CINCINNATI — March Madness continues this weekend, including the Sweet Sixteen for the women’s tournament. An astounding 17 players from Ohio will be represented in the Sweet Sixteen, including two from the same high school, Mount Notre Dame in Cincinnati.
What You Need To Know
- Mount Notre Dame has two athletes playing this weekend in the Sweet Sixteen of the women's NCAA tournament
- Gabbie Marshall graduated from MND in 2019 and is now a senior at Iowa
- KK Bransford is a freshman at the University of Notre Dame
- The school loves watching their former players play on the big stage
In the halls of Mount Notre Dame high school, brackets for both the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments can be found. On the women’s side, notations mark where former MND players are now playing at the next level.
“These MND graduation hats here are marking where our alums have played," MND Athletic Director Mark Schenkel said.
Schenkel said seeing the athletes compete at the next level means a lot for their school and program.
“It’s just very gratifying," he said. "Our coaches put in a lot of work and to see their kids grow from freshmen to seniors and graduate and then to go on and play on a bigger stage and the college level is just gratifying to them. And it means a lot to our program. The girls, like I said, grow up watching these young ladies, and then to see them on television is just really cool.”
While there were four players in the tournament to start, now there are two. Gabbie Marshall is a senior for the Iowa Hawkeyes. She won two state championships with MND and now is working for a national title.
“Obviously, there’s 16 teams left and we’re one of the 16 teams that gets to still be playing basketball," Marshall said at an NCAA press conference ahead of the Sweet Sixteen. "So I think we’re honestly just excited for Friday and just blessed to be here.”
KK Bransford is the other player representing the Cougars. Bransford is a freshman at the University of Notre Dame and former two-time Ms. Basketball Ohio. Her mom, Johanna, said her time at MND prepared her for playing at the next level.
“She was with Layla Falia, Makira Cook, Gabbie Marshall, Grace Centrulla, Julia Hoefling, they’re all playing in college," Johanna said. "So she comes in as a freshman and she’s gotta try to hold her own with them, so she was used to being around elite players.”
For Schenkel, he’s loved watching all of these girls represent their high school on the big stage.
“The girls take a lot of pride in it, especially our basketball program," he said. "A lot of the girls at Mount Notre Dame don’t know who Gabbie is because she graduated in ’19 and they didn’t know her when she was here but our basketball players and coaching staff all know who she is so they follow her and are really, really proud of her.”
Gabbie Marshall and the Iowa Hawkeyes play Colorado on Friday night and KK Bransford and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish play Maryland on Saturday morning.