COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Freshman guard Kathryn Reynolds hit a layup at the buzzer — it'll be debated for years that it may have come after it — to give Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame its third consecutive Division I state championship Monday night with a heart-stopping 69-67 victory over West Chester Lakota West.

Video replays appeared to show the ball still in Reynolds' hand as the neon light flashed on the backboard, which usually coincides with the final buzzer.

Gabby Smith had stripped the ball from Lakota West's Tessa Elkins as Elkins drove in for a potential winning layup in the closing seconds. Ashley Fowler flipped a long pass to Reynolds, alone behind the defense, who dribbled to the basket in a race with the clock and a frantic Firebird defender.

The basket touched off a wild celebration by MND (26-2), the state's No. 2-ranked team. The Cougars became the first big-school team in the state to win three consecutive championships. They have won four of the last five titles, losing in the championship game in 2005.

Henry Zaborniak, assistant commissioner of the sanctioning Ohio High School Athletic Association, said he had seen video replays which supported that Reynolds still had the ball when the light went off.

"Watching it on TV, that's what it appeared," he said.

There is no video replay in high school sports. Zaborniak said there is no way of knowing if the light coordinated with the final buzzer. The buzzer determines when the game ends, he said.

Tia McBride led the Cougars with 24 points, with Smith adding 14 and Fowler 11.

Alexis Rogers scored 24 points and 2008 Associated Press Ms. Basketball Amber Gray had 23 for Lakota (26-2), which was ranked No. 3 in the final regular-season ranking and was seeking its first state title.

The teams had met in the season-opener, with Lakota West winning at home 61-55 on Nov. 21. In that game, Gray had 16 points and Quinessa Johnson 10 for the Firebirds, with McBride scoring 15 points and Smith 14 for the Cougars.

Monday night, the teams went back and forth at each other, swapping the lead, for much of the game.

The Cougars relied heavily on McBride in the third quarter. She scored 14 of their points in a row, tying the game at 40 with her basket and hitting a 3 with 37 seconds left in the quarter for a 52-46 lead.

The Firebirds cut the lead to four, again and again, but each time the Cougars responded to pad the lead.

One big break came when Fowler tracked down an errant pass and then stormed up the court. Trying to catch up with her, Lakota West's Elkin accidentally bumped her as she was shooting from the foul line. Fowler was knocked to the floor — her shot banking in. She hit the foul shot to finish off the three-point play, giving the Cougars a 64-57 lead with 2:55 left.

It still wasn't close to being over, however.

The Firebirds cut it to 65-61 on Rogers' bucket with 1:28 left. She then stole a pass and was fouled on a drive, hitting both shots with 1:10 remaining to narrow the gap to one.

The inbounds pass was stolen by Lakota West's Johnson, who quickly fed Rogers under the basket for the tying layup with 1:06 left.

By that point, MND had lost two starters to fouls.

After Fowler missed a layup for MND, Rogers was fouled and hit both shots with 41 seconds left for a 67-65 Lakota West lead.

The Cougars came back and scored with 28 seconds left — on a McBride basket, of course.

That set up the final, wild seconds.