'DOGS ROLL BY TIGERS, INTO SEMIS

Buh... oing.

Boing.

Perhaps the Nike commercial producers should've been taping the Cape Central-Notre Dame game Thursday night.

The sixth-seeded Tigers shot 12 percent from three-point range -- including 0-for-10 in the deciding third quarter -- as No. 3 Notre Dame advanced to the semifinals of the University High Christmas with a 61-41 win over its Cape Girardeau rival.

Central was just 1-of-9 from behind the arc in the first half, but surprisingly held a 25-24 advantage at halftime. Despite their first-half struggles, the Tigers continued shooting and clanking threes in the second half and it cost them the game in the third quarter when Notre Dame (6-2) outscored Central 25-8.

Central, which had an obvious height disadvantage, shot threes in eight of its 13 possessions in the third quarter and missed badly on several of them, including a pair of air balls on the same possession.

In all, the Tigers made three of 26 attempts from behind the arc and took six more threes than two-point attempts.

"We had way too many long shots and way too many people taking them," said Cape Central coach Brett Reutzel. "Especially when you haven't scored. When you haven't scored in four minutes, you have to settle down and get a basket. I think it was just the excitement of the game. Some guys have a green light and when they're open they shoot it, but there are times when you just need to get a high-percentage shot."

Notre Dame, meanwhile, was much more aggressive in the second half and scored some easy baskets off Central's press in the third quarter to pull away. The Bulldogs opened the third quarter with a 15-2 run and never looked back.

"We changed our press offense a bit and handled their press better," said Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott. "I think we lost our confidence there in the second quarter and we weren't aggressive and weren't attacking. When we did that, we handled the pressure a lot better."

Notre Dame led 13-10 after the first quarter, but Central (2-4) forced the Bulldogs into 10 second-quarter turnovers. It had just five the rest of the game.

Central had trouble matching up with Notre Dame's height, especially 6-foot-6 Bulldog center Doug Schaefer, who scored almost every time he got the ball near the basket. He ended up with a game-high 18 points.

"We could've taken advantage of that more," said Scott. "But they just guarded us tight and forced us to dribble instead of getting a good look inside."

Mark Rubel added 14 points for Notre Dame, followed by Jonathan Ressel and Cory Beussink with 10 apiece.

Michael Cox scored 15 points to lead Cape Central.