'DOGS RUN DOWN TIGERS FOR 1ST WIN UNDER NEFF

It wasn't exactly the Jerry Springer Show, but the Cape Central-Notre Dame basketball game Tuesday night was plenty wild and nearly out of control.

And it wasn't exactly award-winning entertainment either.

Notre Dame, despite committing 31 fouls and shooting 32 percent from the field, managed to beat its turnover-prone, cross-city rival 61-51 at Tiger Field House.

The Tigers turned the ball over 23 times and made just 20 of their 43 foul shots.

The game was tight until Notre Dame -- using its depth advantage -- wore down the Tigers and went on a 19-5 run in the last three minutes of the third quarter to take a 45-36 lead into the fourth quarter. Central, which trailed by as many as 15 late in the fourth quarter, didn't threaten Notre Dame's lead thereafter."We're a team in transition," said Central coach Brett Reutzel of the adjustments his team is having to make with three key players gone from last year's squad. "And pardon the pun, but that's where we were not good tonight. We didn't play good transition offense or transition defense and that shouldn't happen. I feel like our guys are faster than theirs and they beat us up and down the court."As far as the free throws, Reutzel said "Our kids aren't stupid and they know that they'll have to work on that in the next few days. But I'm not going to harp on it in practice because then it gets in their heads that we can't shoot free throws."Bulldog coach Chris Neff, in his first game as a head coach, found flaws in his team's performance, but was pleased overall.

He was especially delighted with junior Jonathon Ressel, though the 6-foot-4 post player scored just four points. On defense, he held 6-5 forward Ross Conner -- last year's SEMO Conference Player of the Year -- to just five points."More than anything, Jonathon Ressel was the reason we won," said Neff. "You know Ross wanted to shine tonight, but Ressel just shut him down."Offensively, Notre Dame was led by Chris Dirnberger, who scored a game-high 17 points off the bench and dished out four assists."He played a phenomenal basketball game," Neff said. "He can really play some basketball. He has a bit of a street game and what he does better than any of our other guards is his ability to jump stop on a dime and hit jumpers. And he made some great decisions in the open court."Another key offensive contributor for Notre Dame was Michael Gosche, who scored 12 points.

In the final 52 seconds of the third quarter, Gosche scored eight points including two 3-pointers.

Notre Dame, which made just eight of its 31 shots in the first half, trailed Central 23-21 at halftime.

The Bulldogs outscored Central 22-15 in the third quarter, using aggressive defense and an up-tempo style much different from last year's team."We couldn't get into a tempo in the first half because we fouled so much," said Neff. "We'll rely on 10 guys. We had 18 fouls in the first half and that translates into about 12 minutes of breathers for the other team. We want the other team to have to call timeouts to catch their breath. But late in the third and in the fourth we really bit them."The Tigers were led in scoring by 6-3 junior forward Jonathan Ayers, who scored 13. Eric Wessel scored 10 and Demetrius Totton added nine.

As far as Conner's lack of point production (he averaged almost 20 points per game last year), Reutzel said, "We learned two things: One, It's not going to come easy for Ross. He's going to have to raise his level of play. And two, the people around him have to step up with him. He can't do it by himself."Notre Dame also won the JV game 45-42 in overtime.