Hillcrest holds off Notre Dame boys basketball team at Class 4 final four

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The Notre Dame boys basketball team thought its interior game would be one of its biggest assets in its Class 4 semifinal against Hillcrest on Thursday afternoon at Mizzou Arena.

It finally turned out that way in the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs outscored the Hornets 22-8 in the paint as they tried to erase a double-digit deficit.

That deficit was in large part due to the Hornets being the aggressors inside early and getting to the free-throw line 38 times while Notre Dame missed several shots in the lane, and it was something that Notre Dame couldn't overcome in its 60-57 loss.

Notre Dame will play Bolivar for third place at 11 a.m. Friday, while Hillcrest will face St. Charles in the state championship at 3 p.m. Saturday.

"The thing about basketball and sports is the ball's going to bounce a few different ways," Notre Dame coach Paul Unterreiner said. "That's what I told these guys in the locker room. That's what makes sports so special. What makes winning so special is how it feels when you have a game that doesn't go your way."

The Bulldogs trailed 53-43 with 2:43 left in the game before a steal led to senior guard Quinn Poythress' second 3-pointer of the game to cut it to seven. The Hornets never pushed the lead back to double figures.

Notre Dame fans watch the final moments the fourth quarter of the Bulldogs Class 4 semifinal against the Hillcrest Hornets, Thursday, March 19, 2015, in Columbia, Missouri. Notre Dame lost 60-57. (Laura Simon)

A couple of jumpers from Poythress and senior guard Tanner Shively sandwiched a free throw by Hillcrest's Brady Petry to pull the Bulldogs within four with 1:17 to go, but a pivotal three-point play by Hornets junior forward Lavell Hale and a pair of free throws by Petry after a Notre Dame miss pushed it back to 59-50 with 56 seconds to go.

Notre Dame came within four again with 15 seconds left before Petry, who finished with 21 points and hit 10 of 16 free throws, split a pair of free throws with 9 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

Shively scored on a putback in the closing seconds for the final score.

"Coach was saying it. Everybody was saying it, just, 'Believe, believe, believe,'" Notre Dame senior Thomas Himmelberg said of the comeback attempt. "We were down 13 at one point and coach kind of called us out a little bit and said that, 'The difference in the game right now is that they're believing, and we're not.' That was whenever they were making the run with a lot of shots. They were believing in their stroke, and they were knocking them down.

"It did give us some confidence, and we did storm back, started believing in our defense and getting turnovers and getting easy looks at the basket. I thought that helped us get back in the game and gave us a fighting chance."

The Bulldogs held a 12-5 lead at the end of the first quarter after they held Hillcrest scoreless from the field, but both Unterreiner and Hillcrest coach Tomas Brock agreed that the Hornets were getting the looks they wanted.

"I just said, 'We're going to make shots,'" Brock said. "I said to just take a breath and relax. We were getting good shots even in that first quarter, they just weren't falling for us. We started to do that in the second quarter, and it carried over into the second half. We got good looks, got to the basket, got to the free-throw line and were able to finish."

Notre Dame's Dean Crippen sails past Hillcrest defender Brady Petry for a shot in the third quarter of the Bulldogs Class 4 semifinal against the Hornets, Thursday, March 19, 2015, in Columbia, Missouri. Notre Dame lost 60-57. (Laura Simon)

After Notre Dame took a 14-5 lead on a basket by Poythress 10 seconds into the second quarter, the Bulldogs didn't score for 4 minutes, 55 seconds as Hillcrest used a 12-0 run to take a 17-14 lead with 3:43 remaining in the half.

The Bulldogs scored the next four points of the contest to take an 18-17 lead with 1:30 left, but a pair of free throws by Hillcrest freshman Cole Pryor with 34 seconds left in the half gave the Hornets a 19-18 advantage at the break and the lead for good.

Notre Dame was 8 of 21 from the field in the first half and 1 of 6 from behind the arc. The Bulldogs shot just two free throws compared to 12 for the Hornets, who made eight of them.

"I thought we had an advantage inside and we got a lot of good looks," Unterreiner said. "Dean [Crippen] and Tanner [Shively] and [Nick] Bradshaw got good looks inside. Quinn here, he got beat up all night off the ball. I'm not saying he was getting fouled, it was just a physical game, and it was hard for him to get touches inside.

"They played unbelievable defense on him so we kind of pulled him out a little bit and let him play the perimeter and threw Dean and Tanner in there and they got good looks. Those are looks they made all year, and I'll go down with them having those shots all night."

Hillcrest opened the second half with a 3-pointer 1:21 into the third quarter. The Hornets knocked down three of their next four shots from 3-point range, and after their last triple of the quarter with 1:55 to go, junior guard Jevazz Podurgiel created the largest gap at 13 with a fast-break basket.

The Hornets, which shot 5 of 19 from the field in the first half, shot 50 percent (5 of 10) in the third quarter and took a 37-27 lead into the final eight minutes.

Notre Dame head coach Paul Unterreiner watches the action in the third quarter of the Bulldogs Class 4 semifinal against the Hillcrest Hornets, Thursday, March 19, 2015, in Columbia, Missouri. Notre Dame lost 60-57. (Laura Simon)

"I thought Petry started hitting some shots that are similar to the ones in the first quarter, he just didn't hit them in the first quarter," Unterreiner said. "The second quarter, and the second half, he kind of got going and handled the ball. When we're throwing two or three guys at him and he's splitting them -- that's a good player. That's hard to stop. I don't care who you are.

"I thought we got off to a good start. I couldn't have asked for a better start. They responded well, and their coach made some unbelievable adjustments. And they hit big shots. At this level, you've got to hit big shots, and they hit them."

Notre Dame cut it to six twice -- with 5:02 and 4:34 left -- but couldn't come up with the defensive stop it needed. Hillcrest hit a pair of free throws in the first instance and Petry converted a three-point play with 4:26 left to push it to nine.

"They did a good job of attacking the basket, and we got a little handsy up front, I guess," Unterreiner said of his team, which was whistled for 30 fouls compared to Hillcrest's 17.

The Hornets only made two more field goals the remainder of the game but hit 8 of 13 free throws in the final 3:20. They finished 25 of 38 from the charity stripe.

"It was a very physical game, I thought, and a very fast game," Brock said. "I think both teams were playing with such great effort. Credit their guys. There in the fourth quarter, they didn't quit at all, and they played extremely hard. Our guys were playing extremely hard, and I thought it was very physical from the tip. I thought we did a very good job of attacking the rim, and usually if you attack the rim that results in shooting more free throws."

Hillcrest 5 14 18 23 -- 60

Notre Dame 12 6 9 30 -- 57

HILLCREST (60) -- Brady Petry 21, Shahn Clark 12, Cole Pryor 11, Lavell Hale 9, Jevazz Podurgiel 5, Tim Washington 2. FG 15, FT 25-38, F 17. (3-pointers: Pryor 3, Clark 1, Petry 1. Fouled out: none.)

NOTRE DAME (57) -- Quinn Poythress 13, Tanner Shively 12, Dean Crippen 12, Thomas Himmelberg 10, Ross Essner 4, Blake Bauwens 2, Trenton Schumer 2, Nick Bradshaw 2. FG 23, FT 9-14, F 30. (3-pointers: Poythress 2. Fouled out: Schumer, Crippen.)