Sacred Heart is one victory from winning the Republic Bank Louisville Invitational Tournament.

The Valkyries’ national schedule — including the Nike Tournament of Champions, The St. James MLK Classic and the Raatz Fence/O’Shea's Classic against St. Louis Incarnate Word — has helped prepare them for even bigger goals, including winning their fourth consecutive state championship.

Sacred Heart took another step toward its lofty goals after defeating No. 3 Cooper, 61-56, in the first LIT semifinal Saturday.

“We played the top-5 teams in the nation when we were in D.C.,” senior Reagan Bender said about Sacred Heart’s schedule. “We learned a lot from them. They really exposed us on what we need to work on. We can’t just let Z (ZaKiyah Johnson) do everything on (her) own. Sharing the ball, our defense, it was not really good in D.C.”

The Valkyries will face Butler, which defeated No. 2 George Rogers Clark, 61-58, in the second semifinal, for the LIT championship at 6 p.m.

Sacred Heart started the top-five semifinal showdown Saturday on an 11-0 run and maintained the lead throughout, holding off a late Jaguars rally.

“We gotta keep attacking in the second half,” Valkyries coach Donna Moir said. “We kinda got on our heels the second half a little, but we just gotta keep attacking. That whole second half (we) never really got into a flow because we were making stupid fouls and kept putting them on the free-throw line instead of letting the clock run.”

Bender and Johnson combined for 21 points in the first half, and the Valkyries led, 35-19, at the break. Bender finished with 21 points, and Johnson added 13. With Johnson and UNC-Wilmington signee Angelina Pelayo getting double-teamed and even triple-teamed at times, Bender took advantage.

Bender scored many points in transition and off assists from Johnson and Pelayo.

The Valkyries have many options on offense, which makes Sacred Heart so tough to play, Jaguars coach Justin Holthaus said.

“It’s kinda pick your poison when you play against them,” Holthaus said. “It’s like a cat and mouse. You gotta try to contest on everything, and then one girl gets hot, now we gotta draw a little more attention on her. They’re a tough guard, but when you put yourself in a hole like that you just put so much pressure on your defense as well.”

In the second semifinal, senior Mariah Knight posted a double-double (20 points, 11 rebounds) in Butler's win. Fellow senior Ramiya White finished with 19 points and six rebounds for the Bearettes. The duo combined to score 16 points in the fourth quarter.

“They’ve played together before,” Butler coach Candyce Wheeler said of White and Knight. “I don’t think it’s necessarily (them learning how to play together), I just think they’ve bought in to me, my staff, the system, in coaching, and discipline.”

Butler earned the win despite being outscored, 33-23, by GRC in the second and third quarters.

GRC advanced to the semifinals without junior standout Ciara Byars, who sustained a season-ending knee injury earlier this month. Teigh Yeast (14 points, three rebounds), Jailenn Green (game-high 21 points) and Kennedy Stamper (10 points, four rebounds) led the way for the Cardinals.

Green, Stamper and Yeast combined for 12 points in the fourth quarter. White and Knight helped give Butler a four-point lead late in the fourth quarter.

Wheeler said Butler will “let the chips fall where they may” in its matchup against Sacred Heart.

“I think it’s a great matchup for us,” Wheeler said. “A lot of teams that we’ve played haven’t had true bigs. Z is more versatile, she can take it off the dribble, she can shoot, she can post up. But we have that, too.”

Reach sports reporter Brooks Warren at bwarren@gannett.com and follow him on X at @Broookksss.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: KHSAA basketball: Sacred Heart vs Butler in 2024 LIT championship game