FINAL FOUR OR FINAL ENCOUNTER? ND GIRLS FACE JOHN BURROUGHS IN 2A QUARTERFINAL

After practice on Thursday, Notre Dame High girls basketball coach Jerry Grim was grinning from ear to ear.

And rightfully so.

Practice was over, but there were several girls still there shooting free throws and jump shots, repeating post moves and working on ball handling skills.

It's no wonder Grim's Lady Bulldogs are in the state quarterfinals again.

Notre Dame could make its third trip to the Final Four in the last five years if it can hold off John Burroughs in tonight's Class 2A Quarterfinal at Park Hills Central High School. Tipoff is at 8.

"I want to go to state my senior year," said Notre Dame forward Jill Huber. "I am so looking forward to Saturday night. I just wish we were playing a bit earlier so we could celebrate more after our win."

John Burroughs (19-9) -- which made its first-ever trip to the Final Four last year -- should be an interesting matchup for the Lady Bulldogs (17-12).

Like Notre Dame, the Lady Bombers are a defensive-oriented squad. John Burroughs is allowing 34.5 points per game this year. Notre Dame yields about 40.8 per game.

"We try to play good defense and try to work for a good shot on the other end," said John Burroughs coach Dennis Moore. "If we can keep a team in the mid-30s, we can stay in the game."

Another similarity between the teams is that they combine some underclass talent with senior experience.

John Burroughs' leading scorer is 5-foot-11 sophomore guard Amy Argetsinger. Argetsinger scores 14.6 points, grabs six rebounds and dishes out about two assists per game.

"She's a nice player," Moore of the 41 percent (14-for-34) 3-point shooter.

Another sophomore, 6-foot center Carrie Morris, leads the Lady Bombers with 6.4 rebounds per game and Megan McGill, a 6-1 senior, adds about nine points and four rebounds per contest.

"We know they're going to be tough," Grim said. "Even though John Burroughs is a very exclusive school up there I guess, these are not primadonnas coming out to play. These girls play hard."

For Notre Dame, seniors Randi Senciboy (10 ppg) and Huber (8.6 ppg) lead the team in overall scoring, but freshman post player Deana McCormick has come up with the biggest offensive outings recently.

McCormick, who averages 8.5 points per game, scored 19 points and pulled down 13 rebounds against East Carter County in the sectional game Wednesday night.

McCormick is one of two starting freshmen. The other, Courtney Vickery, is the point guard. Another ninth-grader, Lisa Millham, plays quite a bit off the bench.

Huber doesn't mind sharing the spotlight with the freshmen. After all, she and Senciboy both started as sophomores when the Bulldogs took second in state in 1997.

"We have freshmen now who are stepping up really well," Huber said. "Without them, we would not be the team that we are. We have to have them. Deana has made such and impact with her rebounding and her points."

In addition to the aspiring freshmen, Huber thinks Notre Dame's grueling schedule has primed the Lady Bulldogs for this late-season surge.

"I am so happy with our season lineup," she said. "I would much rather lose to Jackson by 60 or 70 than to beat a really weak team by 100. You look at East Carter who we just played and they had lost just two games. Good for them. Look what happened. I don't want to be mean to them, but I want to play teams who will make us better. I think Jackson and (Cape) Central and Bluff all help us do that."

One distinct advantage Notre Dame figures to have over John Burroughs is depth.

Grim has 15 players at his disposal and typically substitutes freely.

But Moore is less confident in his bench.

"We only go six players," he said. "We've got five good starters and one good sub off the bench. We have to play a halfcourt game."

So Grim said he wants to push the issue a bit.

"We don't want to let them have it in a halfcourt set," Grim said. "(Our depth) will be an advantage if we do what we want to do. We want to make them work the length of the court on both sides of the ball. It's hard for six people to go up and down the floor."

The two teams' only common opponent is Perryville.

John Burroughs downed Perryville 54-31 on Dec. 20.

"We had an exceptional day offensively that day," Moore said.

Notre Dame lost to Perryville twice in three meetings this season. The Lady Pirates downed Notre Dame 41-40 in the season opener. Notre Dame avenged that loss with a 49-41 win, then suffered a 50-31 loss to Perryville in February.