Bradshaw leads Notre Dame girls to title

~ Notre Dame improved to 16-4 as it won the Queen of Hearts tournament

ST. LOUIS -- Allyson Bradshaw and the rest of her Notre Dame girls basketball teammates missed the big snow that hit the area Friday.

But they made the most of their trip to "dry" St. Louis as they captured the Queen of Hearts tournament for the second year in a row. Notre Dame dominated from start to finish Saturday in a 63-37 victory over Lutheran North at Villa Duchesne High School.

"I like snow and I heard we got about 8 inches," said Bradshaw, a junior point guard who led the Bulldogs with 18 points Saturday. "But there is plenty of time to enjoy the snow when we get home. It was fun to play here and win a tournament."

The Bulldogs had a team lunch Saturday at the Macaroni Grill then feasted on the Crusaders, who came into the game with an impressive 13-4 record.

"This was our fourth game this week and third in a row and I was very pleased with the effort and heart that these girls showed today," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said. "I thought we did a real nice job of doing the things we do well -- pressing, running the floor and looking for each other."

Notre Dame never trailed in the game as sophomore Brooke Bohnert helped the Bulldogs with an eight-point and two-assist first quarter. The Bulldogs led 16-5 after the first quarter and continued to pour it on the rest of the way.

A look at the shot chart would show that most of the Bulldogs field goals came in the paint, with most of them coming via an efficient and sometimes brilliant assist.

"We like to get the ball down the court in a hurry," Bradshaw said. "We all know our roles and my main one is to get the ball to my teammates in the position where they can best put it in the basket."

Bradshaw has the luxury of having a lot of finishers to her passes, but also she has demonstrated the ability to shoot from the outside, which is especially important when opponents double- and triple-team Jane Morrill on the inside. Bradshaw hit three 3-pointers in the second half Saturday.

"Allyson has a wonderful outside shot and she does a really good job of getting us into our offense," Peters said. "She is a real stabilizer out there."

Bradshaw had a hand in holding Lutheran North star Jordyn Wartts to 14 points, which is more than five below her average. No other Crusaders player had more than six points.

"The focus in this tournament and really all year has been defense," Bradshaw said. "We were able to get some pressure today and that helped us run the floor. We realize that defense wins championships."

It did for the second year in a row at Villa. The Bulldogs defeated St. Louis Notre Dame in last year's title contest.

"At this time of the year, you want to maintain and improve and I felt we did that in this tournament, especially defensively," Peters said. "I felt our press was as good as it has been the last couple of nights."

The scoring was balanced with Bradshaw, Morrill (13 points) and Bohnert (12) all scoring in double figures with Meghan Dohogne chipping in nine points.

Notre Dame will bring a 16-4 record into Monday's big game against Central at the Show Me Center. The girls will play the first game at 6 p.m. and the boys will play at about 7:30 p.m.

Semifinal win

In Friday's semifinals, Notre Dame defeated fifth-seeded Principia 64-52.

Bradshaw led the Bulldogs with 24 points. Bohnert and Dohogne added 14 points apiece. Dohogne also had 11 rebounds.

Notre Dame 63, Lutheran North 37

Lutheran North 5 9 13 10 -- 37

Notre Dame 16 15 21 11 -- 63

LUTHERAN NORTH (37) -- Jordyn Wartts 14, Chelsea Johnson 6, Charmaura Henderson 6, Ariel Cook 5, Jaymi Davis 2, Jalisa Mitchell 2, Candyce Davis 2. FG 13, FT 10-17, Fouls 14 (3-pointers: Wartts 1. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (63) -- Allyson Bradshaw 18, Jane Morrill 13, Brooke Bohnert 12, Meghan Dohogne 9, Nicole Blattel 6, Katherine Blasiney 2, Madison Huckstep 2, Summer Burger 1. FG 23, FT 14-18, F 16. (3-pointers: Bradshaw 3. Fouled out none)

------

Notre Dame 64, Principia 52

Principia 15 11 13 13 -- 52

Notre Dame 17 19 22 6 -- 64

PRINCIPIA (52) -- Randolph 4, Gilman 11, DeNicholas 16, Bushong 6, Johnson 6, Switzer 5, Towle 4. FG 17, FT 15-17, F 16. (3-pointers: DeNicholas 3. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (64) -- Allyson Bradshaw 24, Brooke Bohnert 14, Meghan Dohogne 14, Jane Morrill 6, Katherine Blasiney 6. FG 26, FT 9-16, F 17. (3-pointers: Bradshaw 3. Fouled out: none)