, Aubri Korfhagen, Seton’s all-time leader in career 3-pointers, wouldn’t go down without a fight. She scored 11 of her game-high 20 points in the second half to bring the deficit to 11, but triples from Jayda Johnson and Ava Simpson put the game to bed.
The Cougars are 25-0 because of their balance and grit. Five players finished with at least 6 points, no one had more than five rebounds, and five players registered multiple steals. They may not have the talent level of some of the Cougars’ past state champions, but they could end up hoisting the same trophy.
“It could be any one of our players on any given night here. I think we’re a little bit different in that sense. We really don’t have one go-to,” Fladung said.
Mount Notre Dame will now face Big Walnut in a DII regional semifinal on Friday, March 13. Both the time and location are to be announced. The Eagles are 23-4 this season and feature Ms. Basketball candidate Sydney Mobley.
Seton graduates five seniors in Korfhagen, Combs, Bain, Brooke Goshorn and Taylor Hummeldorf. The majority of them were on varsity by their sophomore season, and they helped the Saints to 60 wins over the last four years and their first regional final appearance since 1991.
With a 22-4 record, this season was easily one of the best in program history.
“Hopefully, it’s the rebirth of Seton basketball,” Smith said. “They set a nice high bar. It’s our job now to keep it at that level.”
Mount Notre Dame: Simpson 5 4 15, B Vieth 5 0 13, Hackney 6 1 13, M Vieth 3 1 8, Johnson 2 0 6, Houpe 2 1 5, Harris 1 1 3. Totals: 24 8 63
Seton: Korfhagen 7 4 20, Busam 3 3 9, Hunt 4 1 9, Schmutte 2 2 8, Goshorn 1 0 3, Hummeldorf 1 0 2, Buck 1 0 2. Totals: 19 10 53.
Half: MND 40-25. 3-pointers: MND 7 (B Vieth 3, Johnson 2, M Vieth, Simpson); S 5 Korfhagen 2, Schmutte 2, Goshorn).
Princeton rides defense to third state tournament in last four years
The Princeton Vikings are have left little doubt on the way to their third state tournament appearance in the last four years, the latest example a 65-47 regional final win over Lakota West..
They picked up in the regional final where they left off against Milford in the semifinal, hitting the ground running to take a 15-2 lead just over four minutes into the game. Sophomore Erin Thomas scored eight of her game-high 16 points in the early going and the Vikings forced five turnovers.
“Our staff does a tremendous job of combing through every film, breaking down every player, every tendency, every offense, every defense. We want to know what’s going to happen before it happens so we can properly prepare our kids,” Princeton head coach Dee Davis said.
After Thomas set the tone, Simone Smith scored all 8 of her points in the first half, Kamryn Lower had 9 (8 in the paint) and Heaven Sneed dished out three assists.
“We can’t win one-on-five. We can’t win with just one person, so we knew if we stuck together, did the basics and played team basketball, we’d come out on top,” Thomas said.
Freshman Zoe Odame had West’s first 7 points, registering 12 of her team-high 16 in the first half. Lakota West senior Sydney Williams hit the second of her three triples with 1:56 left in the first half to cut the deficit to 9, but the Vikings responded with 7 straight points going into halftime.
“We’ve been able to battle that adversity and I thought it didn’t really shake us as bad. They still played well in the second half, but I thought we still thought we had a fighting chance because we saw the runs that we put together,” Chadwell said.
Princeton came out of the locker room with a 9-3 run, extending the lead to 52-28. The Firebirds never got closer than 17 points.
While turnovers spelled trouble for Lakota West in the first half, poor shooting in the second half allowed Princeton to put the game out of reach. The Firebirds shot 32 percent from the field and 15 percent from 3-point range.
All year, Davis has been preaching that the Vikings have unfinished business. The phrase carries extra meaning for Thomas. She averaged 12.4 points as a freshman, but had 6 points, four steals, two rebounds and two assists and missed a game-tying shot at the end of the Vikings’ 2025 state championship loss to Pickerington Central. She wants to write a different ending this year.
“Throughout the tournament, I have to make it my job and my priority to show up and leave no doubts, saying, ‘I could have done this.’ I don’t want that doubt in my head,” Thomas said.
The Vikings will play Wadsworth at 6 p.m. on March 12 at University of Dayton Arena. The Grizzlies are 24-2 after defeating Mentor in the Region 1 final. This is Wadsworth’s seventh state tournament appearance and first since 2016, when it won its second DI state title.
Lakota West graduates six seniors: Williams, Katie Fox, Caroline Bayliff, Jayda Nielson, Kennedy Griffin and Katelyn Voss. It was a bit of an up-and-down year as they took early losses to Walnut Hills and Chaminade Julienne, started 10-0 in league play before dropping games to Princeton and Sycamore, but rebounded by making their first regional final since 2016.
“No matter what their role was on the team, they were just kids that were always around. They always wanted to get better, always wanted to do what they needed to do for the greater good of the team and the program,” Chadwell said.
Princeton: Thomas 5 5 16, Lowe 5 4 14, Love-Muhammad 4 1 9, Harris 2 3 8, Smith 3 0 8, Sneed 2 2 7, Brockman 1 0 3. Totals: 22 15 65.
Lakota West: Odame 7 1 16, Williams3 0 9, Bayliff 2 1 6, Fox 2 0 5, Saunders 2 0 4, Griffin 2 0 4, Johnson 1 1 3. Totals: 19 3 47.
Half: P 42-26; 3-pointers: P 6 (Smith 2, Harris, Brockman, Thomas, Sneed); LW 6 (Williams 3, Fox, Bayliff, Odame)
Purcell Marian beats Alter 50-34 to win sixth-straight regional crown
The OHSAA state tournament will see the Purcell Marian Cavaliers for the sixth-straight season with the Cavs taking down Alter 50-34 in the Division IV regional finals.
Purcell Marian (22-6), which won four consecutive state championships, has 38-straight postseason victories. Purcell Marian’s last postseason loss was a 47-40 defeat by eventual state champion Berlin Hiland in the Division III state semis in 2021.
The Cavaliers will play Shaker Heights Laurel (20-4) in the state semis at noon on March 12 at the Nutter Center. The teams met in the regular season on Dec. 21. Purcell Marian won 62-61 in overtime, led by a 28-point, 21-rebound double-double from Samaya Wilkins.
Fayetteville-Perry falls in Division VI regional final
Fayetteville-Perry’s run through the Division VI tournament fell just short of reaching the state semifinals as the Rockets lost to St. Henry 38-36 in the regional championship game.
Fayetteville-Perry (24-3) led St. Henry (25-1) in the second quarter before the Redskins went on a run to take a 26-21 halftime lead. The Rockets kept the deficit slim into the second half and were still just down 5 points entering the fourth quarter.
The Rockets stayed in the hunt in the final quarter and had the ball down 2 points with seconds left on the clock, but they failed to get down to the basket to attempt a final shot.
St. Henry advanced to the state semifinals and will meet Harvest Prep on March 12 at the Nutter Center at Wright State.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Princeton, Mount Notre Dame basketball advance to 2026 state tourney
Reporting by Brendan Connelly, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
