Bulldogs complete sweep through Woodland field

~ Notre Dame routed Perryville 82-43 in the championship game.

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The Notre Dame boys basketball team needed overtime last year to edge Meadow Heights in the finals of the Woodland Invitational.

Despite losing four starters, the Bulldogs had an easier time against the Woodland competition this year, finishing off their second straight title Friday with an 82-43 rout of No. 2 Perryville.

The Bulldogs won by an average of 50.3 points during their three games at Woodland. Notre Dame also averaged 94.7 points a game en route to the title.

"We've got off to a good start," Notre Dame coach Paul Hale said. "We know we'll play better teams, and we know we have to play better. But we will. We played here last year and didn't play well and we got better."

Last year, Notre Dame translated its rocky start at the Woodland Invitational into a Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament championship and a 22-4 record.

Whether Notre Dame's young squad can duplicate that success remains to be seen, but through three games the Bulldogs seem to be headed in the right direction.

"I'm real proud of how we handled this week," Hale said. "We got to play a lot of kids. I thought Joseph Tolbert did a real good job tonight. We have to find our bench, find what works. That's what we did this week."

Tolbert, a sophomore, had 12 points off the bench for the Bulldogs. Six of those points came early in the second quarter, when Notre Dame took control of the game.

Notre Dame led just 9-8 midway through the first quarter, and led 19-12 after Perryville scored the first bucket of the second quarter. From there, Notre Dame went on an 18-0 run to put Perryville away.

"We executed really well for a quarter and a half, the shots just didn't fall," Perryville coach Joel Roth said. "When we got behind, then we started turning it over."

The Bulldogs scored 28 points in the second quarter and opened a 47-21 halftime lead. Ryan Willen led the Bulldogs with 14 first-half points, including 8-for-10 shooting from the free throw line.

Willen led the Bulldogs with 22 points, and sophomore Austin Greer added 10.

Mark Himmelberg finished with 12 points, all on 3-pointers.

Jon Hecht led the Pirates with 13 points, including three second-half 3-pointers. Tyler Bauwens added eight points for the Pirates.

In the third-place game, No. 5 Leopold beat No. 3 Meadow Heights 86-68 behind 36 points from Darren VanGennip. VanGennip finished with six 3-pointers. Cody Van De Ven had 13 points, and Eric Fluchel added 11 points for the Wildcats.

Tyler Wagner led the Panthers with 27 points, John Long had 12 and Sam Russell had 10.

The host Cardinals beat Oak Ridge 67-35 in the consolation finals.

Woodland's Seth Gaines was named to the all-tournament team along with Tyler Martin of Delta, Tyler Wagner of Meadow Heights, VanGennip of Leopold and Brent Roth of Perryville. Notre Dame had four players honored -- Abe Dirnberger, Ty Williams, Greer and Willen.

Notre Dame 82, Perryville 43

Perryville 10 11 11 11 -- 43

Notre Dame 19 28 20 15 -- 82

PERRYVILLE (43) -- Jon Hecht 13, Tyler Bauwens 8, Rick Dunn 6, Corey Lorenz 5, Brent Roth 5, Mike Fritsche 4, Dane Francis 1, Darren Sherrill 1. FG: 15, FT: 10-18, F: 16 (3-pointers: Hecht 3, fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (82) -- Ryan Willen 22, Joseph Tolbert 12, Mark Himmelberg 12, Austin Greer 10, Ty Williams 5, Abe Dirnberger 4, John Unterreiner 4, Logan Glueck 2, Ivan Thomas 4, Blake Gaddis 2. FG: 31, FT: 11-18, F 18 (3-pointers: Himmelberg 4, Williams 1, Greer 1, Tolbert 1, fouled out: none)

Leopold 86, Meadow Heights 68

Meadow Hts 14 17 20 17 -- 68

Leopold 23 12 20 31 -- 86

MEADOW HEIGHTS (68) -- Thomas Mitchell 3, Derrick Wilfong 9, Tyler Wagner 27, John Long 12, Sam Russell 10, Derek Bess 2, Dusty Davis 1, Luke Nitsch 4. FG: 27, FT: 11-16, F: 19 (3-pointers: T. Mitchell 1, Wagner 1, Long 1.

fouled out: none)

LEOPOLD (86) -- Nathan Nenninger 5, Cody Van De Ven 13, Tyler Clubb 9, Darren VanGennip 36, Eric Fluchel 11, Matt Stoverink 9, Jordan Jansen 3. FG: 31, FT: 15-26, F: 14 (3-pointers: Nenninger 1, VanGennip 6, Clubb 1, Stoverink 1. fouled out: none)