Mason County’s Olivia Hughes goes up for a shot against the Lady Saints in the 39th District semifinals on Feb. 23, 2026.
The Mason County Lady Royals and Saint Patrick Lady Saints tipped off at the Fieldhouse in the first round of the 39th District girls basketball tournament on Monday, Feb. 23.
The Lady Royals entered the district semifinals as the 39th’s No. 1 seed for the second year in a row, determined to advance to Thursday’s championship game. They had previously met the Lady Saints twice in the regular season, taking the victory in both contests.
Both teams started Monday night slowly, with St. Pat scoring first with one free throw from senior Lillian Klee. The Lady Saints continued to lead 1-0 for the first few minutes of play; however, the Lady Royals quickly took control and gained a strong lead by the end of the first quarter, up 30-5 heading into the second.
“We’ve been talking about early energy and elevating our play. We had energy, but the ball had a lid on the basket there for a couple minutes,” said the Lady Royals’ head coach, Jay Fite. “Once we saw it go in a couple times, that freed us up, and then we were able to pressure a little bit, able to turn them over and get some easy baskets.”
The second quarter was St. Pat’s strongest of the night, scoring 11 points, while Mason County scored 19, causing them to lead 49-16 by the end of the half.
“We talked to them at halftime. We definitely wanted to get the point, get the clock running. We wanted to be able to rotate freely if we could in that second half. The key thing is that we are, hopefully, mentally and physically ready, where we need to be,” said Coach Fite.
Mason County outscored the Lady Saints again in the third, extending their lead to 37, up 61-24. As the clock ran, the Lady Royals maintained their lead throughout the final eight minutes of play while St. Pat fought back, adding 10 more points to their total in the fourth quarter to trail 68-34 as the final buzzer sounded.
“We’ve talked a lot about mental mind frame with our kids, and I think they’re in a good space right now. I thought we had a very balanced attack in that Round One win,” said Coach Fite. “You can’t ultimately get where you want to if you don’t win in the first round. Winning the first round is big for us and we’re happy to have that chance to get to the finals and have a chance for a 39th District title.”
This loss marks the end of the Lady Saints’ 2025-2026 season. With it, they say goodbye to three seniors who will graduate at the end of this year: Sydney Arn, Makenzie Markely and Lillian Klee. Klee led the Lady Saints in scoring throughout the season, averaging 29.2 points per game, becoming the fourth Lady Saint to surpass 1,500 points in program history.
Following this win, the Lady Royals will return to the Fieldhouse tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. for the 39th District championship game against the winners of the Bracken County/Augusta semifinal contest.
“I think we’re in a good spot. I think that if we’re fortunate enough to come out and win the district, it puts you in a good place going into the region. It gives you a home game,” said Coach Fite. “The first-round home game now is a big thing; that’s a big incentive. If we’re fortunate enough to come out and take care of business in the district finals, that’ll give us, hopefully, a head start heading into the region.”
The quarterfinal round of the 2026 10th Region girls basketball tournament will be held at the home gym of each district champion, with semifinal and championship games to be held at Harrison County.
ST. PAT: 34
MASON COUNTY: 68
LADY SAINTS
5-11-8-10 – 34
LADY ROYALS
30-19-12-7 – 68
Scoring
St. Pat: Klee 30, Arn 2, Markley 2
Mason: Downs-Perry 14, Buttery 11, Hughes 10, Kirk 10, Reed 10, Fox 4, Hines 3, Thomas 3, Bush 2, Burkhart 1
Game Stats
Field Goals: St. Pat 13/65, Mason 26/65
3-Pointers: St. Pat 1/18, Mason 6/19
Free Throws: St. Pat 7/16, Mason 10/14
Fouls: St. Pat 11, Mason 14
Records: St. Pat 2-21, Mason 16-9
