Dexter doubles up Notre Dame 80-40 in the district semifinal

The Notre Dame boys basketball team did not have to wait long to find out what was in store for it Wednesday night.

Dexter, the top seed in the Class 4, District 1 tournament, rattled off a 13-point spree in the first quarter and a 22-point run later in the first half to set the tone for an 80-40 district semifinal win at Notre Dame.

The Bearcats (20-6) play Friday in the championship against Fredericktown, a 64-56 winner Wednesday against Sikeston.

Notre Dame concluded its season at 6-20.

The Bulldogs led 4-2 -- their only lead of the night -- before Dexter rattled off its first scoring spree to take a 15-4 lead.

"Dexter was ready to play," said Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott, whose team lost to Dexter in December. "They're just a good basketball team. When they made that first run, we weren't ready to handle that."

Dexter made a second run later in the first half and built a 37-7 lead, while Notre Dame went scoreless for more than eight minutes.

"We've had trouble being patient on offense and when you play in a big game and you get pumped, sometimes that tendency increases," Scott said. "The adrenaline makes some people play better or worse, but you usually don't play the same in a big game."

For most of Notre Dame's young squad -- one senior, five juniors, eight sophomores and a freshman -- Wednesday was the biggest game of their careers.

"We've had to play some young kids that weren't ready to play varsity," said Scott, who had led the Bulldogs to three 20-win seasons in his first three years. "We've been playing better lately but this was the biggest game we've been in."

Notre Dame didn't have an answer for Dexter's big man, 6-foot-6 senior Derek Demaree.

Demaree scored a game-high 32 points, even throwing in a pair of 3-pointers late in the contest as Dexter's lead rose to 45 (80-35) with 2 minutes 32 seconds to play. Josh Miller added 14 points and Scott Admire scored 13.

For the Bulldogs, Jeremy Brinkmeyer was the lone player in double figures with 10 points. Bryce Willen added eight. Senior Blake Fisher scored five in his final game.

"Blake knew the situation we were in this year," Scott said. "He worked hard and he kept a good attitude. Sometimes basketball teaches you life lessons and he learned some life lessons this year."

Dexter 80, Notre Dame 40

Notre Dame 7 9 13 11 -- 40

Dexter 24 18 28 10 -- 80

NOTRE DAME (40) -- Frankie Ellis 2, John Eric Klein 7, Jeremy Brinkmeyer 10, Kirk Boeller 2, Alex Ressel 3, Bryce Willen 8, Steven Eeftink 3, Blake Fisher 5. FG 16, FT 7-16, F 19 (3-pointers: Klein; Fouled out: Unterreiner)

DEXTER (80) -- Scott Admire 13, Derek Roberts 3, Josh Miller 14, Justin Devers 5, Chris Guethle 6, Eric Rinehart 5, Anthony Elfrink 5, Levi Rawson 2, Derek Demaree 32 (3-pointers: Miller 2, Demaree 2, Admire 1, Roberts 1, Devers 1; Fouled out: none)