2023 Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament: Notre Dame returns to semifinals for first time since 2020

The Notre Dame Bulldogs entered the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament as the No. 4 seed with a 1-5 record, and after two rounds, the only team to have played two teams with winning records.

Yet with a 56-43 win over Woodland (8-1) in the quarterfinal round, the Bulldogs (3-5) are back in the semifinals for the first time since 2020.

As Notre Dame head coach Jeremy Brinkmeyer explained, records are for standings, not coaching.

“As a basketball coach, if you're focused on record, you're focusing on the wrong thing," Brinkmeyer said. "You got to focus on getting better every single day. The goal is at the end of the year to be the best team you are and because when you come to district time, everyone's 0-0.”

The game was tied 33-33 entering the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs outscored the Cardinals 23-10 to seal the win.

"We just bought into trying to get rebounds," Brinkmeyer said. "We keep a stat of how many one-shot possessions, where they shoot it and we get the rebound. We didn't do very well the whole game but in the last quarter, we ended with eight, which is huge."

Brett Dohogne led the Bulldogs with 15 points, Kolton Johnson added 11 points, and Trenton Schumacker and Hudson Dennis chipped in 10 points each.

“It was a team effort,” Dohogne said. “My teammates passed the ball pretty well. They saw me down low and I just finished it.”

On a team of virtually all juniors, Dennis stands out as the lone freshman with a spot on the starting varsity lineup. Wednesday's game against Woodland was the first time he scored 10 points in his career.

"He is a great great athlete, great kid," Brinkmeyer said. He's learning what it takes to be a physical center in the Southeast Missouri area. Every day, he's taking a step forward in the right direction, and the best thing about him is he has a great attitude and works hard and that makes it easy to coach. We're just excited to see what he can do in four years, hopefully, if he continues to work like this."

Lane Lee led the Cardinals with 15 points. Woodland will play Scott City on Thursday, Dec. 28, at 3 p.m., with the winner playing for fifth place on Saturday, Dec. 30.

Notre Dame will take on rival Cape Central in the semifinal round on Thursday, Dec. 28, at 6 p.m.

“If we do our best and play hard we’ll be able to come out with a W,” Dohogne said.

__NOTRE DAME 56, WOODLAND 43__

Woodland 10 12 11 10 — 43

Notre Dame 17 10 19 6 — 56

Woodland (43) — Lane Lee 15, Brayden Hastings 8, Reed Layton 7, Calvin Layton 5, Korbin Kinder 2, Ellias Nenninger 2, Seth Abernathy 2. FG: 17. (3-pointers: Lee 3, Hastings 1, R. Layton 1, C. Layton 1)

Notre Dame (56) — Brett Dohogne 15, Kolton Johnson 11, Trenton Schumacker 10, Hudson Dennis 10, Hunter Bonham 5, Brody Harden 2, Carson Essner 2, Logan Landewee 1. FG: 21. (3-pointers: Schumacker 2, Johnson 2)