BULLDOGS SLOW DOWN REBELS; NOTRE DAME PULLS AWAY FROM PARK HILLS LATE, WINS 69-60

In the first half, Park Hills' offense was a brand new Mercedes. In the second half, it was a beat up Pinto.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs remained steady and battled past visiting Park Hills 69-60 to win their eighth game in a row and improve to 14-3.

The biggest difference in the game was Park Hills' 3-point shooting in the first half compared to that in the second.

The Rebels (12-6) made six of their 13 threes in the first half and made only one of 12 in the second.

"Notre Dame played well," Park Hills coach Greg Nobler said. "But we've been hit by the flu and Notre Dame guarded us better. We've got one player who hit 102 threes last year and another who hit 75. (The first half) was the typical us. We shoot the ball well, usually."

Notre Dame, who was making first-half shots at a remarkable rate as well, took a 35-33 lead into halftime.

The game was tight all through the second half. Park Hills led 51-47 with 7:16 to go in the fourth quarter, but it made only two of 11 shots after that, including just one of eight threes. Notre Dame, making one big play after another, finished the game on a 22-9 run.

The biggest play of the game came with 1:02 remaining.

Park Hills was trailing 60-56 and had possession. But Jonathan Ressel who scored a team-high 18 points and dished out six assists -- stole the ball and went coast-to-coast to put the Bulldogs up by six.

The Rebels, who earlier this year beat Poplar Bluff in double overtime, cut the lead back down to four twice after that, but the Bulldogs made five of their six free throws down the stretch to seal the game.

"This was a good win, because we felt pressure down the stretch " said first-year coach Darrin Scott. "We were in a battle and we were down four and came back and won the game. We do a good job at finding ways to score. We battle and compete well."

Scott was concerned that his team might have a mental letdown against Park Hills. Notre Dame had come off a big win over Jackson and will do battle with Portageville in a big game Friday night.

"What we preached (Monday) was all about intensity," Scott said. "We talked about being mature enough to want this game just because we want to win. And being mentally ready to play when we weren't playing against a rival or for district seeds."

Scott was also concerned about Park Hills' shooters. The game plan going in, he said, was to take away the perimeter shot and make the Rebels dribble. Notre Dame didn't do that in the first half, but in the second half they did.

As a result Brad Gross -- who scored 18 points and made four threes in the first half -- ended up with just 22 points. Dominique Conrad scored 11 and Josh Johnson scored 10.

For Notre Dame, Scott Wittenborn scored 13 points and Doug Schaefer added 12.

Cory Beussink had nine points and a team-high seven rebounds.