Princeton's thrilling comeback leaves Fairmount victorious in state championship showdown!
The Princeton Vikings were on the cusp of handing Fairmont its first loss of the season but fell in overtime of the Division I state championship.
DAYTON, OH – Life is a game of inches. Those inches appear in the most joyous moments for some, and at the cruelest times for others. For the second straight year, the Princeton Vikings were inches, and a few tenths of a seconds, away from winning the Division I state championship, falling to Fairmont, 61-55, in overtime.
The loss, combined with Mount Notre Dame's loss earlier in the evening, means Cincinnati did not win a girls basketball state championship for the first time since 2018. "It's disappointing to come here back-to-back and leave empty-handed. I'm just disappointed we didn't take the win today, but I'm proud of our team for how hard we fought throughout the whole season and today," Princeton junior Kiara Harris said.
After making a furious comeback throughout the third and fourth quarters, Erin Thomas, who had a shot to tie the 2025 DI championship game, made two free throws for a 49-45 lead with 14 seconds left. Janiyah Hargrave brought the Firebirds back within two with a baseline jumper. Heaven Sneed went to the free throw line with 6.
3 seconds, but only made one of her two shots. Fairmont's Ms. Basketball candidate Kaylah Thornton, who hadn't made a field goal since the 7:37 mark of the second quarter, took five dribbles to get across half court while being guarded by Sneed and drained a 30-foot shot at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
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