West Springfield girls gain third straight state tournament berth In the storied history of the West Springfield girls" basketball program, no single class of players had ever gone to three consecutive state tournaments. Entering Friday night's Virginia AAA Northern Region semifinal against No. 18 Madison, the Spartans" four seniors were given the opportunity to be the first group to do just that. And it was their experience that proved too much for the talented but young Warhawks to overcome, as the Spartans secured a third straight state tournament berth with a 62-46 win. Fifth-ranked West Springfield (26-2) will face No. 4 Oakton in Monday's region title game. The Cougars defeated No. 14 Mount Vernon, 59-35, in the first game of the doubleheader at Robinson. Senior All-Met guard April Robinson, a Duquesne recruit, led the Spartans with 12 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds and Georgetown-bound senior Logan Battle added 19 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. "We were coming out ready to play with heart," Battle said. April, Jordan [Miller] and [Emily] Esau, we knew the senior urgency was what we were about tonight. Luckily for us it paid off in the end. Robinson, who missed 10 games this season with an ankle injury, showed little rust even as she continues to work back into game shape. Her passing and vision had the Spartans" offense running to perfection. Battle, meanwhile, took advantage of her matchup with Madison's 6-2 freshman Kelly Koshuta. Behind Koshuta and junior Megan LeDuc, the Warhawks (23-5) closed to within 41-36 early in the fourth quarter, but Robinson manufactured an 11-3 run for West Springfield to close out the win. In the first game, Oakton All-Met guard Caroline Coyer combined with twin sister Katherine to lead the Cougars (27-0) to a convincing win. After losing to West Springfield in the region semifinals last year, Caroline Coyer said she has been having recurring dreams about getting back to the Virginia AAA tournament. "I was just going back and looking at old newspaper things and [mementos] from the end of the year and stuff," Caroline Coyer said. I was just thinking how badly I want to go back. Last year was such a disappointment; it just feels so good. Caroline had 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists and four steals while Katherine Coyer added 19 points, three rebounds and two assists. Oakton opened up a 20-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and never allowed Mount Vernon (25-2) closer than 13 points after that. George Mason advances Junior forward Stephanie Cheney had 17 points and senior forward Lauren Kane added 10 as George Mason clinched a spot in its fifth consecutive state tournament with a 54-46 win over Central-Woodstock in a Virginia A Region B Division 2 semifinal at Strasburg. The Mustangs (23-4) will play Stuarts Draft in the region final on Saturday at 8 at Eastern Mennonite.