For the third consecutive season, the girls basketball programs at McDonald and Western Reserve will compete in the postseason.

The conference rivals, who share the Blue Devils nickname, will compete for the ninth time in three seasons tonight at 8 in a Division IV regional semifinal at Massillon Perry.

“There are no secrets between us, and both teams know where they have an advantage,” eighth-year Western Reserve coach Steve Miller said. “It’s going to come down to execution and which team can get the least bit comfortable. It will be very intense, as it always is between us.”

McDonald is 21-2 and Western Reserve enters at 21-5.

McDonald is 6-2 in the previous meetings, and has won the last three games.

League-champion McDonald swept Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference games with Reserve this season — 45-40 in overtime on Jan. 30 and 49-42 on Jan. 7. The teams split league games last season before McDonald pulled away late to win a district championship meeting, 51-37.

In 2018-2019, McDonald swept league meetings and Western Reserve won the district championship game, 46-37.

In those previous eight meetings, six have been decided by seven or fewer points, including a pair of one-point wins by McDonald.

“Our girls are so focused on the main goal of reaching state that they want to treat this game like (Western Reserve is) just another team in their path, a potential roadblock,” first-year McDonald coach Tony Matisi said. “That’s easier said than done, but that’s our goal.”

It’s easier said than done because of the familiarity of the girls.

Miller coached a travel team called the Cobras for several years. He said five McDonald girls, including four current starters, played with most of his Western Reserve seniors on that team.

“Our teams were comprised mostly of girls from Western Reserve, McDonald, Poland and South Range, and some from Ursuline as well,” he said. “Someone counted and found 14 girls that were part of my teams were playing in regionals this week. I had some Ursuline parents calling and wishing us luck and pointing that out.”

Looking back, Miller joked he should’ve changed things years ago.

“If I had known about how things worked out, I think I would’ve charged the McDonald girls and their parents double,” he joked. “But that’s what makes this current four-year rivalry so special. You’ve got very talented and dedicated players who have taken the sport seriously and worked as hard as possible to gain success for their schools.”

McDonald’s starters include seniors Molly Howard (19 points per game), Sophia Costantino (15 ppg), Taylor Tuchek (8 ppg) and Maddy Howard (7 ppg), and junior Lucy Wolford (8 ppg). Senior Brooke Lewis averages 7 points coming off the bench.

Western Reserve’s starters include seniors Danielle Vuletich (19.5 ppg, 11 rebounds), Kennedy Miller (10.5 ppg, 6 assists), Olivia Pater (10 ppg) and Callie Steed (3 ppg), and sophomore Brooke Schantz (7.5 ppg). Freshmen Alyvia Hughes and Lisa Eichert average 4 points apiece off the bench.

“They’ve got the big girl (Vuletich) who is 6-2 and if they get her the ball in good position, it’s tough for us to match up,” Matisi said. “The key for us as always will be to get ball pressure on their guards and make it very difficult for them to get the entry passes in cleanly or sharply.”

Miller expects that and is hoping his guards can take advantage of the situation.

“If they’re fronting and backing Dani or doubling her, we want to find some open driving lanes and be able to finish at the basket, which is key,” he said. “McDonald is very good at ball pressure and we need to protect the ball because long passes will get deflected and stolen and wind up being easy points for them. We can’t allow that to happen.

“Another thing that makes McDonald special is their ability to get offensive rebounds. So we need to limit our turnovers to not give up easy points and limit their shots. They’re strong, relentless and disciplined.

“Being the underdog, because they’ve beaten us twice and they returned everyone from their district championship team last year, means we’ve got to do everything a little better. They beat us by five in overtime earlier this year when they had 15 more offensive rebounds than we had.

McDonald’s approach is to slow Western Reserve on offense and attack in transition when it has the advantage.

“We want to run and generate offense before (Vuletich) gets back to clog the lanes,” Matisi said. “They love to feed the big girl on offense, but if we knock the ball away before she gets it, we will go with it and attack before she can get back.”

The winner will play Loudonville (25-0) or Shadyside (17-4) in the regional final at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Massillon Perry.