'Dogs' seniors work in a final pound'n'

Notre Dame's John Unterreiner lobbed a perfect pass toward the basket, and Austin Greer went up, got it and laid it in before landing during the third quarter.

It was a fitting connection between two seniors playing their last game on their home court.

"We kind of glanced at each other and met eyes," Unterreiner said. "I think he read the signal and I put it up there. He had an excellent finish. I don't know how he finished it, but that's a nice way to go out for me and him."

The Bulldogs blew open a close game in the third quarter as they snapped De Soto's five-game winning streak with a 76-38 home victory Friday.

Unterreiner and Greer played crucial roles on the Bulldogs' last two teams that went to the final four. This year they've been the floor leaders, with Greer scoring the points and Unterreiner dishing out assists.

"John and Austin, they work so well together," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said.

Unterreiner helped the Bulldogs (17-8) open an 11-point lead in the second quarter by pouring in 11 first-half points on 5-of-8 shooting. But he turned into the helper in the third quarter.

Unterreiner and his Bulldogs teammates kept feeding Greer, who struggled in the first half. The Dragons limited Greer to six points on 2-of-8 shooting in the first half.

He turned things around in the third quarter. He went on an 8-3 run early in the third quarter and hit seven straight shots. He finished the quarter with 19 points.

"I just started moving a lot and they've got that big kid, [Brandon] O'Day, he got in foul trouble," Greer said. "He wasn't in the middle to clog everything up, so I was able to run through a little bit and get some open looks."

The Bulldogs looked timid in the early going against De Soto's big men -- the 6-foot-4 O'Day and 6-6 John Bruemmer. But the Bulldogs started attacking the basket in the second quarter and got O'Day and Bruemmer into foul trouble.

"If you get them in foul trouble early, they have to sit the rest of the game," Greer said. "Someone else smaller comes in, and I usually do a little better job against someone my size.

"When I see someone with foul trouble, I definitely like to attack it. I want to go at them and get them out of the game quick, especially if they're bigger than me."

It was Notre Dame's pressure in the second and third quarters that made the difference. De Soto committed nine turnovers in the second quarter and seven in the third.

"The thing about the matchup is that you don't have the same man guarding you," Unterreiner said about the defense. "It's different men coming at you at all angles and trap you. We pride ourselves on that. ... It's nice to run fresh legs at them. I'm sure they want to slug us, but they haven't yet, so we keep doing it."

Greer and Unterreiner didn't see the floor in the final quarter, instead watching their final home game from the comfort of the bench.

"I'm sure I'll be a little emotional later," Unterreiner said. "It's quite a place to play and we've had quite the three years varsity wise. There's a lot of good memories."

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:De Soto99128--38

Notre Dame9202819--76

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:DE SOTO (38) -- John Bruemmer 2, John Krodinger 10, Adam Jones 2, Brandon O'Day 8, David Hoss 7, Jarred Sapper 9. FG 13, 7-11, F 15. (3-pointers: Krodinger 2, Sapper 2, Hoss 1. Fouled out: Bruemmer)

NOTRE DAME (76) -- Nick Koeppel 4, John Unterreiner 11, Austin Greer 25, Joseph Tolbert 9, Matt Helle 2, Tanner Hiett 1, Taylor Essner 5, Dylan Essner 7, Keke Kellum 2, Chris McCoy 5, Liam Maher 2, Derek Landewee 3. FG 29, FT 10-13, F 16. (3-pointers: Unterreiner 1, Greer 1, Tolbert 3, Essner 1, McCoy 1, Landewee 1. Fouled out: None)