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There may no longer be a state tournament … or even regional tournaments.

And getting to San Antonio will now take a win after the regional finals.

But what the Martin’s Mill Lady Mustangs accomplished on Thursday night was still special even though it is something they are used to as a program even if it comes in a different format and setting.

Sophomore Kara Nixon scored 17 points, dished out four assists and had five steals as No. 1 Martin’s Mill took a 51-31 win over Douglass in the Class 2A Division 2 Region III final inside the Herrington Patriot Center, punching the program’s fifth straight ticket to the state semifinals and the 18th in the past 20 years.

“We’ve got to celebrate tonight, but tomorrow when it comes, we’ve just got to be locked in again and never take a day off,” Nixon said.

In past years, the regional semifinals and finals for Class 2A Region III were played in Athens and two wins there would send a team to San Antonio for the state tournament, which featured the state semifinals and state championship game.

Last summer, the University Interscholastic League voted to split the playoffs into divisions for classifications, which also eliminated regional and state tournaments. Every round before the state final is a standalone game at a neutral site. Only the 12 state championship games will be played at San Antonio.

But even though it wasn’t in a tournament setting, the Lady Mustangs still captured the regional championship and were able to participate in the customary net cutting ceremony.

Next, the Lady Mustangs (33-2) will advance to the Class 2A Division 2 semifinals to face either No. 16 Goldthwaite or Mason. The winner of that game will move to the state championship game at 5 p.m. on Feb. 27 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

But first, Martin’s Mill had to get past a Douglass team it has recent history with. Martin’s Mill took a 47-35 win over Douglass in November this season, and Martin’s Mill eliminated Douglass from the playoffs in this same round in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

The Lady Mustangs tried to create separation, using a McKenna Wise three to push the score to 14-7. But Douglass got buckets from Gracie Hise and Tiara Neal in the final minute of the first quarter to cut the score to 14-11.

Martin’s Mill eventually got the lead to double digits with a layup by Wise and a jumper from Ruthie Mein with 40 seconds left in the first half, but a Neal free throw sent the game into halftime with a score of 25-16.

Shots weren’t falling a lot on offense for the Lady Mustangs, but they made life difficult for Douglass on the other end, building a 36-19 lead. Lawson Keeling made the Lady Indians’ only 3-pointer of the night with 24 seconds on the clock to cut the score to 36-22 heading into the fourth quarter.

Martin’s Mill had its highest-scoring output in the final quarter, thanks to seven made free throws, to finish with a 20-point victory.

“That was a tough game,” Martin’s Mill head girls basketball coach Jay Bruce said. “They’re a gritty team. We play them every year. We just didn’t make a lot of outside shots really. We couldn’t really get flowing, but we just had to fight defensively. We had to grind it out. My head hurts, but I am proud of how tough they were tonight.”

The Lady Mustangs were 3 of 15 from downtown. But defensively, they limited Douglass to 9 of 37 from the field with 26 turnovers.

“Before the game, (Coach Bruce) just said all we have to do is stop them on defense and we’ve got the game, so even if our offense didn’t come, we still had the best lockdown defense,” Nixon said.

Wise had 12 points and nine rebounds for Martin’s Mill. Mein scored 8 points. Alli Vaughan had 7 points and six rebounds. Brilen Butcher had 5 points, and freshman Teely Salazar added 2 points.

Neal, the younger sister of UT Tyler basketball player Mariah Neal, finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds. Other scorers for Douglass (26-10) were Tessa Reeves 7; Keeling 3; and Hise 2.