'DOGS SHRED INDIANS 74-49

JACKSON, Mo. -- Beware of the wounded Bulldog.

The Notre Dame Bulldogs came in limping slightly from injury and illness, yet they had possibly their best overall performance of the season as they defeated the Jackson Indians 74-49 at the Jackson High School gymnasium on Friday night.

The streaking Bulldogs, avenging an earlier loss to Jackson in the semifinals of the University High Tournament, recorded their seventh consecutive win and improved to 13-3 overall. Jackson fell to 8-8.

The Bulldogs outplayed their host in every statistical category.

"We played extremely well tonight," said Notre Dame mentor Darrin Scott. "We were focused and I was very proud of our defensive effort. Conversely, on offense the reason we shot well was because we were patient and took good shots."

Notre Dame carried a 16-13 lead into the second quarter, and extended it to 35-21 by intermission. The Bulldogs shot over 50 percent from the field in the half, including 4 of 4 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Jackson made a run at the Bulldogs midway through the third quarter, narrowing the margin to eight at 43-35 with about 3:30 remaining in the period.

After the Indian run, the Bulldogs closed the third stanza with a 6-1 run of their own to extend the lead to 51-38.

Notre Dame, getting some easy shots as Jackson was forced to gamble on defense , outscored the Indians 23-11 in the final quarter to win going away.

Normally a better than average 3-point shooting team, Jackson was a cool 4-for-20 from 3-point range. With its lack of height, especially against a much taller opponent like Notre Dame, the Indians can ill-afford to shoot poorly.

"We have hit a lot of three's throughout the year," said Jackson's first-year coach Mike Kiehne. "We're shooting about 43 percent from the 3-point line as a team. So we've got some guys who can hit the three's, but tonight they just weren't falling."

Travis Siebert, a 6-foot sophomore, came off the bench to lead Notre Dame with 18 points; senior Mark Rubel, suffering from bronchitis, added 14 including four treys.

Jonathan Ressel was the third Bulldog in double figures with 12 points. Starting center Doug Schaefer, playing on a badly sprained ankle, chipped in with six points in limited playing time.

The Indians were paced by Brad Hilbert with 12 points.

Jackson's JV squad went three overtimes before edging Notre Dame 37-36.

Tyler Boyd led the Indians with 15 points, including a 3-pointer in the third overtime to clinch the win.

Notre Dame's David Unterreiner and Dustin Haupt paced the Bulldogs with nine apiece.