CENTRAL NIPS NOTRE DAME

A coach with five new, young faces in her starting set understands that her team is going to miss key free throws and turn the ball over. So she demands effort and defense.

In contrast, when your team is ranked No. 2 in the Missouri Class 2A poll, you expect a lot. And you can't even fathom your team shooting 26 percent and committing 21 turnovers.

Paula Watkins, Cape Girardeau Central High's girls basketball coach, got the effort on defense she knows her team must have to win. That allowed her Lady Tigers to beat Notre Dame 40-36 on the road Wednesday night.

"We're making turnovers; we're missing some shots; we're missing some free throws; but we're getting stops on the other end of the court," Watkins said. "That's been the difference. Defense is what has kept us in the ballgame."

Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim, who has four starters from last year's state runner-up Lady Bulldogs, felt he didn't get much of anything from his squad.

"We would like to play a heck of a lot better," said Grim, whose surname matched his view of his team after the game. "We just made stupid passes. Central just outplayed us."

Although Notre Dame (5-1) looked nothing like the team that played for the state championship last season, the Lady Bulldogs trailed by just a point, 37-36, after Rachael Schlosser's basket inside with 1:33 remaining.

But Notre Dame turned the ball over on its next two possessions and Jennifer Glueck missed a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left that would have tied the game.

"We've got a good team this year; I'm not saying we don't," Grim said. "But right now the girls are not working to their potential. And I think before we become a good team, they're going to have to work a lot harder than they're working right now."

Central (3-1) didn't help itself much in the last minute, either. The Lady Tigers missed 4 of 5 free-throw attempts, but two key offensive rebounds helped seal the win.

"We had 24 turnovers; we were 10 for 27 from the free-throw line; and still came out with a win," said Watkins, whose team's only loss this year is a six-point setback to defending Class 4A champion Gateway Tech. "It was a good win for us."

Central was led by senior forward Amy Harris and junior guard Kim Aslinger. Harris had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Aslinger scored 13.

"I don't think we're surprised (with our success), but everybody else is," Aslinger said. "We're just trying to do what's not expected of us."

For Notre Dame, Randi Senciboy made 4 of 9 3-point attempts and led all scorers with 14 points.

The first quarter was abysmal for both teams as they combined for 1 of 13 shooting and 10 turnovers in the opening four minutes 50 seconds.

Senciboy caught fire in the second quarter, hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 11 points as the Lady Bulldogs led 21-18 at halftime. Central's 14-5 edge in the third quarter put the Lady Tigers ahead 32-26 entering the fourth quarter.

The game featured six lead changes. Neither team led by more than eight points.