In the final regular season AP poll of IHSA girls basketball teams, Washington and Providence were ranked first and second in Class 3A, respectively.

Instead of meeting in the state finals this weekend at Illinois State University, the two teams met in the Class 3A Kankakee Supersectional on Monday, with the winner moving on to the state finals.

Throughout the postseason, Providence has made a habit of stifling the other team’s offense and getting off to a quick start offensively. On Monday night, Washington turned that around on the Celtics and scored the first seven points of the game en route to a 73-47 victory.

It was the only loss of the season for the Celtics (31-5) to a Class 3A team. The others came to Class 4A Mother McAuley (twice) and Loyola Academy of Illinois and Notre Dame Academy of Green Bay, Wisconsin, which is in the second-largest class of five in that state.

“We got buzzsawed,” Providence coach Eileen Copenhaver said. “We had a couple of good looks early, but they didn’t go in, and all of a sudden we were down 7-0. Washington is super quick, and it didn’t seem like they missed in the first half.”

The Panthers made 14 of their 20 shots from the field (70%) in the first half and finished 26-of-42 (61.9%). The Celtics got a 3-pointer from Layken Callahan (11 points) for their first basket before a bucket by Taylor Healy (eight points) cut the Washington lead to 9-5. That was as close as Providence got the rest of the night, as Washington (33-2) got a 3-pointer from Mazzy O’Brien (15 points) and a three-point play from Avery Tibbs, who led all scorers with 26 points, to grab a 15-5 lead.

Kennady Kotowski (11 points) hit a 3-pointer to pull the Celtics to within 15-8, but Washington answered with a basket by freshman Kate McDougal (13 points), followed by consecutive 3-pointers from Tibbs en route to a 25-12 lead after the first quarter.

Eilish Raines is one of just two seniors in the Providence starting lineup, and she was a starter with last year’s Celtics team that lost in the sectional championship.

“Getting farther than we did last year was one of our goals,” Raines said. “We did that. We knew coming in that Washington is a great team. We just wanted to keep playing our style, but they kept making shots.

“I didn’t want to be a point guard when I started, but I came to like it. I like being able to scan the court, think things out and make passes.”

The second quarter opened with a basket by Pepperdine recruit Landrie Callahan (team-high 13 points) to pull Providence to within 25-14, but Washington answered with six straight points for a 31-14 lead en route to a 41-24 halftime lead.

Kotowski hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter for the Celtics, but McDougal scored Washington’s next nine points while Providence got just a pair of Kotowski free throws in that stretch. Washington led 59-39 at the end of three quarters.

“I am so proud of our girls,” Copenhaver said. “They really took us on a fantastic journey this year. We were 31-5, and we do have a lot of players coming back. We have a nice junior class and had some sophomores play quite a bit.

“Tonight, we just weren’t able to get many stops. Even when we did score a couple of baskets in a row, they came right back with a couple of their own. They are going to be tough to beat.”