Duo sparks ND to 69-52 road win

The members of the Notre Dame student section broke out the "Game over" chant just two minutes into their school's contest against rival Jackson on Friday night.

The score was 8-0 at that point. Notre Dame just kept pouring it on from there to make homecoming not sweet at all for the Indians.

"I love coming here and playing them," Notre Dame's Austin Greer said. "Playing them on their homecoming night, we wanted to just come in and beat them and beat them good."

Greer and John Unterreiner, the two seniors and only returning starters from last year's Class 4 championship team, combined for almost two-thirds of their team's points Friday as they helped the Bulldogs rout Jackson 69-52 at Jackson High School.

Greer poured in 24 points and Unterreiner netted 21 points as Notre Dame (10-6) got off to a much better start than when it played Jackson (7-6) in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament a couple of weeks ago. Notre Dame had to rally back in the second half after being down seven points at halftime in the first meeting.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comNotre Dame's Joseph Tolbert drives past Jackson's Bobby Clark during the third quarter Friday night at Jackson.

Notre Dame took control early this time around, grabbing leads of 14-0 and 19-2 during the first quarter.

"We came out and we made shots," Unterreiner said. "That helped a great deal. I don't know how many shots went in during that first quarter, but it seemed like everything we threw up there was going in. We just got momentum and we kept on them. We pressured them. We just tried to rattle them a little bit and it worked."

Jackson coach Darrin Scott said the Notre Dame offense was clicking and doing pretty much everything right.

"You've got to give Notre Dame credit," Scott said. "I thought they were really ready to play. They were active. They were very active offensively. They got a lot of second shots and then they moved the basketball well. They were just really crisp. ... I thought we came out a little tentative and a little bit on our heels."

Greer and Unterreiner combined for the team's first 16 points. Unterreiner poured in 19 in the first half while converting three 3-pointers. Greer scored 16 points in the first half as Notre Dame built a comfortable 43-19 lead at the break.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comNotre Dame's Nick Koeppel finds a lane in the second half against Jackson.

"We love Greer," was one of the many chants the Notre Dame students yelled.

Greer recently joined Notre Dame's 1,000-point club. He scored the 1,000th point of his varsity high school career last Thursday when he netted 21 points in a win over Dexter.

"It means a lot to me," Greer said about reaching 1,000 points. "Last year coach [Paul] Hale told me I was going to be close this next year and that was one of my big goals -- for us to get back to state and to get that 1,000 points."

Jackson outscored Notre Dame 16-14 in the third quarter and 17-12 in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs still won by 17 points to sweep the season series 2-0 after being swept 2-0 by the Indians last year.

Jackson's Henrie Williams saw his first game action after having to sit out the first 12 games because of his transfer to Jackson.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comNotre Dame's John Unterreiner sinks a shot against Jackson during the second half Friday in Jackson.

Williams, who played on the football team, got into early foul trouble. He scored seven points. Jackson's Marcus Harris netted 18 points and Kyle Keith had 12.

"We heard a lot about him," Greer said of Williams. "But we weren't too worried about him. We were more worried about Keith and Harris. We knew they were going to come out and shoot the ball."

@z_agate_HSbasketball_linescore:Notre Dame22211412--52

Jackson8111617--69

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:NOTRE DAME (69) -- Nick Koeppel 6, Alex Bader 3, John Unterreiner 21, Austin Greer 24, Tanner Hiett 2, Jacob Tolbert 3, Joseph Tolbert 3, Matt Helle 7. FG 22, FT 19-23, F 15 (3-pointers: Bader 1, Unterreiner 3, Greer 1, Joseph Tolbert 1.)

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comNotre Dame's John Unterreiner, left, and Jackson's Zach McDowell collide while fighting for the ball Friday night at Jackson.

JACKSON (52) -- Marcus Harris 18, Kyle Keith 12, Zach McDowell 7, Henrie Williams 7, Bobby Clark 8. FG 22, FT 4-10, F 15. (3-pointers: Keith 4)