Bulldogs one win from state title repeat

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The metamorphosis is nearly complete.

The transformation from a 5-7 team to the Class 4 state champions stands just one win from fruition.

The Notre Dame girls basketball team, last year's Class 2 champion, reeled off its 17th straight win Friday afternoon with a 60-51 victory over Carthage at the Hearnes Center to move into today's Class 4 state championship game.

Junior Sommer McCauley, undergoing a personal metamorphosis within the team, scored a career-high 28 points in the semifinals.

Notre Dame (22-7), which led Carthage from wire-to-wire, will face top-ranked Duchesne (28-2) in today's 2 p.m. championship. Duchesne advanced with a 41-31 victory over eighth-ranked St. Joseph Benton.

McCauley picked up where she left off in last Saturday's quarterfinals, where she hit a game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime against Lutheran South.

McCauley, a 5-foot-7 forward, coupled her explosive, powerful style with growing confidence to create problems for Carthage (27-3), which came into the game ranked fourth in the state.

"We were informed she was a Charles Barkley type," Stockton coach Bobby Waggoner said. "She may be able to beat Charles Barkley right now one-on-one."

McCauley is nearly a foot shorter and almost 200 pounds lighter than Sir Charles, but her game does bear a resemblance.

McCauley hit 12 of her 17 shots from the floor, including three of four from beyond the 3-point arc. When not driving the lane, beating defenders with a quick first step, McCauley was showing a soft shooting touch from all over.

"She's an in-between player," Waggoner said. "She's real strong and can do a lot of thing. I think she was the difference in the ballgame. I know she was from my standpoint."

McCauley has been alleviating the scoring load of senior point guard Ashley Millham, who came into the game scoring 20.3 ppg. Millham finished with 11 points, had a team-high four assists and six rebounds.

"I think everyone on the team is stepping up right now when it counts," Millham said. "It's been awesome."

McCauley, who just recently scored her previous best of 23 points, came in averaging 11.5 points.

Her explanation for her clutch play is simple.

"I just want to win real bad, and I'm just doing what I need to do to help the team out," McCauley said.

Senior Ali Tyson said McCauley has always been aggressive with her play, but hasn't seen her play better.

"She's been like that all year," Tyson said. "When people see her coming they basically step out of the way. They don't try to stop her. I think they're scared to."

"Sommer had a great game today," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said. "When she gets the ball in the paint or in the perimeter where she can penetrate, they can't stop her."

Carthage made its first state appearance ever and played the role of the nervous newcomer. The Tigers committed seven turnovers in the first quarter, which ended with Notre Dame leading 17-7.

Sierra Ellis gave the Bulldogs a lead they never relinquished when she connected on the first shot of the game. It started a 17-3 run by the Bulldogs, capped by an Erin Pfau basket on a fastbreak created by a turnover.

Carthage got as close as 17-9 in the opening minute of the second quarter, but Notre Dame came back with an 8-0 spurt. McCauley scored on a conventional three-point play, put in an offensive rebound, before Tyson sank a baseline jumper for a 23-9 lead at the 5:34 mark.

Notre Dame took a 27-12 lead into halftime.

"We were a little nervous," Carthage senior point guard Tara Waggoner said. "But they tried to push us out of our game at every opportunity."

Carthage, which averaged 11 turnovers a game during their playoff run, had 15 by halftime and finished with 24. Notre Dame alternated between zone and man-to-man defenses to keep Carthage off-balance.

Katie Burger led Carthage with 13 points, and Katie Wooldridge finished with 12.

"I think coach Grim has a good chance against Duchesne," Waggoner.

"We're definitely going to be nervous and excited at the same time, but we're just going to try to play our game and hope we come out on top," Millham said.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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