'Dogs drop droopy Dons

Doniphan High School will be closed the rest of the week because of a flu epidemic.

But the Dons' boys basketball team didn't exactly find Notre Dame Regional High School a healthy place either on Tuesday.

Notre Dame, behind 19 points from Wayne Essner and 18 from Travis Siebert, recorded a 68-59 SEMO Conference victory over Doniphan.

Notre Dame (8-5, 2-1) used a strong second half to pull away from the Dons (5-6, 0-2).

"We just tried to come out the second half and play harder than we did the first half," said Notre Dame center Cory Beussink, who finished with 13 points and 16 rebounds. "We tried to pick up our defense a little bit. But I think our intensity was up and that's what pushed us over the edge."

Siebert scored 12 of his points after intermission and Essner netted 11.

Notre Dame led by two points at halftime but saw the Dons open the second half with baskets by Shayne Talburt and Dale Anderson for a 26-24 lead.

Essner then marked the beginning of the end for Doniphan with a 3-pointer a minute into the half for a 27-26 lead. The Dons never saw the lead again.

Doniphan, a normally strong 3-point team, struggled to 2-of-18 shooting behind the arc.

Doniphan's season-leading scorer, Danny Kellas, has been a victim of the flu epidemic the past few days, but still led the Dons with a game-high 23 points.

Neither Kellas or his coach, Sean Gibbs, were calling their off-target attempts from behind the arc flu shots.

"A lot of us have been sick, but I don't think that had anything to do with it," Kellas said. "Offensively we just didn't play like we're capable."

Said Gibbs, "I think as much as anything we just didn't make our shots. I know the Kellas kid was sick, but other than that I think most of the other kids were in pretty good health. We just didn't shoot the ball very well."

Both teams shot 39 percent overall from the field.

Ahead 31-30 with 5:40 left in the period, Notre Dame went on an 8-0 spurt. Bryce Willen's fast-break basket with 2:33 left upped the Bulldog lead to 39-30.

Doniphan trailed 42-36 at the end of the period and closed to 42-38 with the first points of the fourth quarter, but Notre Dame iced the game with a 9-0 spurt as it continually beat Doniphan down the floor.

"They go to the boards extremely hard," Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott said. "They send four every time. If a team is really attacking you on the offensive boards, you've got to attack them on the other end and take advantage of their aggressiveness."

Beussink scored on offensive rebounds consecutive trips down the floor and Matt Wulfers scored off a Beussink pass for a commanding 55-40 lead with 4:46 left.

Five of Beussink's rebounds were offensive, and he put all five back for baskets.

"This was the first game that he wasn't in foul trouble going into the fourth quarter," Scott said. "When Cory comes out of the game, we drop off significantly rebounding."

With Beussink in the game, Notre Dame held a 37-34 rebounding edge.

"Part of that rebounding would have to be attributed to him not getting into foul problems," Scott said. "He played more minutes in this game than probably in any other game."

Notre Dame held a 9-5 lead in opening quarter before Doniphan went on an 8-0 spurt for its biggest lead, 13-9.

Notre Dame overtook the Dons in the second quarter when Siebert scored on a fast-break layin for a 19-8 advantage. The Bulldogs took a 24-22 lead into halftime.

Kellas scored all seven of Doniphan's points in the second quarter and 13 of the Dons' 22 points in the half.

Doniphan lacked balanced scoring on the game. Talburt finished with 15 points and Anderson had 12, but no other Don scored more than three points.

jbreer@semissourian.com

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