MISHAWAKA – The Penn girls basketball program hopes the third time is the charm come Saturday.

The Kingsmen will play for a state championship for the third time in the past six seasons.

Penn, ranked No. 4, will meet No. 1 and defending state champion Columbus North in the Class 4-A finale at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The title game will tip-off at approximately 8:15 p.m. Saturday.

The Kingsmen, who earned state runner-up finishes in both 2011 and 2014, will face the Bulldogs for the second time this season. Penn, which is 27-2, lost 67-52 to Columbus North in the championship game of the Columbus North Invitational back on Dec. 30. The Bulldogs are 27-1 on the season, losing just a 61-57 decision to Class 3-A state finalist Heritage Christian.

The Kingsmen, who returned three starters from last year’s 22-5 squad, are a veteran group. Coach Kristi Ulrich’s team has seven seniors, including five in their starting lineup. Penn is ranked fifth in the state in points allowed per game at 33.7 and is fourth in the state in average margin of victory at 30.3 points-per-game.

Penn is led by Indiana All-Star candidate Camryn Buhr. The smooth 6-1 senior, who will play next season at Lehigh, averages 19.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

The Kingsmen also count on junior guard Lindsy Kline (10.3), senior point guard Kaitlyn Marenyi (9.8) and senior guard Claire Carlton (8.4). Marenyi missed the first game versus North due to an injury and then was also sidelined during the sectional before returning for the regional and semistate games.

Penn, whose other loss this year was a 50-49 setback at NIC champion South Bend St. Joseph, beat Warsaw 64-33 in the title game of the Goshen Sectional. The Kingsmen have won six straight sectional championships under Ulrich.

Ulrich has guided Penn to a 157-21 mark in her seventh season as the head coach. Ulrich, the former Kristi Kaniewski, is a 1999 Mishawaka High School graduate and played basketball at both MHS and Bethel College. She was a part of the 2000 and 2003 NCCAA National Championship teams for the Pilots.

The Penn athletic program owns 18 state championships in total. The girls team is seeking the program’s first in that sport on Saturday.

North returned three starters this year from its 28-1 state championship team of a year ago. The Bulldogs, who are in the state title game for the third time in the last five years, are led by junior guard Maliah Howard-Bass. She averaged 18.9 points-per-game for her squad.

The Bulldogs, who start three seniors, also count on junior guard Ashlyn Huffman (9.3), junior forward imani Guy (9.2) and senior guard Paige Littrell (8.9).

North is coached by Pat McKee, who is 145-17 in his sixth season. McKee spent 26 years as a sportswriter at the Indianapolis Star before taking over the North program.

The Penn-Columbus North game will be televised Saturday night by WHME-TV (Channel 46).