MasonBuzz.com

Kevin Goheen reports:

More than 3,000 athletes total are expected to take part in Saturday’s Mason Cross Country Invitational at Corwin Nixon Park, adjacent to the high school, in what organizers say is one of the largest meets in Ohio.

The highlight of the day will be the four high school varsity races over the 3.1-mile course that will challenge runners with a combination of rolling fields, steep hills and a creek jump. Teams will be able to enter up to 10 runners, with the top five scoring.

The first race, the girls’ Division I race, is scheduled for 9 a.m. and features seven teams ranked in the top 16 of this week’s Ohio coaches’ state poll, including Nos. 1-2 Mason and Beavercreek, going up against nationally-ranked Carmel (Ind.).

Three of the top four teams in this week’s Enquirer Division I poll (Mason, No. 2 Sycamore and No. 4 Ursuline) are in the field. Sycamore senior Sam Siler and sophomore teammate Rosie Menyhert should be among the top individuals along with Mason’s Lauren Wood and Ursuline’s Christine Frederick.

The Division II girls race follows at 9:45 features six of the top eight teams from the Enquirer’s DII-III poll. Indian Hill and Wyoming are ranked 1-2 locally, while No. 4 Ross, No. 5 Mariemont, No. 6 New Richmond and No. 8 Taylor are also in the field.

The boys’ Division I race (10:30) has St. Xavier, Mason, Elder, Sycamore, Oak Hills, La Salle and Anderson — all teams ranked in this week’s Enquirer coaches’ poll — going up against a field that will include traditional Indiana power Lawrence North, Centerville and Dublin Coffman from Dayton and Columbus.

St. X and Mason are ranked Nos. 1 and 3, respectively, in the first state coaches poll but St. Xavier is expected to run its top team at the Tiffin Carnival on Saturday, holding off an early season showdown.

The Division II race (11:00) has locally-ranked No. 2 Mariemont, No. 3 Wyoming, No. 4 Indian Hill, No. 5 New Richmond, No. 8 Batavia and No. 10 McNicholas in the field as well as Covington Catholic, the No. 3-ranked team in the Enquirer’s Northern Kentucky poll. Mariemont was third at last year’s state Division III meet and is attempting to back up that performance this season.

Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: comets, corwin m. nixon park, cross country, indian hill, invitational, lauren wood, mariemont, mason, mason cross country invitational, mason high school, meet, sports, st. xavier, sycamore, ursuline, wyoming

Mason's Miguel Cepeda returns a shot Saturday during the OHSAA state tennis tournament. Jay LaPrete for the Enquirer

Jarrod Ulrey reports:

Mason junior Miguel Cepeda and sophomore Luke Tsai were determined to not be content with reaching the championship match of the Division I state doubles tournament Saturday at Ohio State.

After needing three sets to beat Sycamore’s team of junior Yuri Karev and freshman Nakul Narendran at the sectional tournament, Cepeda and Tsai quickly found their groove and easily won the rematch against the duo 6-1, 6-1 to capture the title.

Mason's Luke Tsai returns a shot. Jay LaPrete for the Enquirer

Cepeda and Tsai became the first boys tennis players from the program to reach a state final a year ago when they lost to Upper Arlington’s Billy Weldon and Stu Little 6-3, 6-1.

“It feels great,” Cepeda said. “I don’t think it’s sunk in yet, but when we look back on the whole season, it’s going to be like, ‘Wow, we really accomplished something.’”

Cepeda and Tsai needed three sets to beat New Albany’s Oliver Sybert and Alex Kobelt 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) during Friday’s second round. Then in their state semifinal, Cepeda and Tsai defeated the Sycamore doubles team of juniors Dylan Stern and Nikhil Grandhi 6-3, 6-4 to reach the championship match.

“Last year we were kind of happy just to be in the final, and this year we had a pretty tough second round,” Tsai said. “We had to save two match points to (beat New Albany). We knew we just had to be aggressive today.”

“They were definitely being more aggressive,” coach Linda Kirtley said. “We’ve never even been to the final before last year, so we’ve definitely come a long way.”

Coming up just short of a championship for the third consecutive season was Lakota East senior Zach Mueck.

After finishing as runner-up each of the past two seasons, Mueck needed three sets to beat Perrysburg’s Jeffrey Schorsch (6-2, 1-6, 6-2) and again reach the final.

Then facing Westlake senior Colton Buffington, he couldn’t overcome a slow start and lost 6-2, 6-3.

Buffington, who lost to Mueck 6-4, 6-2 in a semifinal in 2010, built a 4-0 lead in the first set. Then in the second set, Mueck led 2-0 but couldn’t keep it going against the fresher Buffington.

Buffington won all four of his state matches in straight sets.

Mueck is planning to take a short break before setting off to play for Xavier University next year.

Posted in: Sports, Spring sports |

Tags: Tags: luke tsai, miguel cepeda, state, sycamore, tennis, title

Mason's Sarah Ammons (20), Sydney Neal (25), Jenna Gunn (32), Kayla McDowell (15) and Aly Herron and the rest of the Comets celebrate their 47-32 win against Sycamore in Thursday's OHSAA Division I girls' regional semifinal game at Wright State's Nutter Center.

Mark Schmetzer reports:

Mason junior Kayla McDowell said the Comets drew little to no motivation from their regular-season loss to Sycamore when the two Greater Miami Conference teams clashed Thursday night in a Division I regional semifinal game.

“We just saw them as another team we needed to beat if we wanted to continue our season,” McDowell said.

Mason’s season will continue. The Comets rode a stifling defense to their first regional championship appearance since the 2000 team won the state title, limiting the Aviators to 21.6 percent shooting (11-of-51) in a 47-32 win at Wright State University’s Ervin J. Nutter Center.

• Photos: Mason edges out Sycamore for the win

Mason's Kayla McDowell (15) and Sydney Neal battle for the rebound against Sycamore's Chloe Pavlech.

The 6-foot-2 McDowell led both teams with 19 points, including 9-of-9 on free throws, and 15 rebounds and junior Jenna Gunn added 10 points, but Sycamore coach Paula Hayden left no doubt that Mason’s defense was the difference.

“A big part of it was the pressure they put on us,” Hayden said. “They made us take shots that were not our typical shots. Mason forced us to do that.”

The Comets (18-6), ranked third in the Enquirer’s Division coaches poll, will take an eight-game winning streak into Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. regional championship game against Kettering Fairmont at Wright State.

The Firebirds (22-3), ranked 10th in the Associated Press Division I statewide poll, eliminated No. 9 and Enquirer No. 2 Princeton (21-4), 57-52, in Thursday’s nightcap.

Thursday’s game wasn’t a complete reversal of Sycamore’s 49-25 win in what was Mason’s opener and Sycamore’s second game of the regular season, Comets coach Rob Matula said.

“They were in total control,” he said.

“We were just playing together, and our defense was much better,” McDowell said of the rematch.

Seniors Chloe Pavlech and Lauren Hancher each scored 10 points to lead Sycamore (23-2), the Enquirer poll champion. The Aviators had a 21-game winning streak snapped after shooting 1-for-16 from the field in the fourth quarter. The only field goal was Pavlech’s 3-pointer with three minutes left, which bounced high off the rim before falling through.

“That was our best defense of the season,’ McDowell said, giving much of the credit to junior guard Sydney Neal. “Syndey’s ball pressure was amazing.”

Mason actually committed four more turnovers than Sycamore, 20-16, but the Comets’ defense allowed the Aviators to score just three points off of the miscues while Mason scored 15.

The Comets survived a nine-turnover first quarter to open the second quarter with a 10-0 run on their way to a 20-16 halftime lead. The Aviators didn’t score in the second quarter until junior guard-forward Hannah Locke connected on a putback with 36 seconds remaining.

Mason never trailed after McDowell banked in an 8-foot jump shot from the left wing for a 14-12 lead with 5:29 left in the second quarter.

Mason went 10-for-10 on free throws in the last 2:25, led by McDowell’s 6-of-6. The Comets went 20-of-27 for the game.

Sycamore (23-2) – Locke 3 2 8, Newbolt 0 2 2, Pavlech 3 2 10, Outlaw 0 1 1, McDonald 0 1 1, Hancher 5 0 10. Totals: 11 8 32.

Mason (18-6) – Glover 2 3 7, McDowell 5 9 19, Herron 2 2 7, Neal 0 2 2, Gunn 3 4 10, Ammons 1 0 2. Totals: 13 20 47.

Halftime: Mason, 20-16. 3-pointers: S 2 (Pavlech 2), M 1 (Herron).

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: aviators, basketball, briana glover, comets, girls basketball, hannah locke, kayla mcdowell, lady comets, mason, mason high school, paula hayden, regional, rob matula, semi-regional final, sycamore, sycamore high school

Pre-sale tickets for the Mason High School girls’ basketball team’s Division I regional semifinal game against Sycamore on Thursday are on sale this week in the high school athletic office.

Tickets are $6 and can be purchased between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. today through Thursday.  Tickets are $8 at the game.  Only OHSAA-issued passes will be accepted.

Mason (17-6) edged out Springboro 40-35 Saturday in the district finals.  The Comets limited the Panthers, ranked fourth in the Associated Press Division I statewide poll, to 32.6 shooting from the field (15-of-46) and parlayed a 10-point advantage at the free throw line into a 40-35 upset.

Mason coach Rob Matula had been anticipating a matchup with Springboro (22-2) since early in the tournament.

“I’m good friends with (Springboro coach) Tom Benjamin,” Matula said. “He called me and said, ‘Are you going to be a problem?’ I said, ‘I don’t know.’ I knew it was going to be a slugfest. (Benjamin) said it was going to be a war, and it was.”

Sycamore, the Enquirer’s Division I poll champion, knocked off Fairborn, 52-37, in the first of Saturday’s four district championship games at Harrison.

The Aviators beat No 3 Mason, 49-25, at Mason in the Comets’ opener and Sycamore’s second game of the season.

The regional championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Springfield High School.

Mark Schmetzer contributed to this story

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: aviators, basketball, comets, girls basketball, lady comets, mason, mason high school, panthers, rob matula, springboro, springfield high school, sycamore, tickets, varsity

Mason Kayla McDowell (15) shoots between Princeton Jada Ballew (13) and Carlie Pogue (33) in the second period against Princeton. The Enquirer/ Joseph Fuqua II

Mason (12-1, 6-1) scored a 67-43 win over Sycamore in GMC play on Friday. The Comets have a legit claim to the No. 1 spot in the city poll after defeating La Salle earlier in the year.

Sports reporter Nick Dudukovich says he’s looking forward to Mason’s game against Princeton Tuesday:

Princeton is a good team, but a Mason win solidifies the Comets’ standing.  The contest also offers an interesting perspective from the Vikings’ view. Princeton (9-3, 4-3) is in the middle of the GMC pack after defeating Hamilton Friday night. Princeton wants to show it can play with the top dogs in the conference after suffering losses to Oak Hills, Fairfield and Middletown earlier in the year.

Mason’s Lady Comets (9-5, 6-3) narrowly fell 45-40 to the Princeton Vikings Saturday.  Princeton took control of the game in the last two minutes forcing Mason to foul. The Vikings converted their 6 straight charity tosses to end Mason’s hope of a upset.  Kayla McDowell led the Comets with 17 points, trailed by Briana Glover with 13 points.

Check out highlights from the hard-fought game in our photo gallery. The Lady Comets next battle Loveland at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Mason.

Posted in: Sports, Winter Sports |

Tags: Tags: basketball, comets, gmc, greater miami conference, lady comets, mason, mason high school, princeton, sycamore, varsity

The Mason Middle School MathCounts team finished in first place at the Southwest Ohio Chapter MathCounts competition held Feb. 26 at the University of Cincinnati.

Thirty-seven schools, including longtime rival Sycamore, competed at the event.

“Collaboration was the key to winning this year,” said team coach Sallie Carney. “Earning a perfect score on the team round helped MMS secure the top spot at the competition.”

Seventh-grader James Zhu was Mason’s top individual competitor, finishing in fourth place overall and first place in the Countdown round, where the top 16 competitors compete in a head-to-head competition.

Also among the top 16 competitors were eighth-graders Michael Chen, Kevin Li, Jessica Xiang and Harrison Walsh.  Jessica won a $500 scholarship as one of the top two female finishers in the Countdown round.

James Zhu, Michael Chen, eighth- grader David Wang and seventh-grader Alvin Zhang qualified as a team to compete at the state competition, set for March 12.  Kevin Li and Jessica Xiang also qualified to compete as individuals.

Other team members included seventh-graders Shawna Huang, Ashwin Rajgopal and eighth-grader Nick Zhao.

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: mason middle school, mathcounts, southwest ohio chapter mathcounts competition, student achievement, sycamore, university of cincinnati