Springboro girls reach first regional final since 2011

WEST CHESTER TWP. — Mike Holweger, the English teacher, taught “King Lear” in class Wednesday. But there was nothing tragically Shakespearean about the way his Springboro girls basketball team played several hours later.

The Panthers changed their narrative against Mason, flipped the script, and wrote a happy ending. After losing to Mason three straight years in the district final, the Panthers defeated third-ranked Mason 71-64 in a Division I regional semifinal at Lakota West High School.

“When you look at competition and teams who bring out the best in you, Mason does that with us,” Holweger said. “They’re part of our journey, they’re part of our story. Tonight we were lucky enough to be able to get over the hump.”

On the other side of that hump is the regional final at 7 p.m. Saturday on the same court against Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame (243). The Panthers (22-5) made their most recent regional appearance in 2020. Saturday will be their first regional final since 2011.

Springboro star Bryn Martin said Mason’s toughness and physical play was expected and necessary for her team to be ready for what’s next.

“When you get to this point in the tournament you’re playing all elite teams, and honestly they’re great prep for our next game and the next games coming up,” she said.

Marquee stars dominated the stage in this four-act show that revealed plot twists in every quarter.

The leading ladies were Springboro’s Martin, the Southwest District Division I player of the year and an Ohio Ms. Basketball nominee as a junior. She scored 33 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 4-of-8 from 3-point range and passed deftly out of double-teams for six assists.

“I’m just playing the game and whatever happens, happens, whatever comes to me, comes to me,” Martin said. “Points don’t really matter to me. It’s how to get the ball in the basket and who wins.”

Center stage for Mason was junior guard Madison Parrish, who carried the Comets for long stretches with 36 points, including 32 through the first three quarters. She made six 3-pointers.

“That was fun to watch — you have two of the best players in the state of Ohio going head to head,” Holweger said. “I just hope people appreciate what goes into that. As I’ve told anybody, Bryn puts more time in to becoming a great basketball player than anybody I’ve coached.”

Springboro’s supporting cast was led by senior Chloe Downing with 15 points and Morgan Meek with six assists. Mason’s understudy to Parrish was Anna Habra with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

When Martin and Parrish began to make long 3-pointers late in the first quarter, the action rose quickly. Martin made three 3-pointers in a two-and-a-half minute stretch of the second quarter to put the Panthers up 29-19. But before the curtain could drop on the half, Parrish hit a running 3-pointer to cut Springboro’s lead to 39-30.

Parrish put Mason ahead 52-51 late in the third with a personal nine-point run, but Downing, on her birthday, stole that scene with a 15-footer with three seconds left to put the Panthers up for good.

“It was just another play in the game,” Downing said. “Those are the shots that I’ve been practicing in practice, and right there was a perfect time to take that shot.”

Holweger said Downing’s basket was a major plot twist. His team started the third quarter fast on a Downing 3-pointer and two Martin breakaways to ignite a 9-2 run. After Mason scored, the Panthers brought the feel-good story home with an 8-0 run for a 14-point lead with 55 seconds left.

“The game was unbelievable,” Holweger said. “Some of the shots that were being made — from half court it seemed like both ways. Anybody who paid for a ticket to that one certainly got their money’s worth.”

Springboro switched to a 1-3-1 zone in the fourth quarter, frustrating the Comets and finally vanquishing their hero. Parrish didn’t score in the quarter until two late baskets, but they didn’t matter.

The final scene, one in which the Panthers were hailed as heroes by their large supportive fan base, had already been written.

“They make fun of me because I relate a lot of stuff to poetry and literature,” Holweger said. “But this is part of their story.”