Defending champs ready for Boardman

Mount Notre Dame has three starters returning from last season.
CINCINNATI -- Defending its Division I state championship has not been an easy task for the Mount Notre Dame High girls basketball team.
But the Cougars have played pretty well against a difficult schedule and find themselves back in Columbus with a chance to become just the third team in history to win consecutive state titles.
Mount Notre Dame (24-2) plays Boardman (22-3) in a semifinal game Friday at 6 p.m. The second semifinal of the night will have Sylvania Northview (25-1) against Dayton Chaminade-Julienne (23-2).
Last year, Mount Notre Dame rolled through 28 opponents, winning by an average of almost 30 points per game.
That team was led by the Ms. Basketball award winner, Mel Thomas, who is now at the University of Connecticut. She averaged just more than 21 points per game.
Three starters back
The Cougars also lost guard Robyn Shipley to graduation, but returned three starters -- senior forward Cassie Brannen, senior center Michelle Jones, and junior guard Lee Stephens.
Jones leads Mount Notre Dame in scoring, with a 16.5 average, and was named Div. I state co-player of the year earlier this week. She will play next year at the University of Cincinnati.
Brannen is averaging 11.2 points per game, while Stephens is averaging 10.3.
Those three are joined in the starting lineup by senior Melissa Bobinski (5-8), who is averaging 10.2 points per game, and junior TaHara Williams, also 5-8, who's averaging 8.5 points per game.
Transfer from Mason
Williams transferred to Mount Notre Dame over the summer from Mason High. She scored a career-high 22 points in the Cougars' regional championship win over Columbus Brookhaven Saturday.
Jones was double- and triple-teamed by Brookhaven and finished with just seven points, but had 17 rebounds.
Brannen had 12 points and 12 rebounds in the regional title game.
"It's different for us this year, because I think we're a better overall team," Brannen told The Cincinnati Enquirer after the regional championship win.
"Last year we relied so much on [Thomas]. We miss her a lot, but we also wanted to show people we could still win without her."
Mount Notre Dame's only two losses came to non-Ohio teams, a 55-51 defeat to Lexington (Ky.) Catholic, and a 62-60 loss to Kickapoo High of Springfield, Mo.
Winning streak at 16
The Cougars have won 16 straight games since that last defeat.
Two of their wins came at the Classic in the Country, hosted by Berlin Hiland High. Mount Notre Dame defeated Regina, 77-67, and Barberton, 64-45, in that tournament.
"We've said we don't want to talk about last year," Dr. Scott Rogers, the Mount Notre Dame coach, told The Enquirer, "but last year's team left quite a legacy. That's why I'm so proud of this group. They've carried it on and they've come together to get us back to the state tournament."
Spartans know challenge
Boardman coach Ron Moschella understands the challenge his team faces.
"They're transition [game] is awesome, they rebound and they just fly," Moschella said. "We have to stop that transition, there's no doubt about it. They can't get any cheap baskets on us; we have to get back."