Monday, March 13, 2000
National No. 1 may elude Mason girls
But Comets, Badin, Madeira, Eastern Brown still in hunt for state
BY DAVE SCHUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
There won't be much national-championship pressure this year for the Mason girls basketball team.
Last year, coach Gerry Lackey's Comets held the No.1 ranking and needed only to beat Toledo Central Catholic and Pickerington to finish on top in the USA Today Super 25 national poll.
But Mason lost forward Beth Jones to an ankle injury in a semifinal victory over Toledo Central Catholic and were no match for Pickerington in the final.
“The only way Mason can win the national title is for Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.) to lose,” USA Today pollster Dave Krider said. “Narbonne plays Berkley for the California state championship on Saturday.”
On Friday at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Mason (24-0) will meet Cleveland East Tech (24-1) in a 9 p.m. semifinal game. Defending state champion Pickerington (24-2) will play Parma Holy Name (22-3) at 7 p.m.
“Cleveland East Tech is the only team to beat Regina South Euclid (No.8 in the USA Today Super 25),” Krider said. “Pickerington's also playing well and could be tough to beat.”
Badin (Division II), Eastern Brown (Division III) and Madeira (Division III) also won regional championships last week and will be in Columbus to go after a state championship.
Coach Dave Schlensker's Madeira team appears to have the biggest challenge — the Mustangs (24-2) will play Regina South Euclid (25-1) at 9 p.m. on Thursday. Undefeated Coach Richard Kiser's Eastern Brown team (25-0) will play Bluffton (25-0) at 7 p.m.
“Regina has four (potential) Division I college players,” Krider said. “I kept them in the top 25 after the loss to East Tech because they've beaten three other top 25 teams.”
Regina's top players are Colleen Toetz, G'Ann Lauder, Chelsea Brown and Sarah Burgess.
Both Eastern Brown and Bluffton have identical records, but have an different offensive strategies.
An up-tempo team, Bluffton relies on Caity Matter, Abbey Schaaf and substitute Mollie McCullough. Eastern Brown is a deliberate team, relying on sophomore guard Micah Harvey.
Coach Dan Purcell's Badin team (22-4), the 1998 Division II state champion, will play Philo (21-4) in a semifinal game at 4 p.m. on Friday.
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