For the Hamilton High girls basketball team, playing the Princeton Vikings a third time this season was the goal.

Fortunately for the Big Blue, the determination displayed Saturday matched that desire.

Hamilton rode a suffocating defense and a spectacular effort from Jillian Spurlock to dispatch the Cincinnati Metro League runner-up Hughes Center Big Red 48-39 in the Division I sectional tournament at Lakota East High School.

Hamilton, the 23 seed, advances to play the second-seeded Vikings 7:30 Thursday at Lakota East. The Vikings defeated Hamilton 75-39 and 65-40 this season.

“It is tough to beat someone three times,” Hamilton coach Jill Meiring said. “We will have our hands full but it is nice to have the opportunity.”

For that opportunity, Hamilton can thank Spurlock. A Miami University signee, the senior dominated, pouring in a game-high 24 points, snaring 15 rebounds, dishing out five assists while notching five steals.

“Yes, this was one of my better games,” Spurlock said. “It was really exciting to get the win.”

Hamilton, which improved to 7-16, struggled early, falling behind 10-2 as Courizma Williams (team-high 11 points) had eight quick points. But behind Spurlock”s six points and a trey from Savannah Conrad, the Big Blue battled back, closing the gap to 12-9 at the first quarter stop.

Conrad, who added nine points on three triples, gave the Blue a 21-20 lead late in the second stanza but Williams answered with a trey of her own as Hughes grabbed a 25-21 halftime lead.

Hamilton came out of the break with a different look, running off the first seven points of the quarter while extending its matchup zone to take away open looks. Conrad hit a big 3 to give Hamilton the lead for good (28-25) and the Big Blue outscored the Big Red 15-6 to snare a 36-31 lead entering the final stanza.

Hamilton opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run to snag a 43-31 lead that did not dip below nine the rest of the way.

Hughes was shut down in the second half, getting outscored 27-14 while managing 6-of-20 from the floor, including 1-for-6 from both the 3-point line and charity stripe. Hughes, which fell to 12-10, committed eight turnovers and got outrebounded 13-9 after the break.

“We made some adjustments at half to close out on (Williams) and really grab some rebounds,” Meiring said. “I thought our zone was really active and we didn’t want to give them any second-chance points.”

Takyra Gilbert had a nice game for Hamilton, scoring eight points and adding three assists and three steals.

As Hamilton left the court to board the bus for the ride home, Princeton was warming up for the next game. “We have nothing to lose,” Spurlock said of playing the Vikings. “We just need to play as a team.”