‘Invaluable’ St. Louis competition has Notre Dame dominating regional opponents

Entering Monday’s Class 4 District 1 matchup against Kennett at home, Notre Dame (10-6) had nearly as many losses as their previous seasons that ended with district titles and even a Final Four appearance.

With Kate Rubel’s career-high 24 points, the Bulldogs continued to prove to be the bullies of the district by winning 75-51 at Notre Dame Regional High School on Jan. 22. What made her performance all the more impressive is she didn’t start finding the hoop until the second quarter, where she scored half her points to give Notre Dame a 35-30 halftime lead after trailing 19-11 in the first quarter.

“I told her after the game that today was the best game, total game she’s played since she’s been a Notre Dame Bulldogs,” Notre Dame head coach Kirk Boeller said. “She was a cheat sheet. She imposed her will on whatever she wanted to do,” Boeller said. “So the way she controlled the court tonight on both sides, offense, and defense, I’m just so proud of the night she had, proud of the season she’s having.”

The Rubel sisters have always been a big part of the Notre Dame offense, whether it was Tori and Lexi (now with UT Martin) or the sophomore duo of Kate and Brie, who scored 12 points. However, the unique advantage that the Bulldogs have this season is four players, including Nevaeh Lucious, who led the paint with 16 points, being six feet or taller. Newcomer Olivia Wagoner (5’11”)

“Before last year, we didn’t really have many people over 6-foot,” Boeller said. “Having that length and paring it with our guards up top and their speed, it’s fun to be a part of. We’ve always been guard heavy, and this year especially, we’ve been focused on getting it into the post and working from inside out.”

This year was different for the Bulldogs because instead of competing in the local Holiday Classic, they went north to St. Louis to take on tougher competition in the Visitation Academy Christmas Tournament and St. Joseph Academy Shootout. Between those events and the home game against Lutheran St. Charles prior, the Bulldogs went 1-6, but the experience from the increased competition was the real prize.

“We’ve played the best teams in any class in the state in some of these tournaments,” Boeller said. “So seeing the different styles, seeing the different abilities of these girls has kind of gotten us to really focus on things we need to work on, and it’s just been invaluable.”

The Bulldogs entered that stretch in St. Louis 5-0 with a SEMO Conference Tournament championship and won over Chaffee and Poplar Bluff. In their last five games, the Bulldogs defeated Sikeston and Kennett at home in between winning the consolation title at the Nixa Invitational Tournament this past weekend.

“We learned a lot about ourselves in the last month at these tournaments,” Boeller said. “Some things defensively we weren’t doing at the beginning of the season and some things offensively we weren’t doing at the beginning of the season, but seeing those teams and kind of getting exposed in a few places, overall, it made us a little bit better.”

Kennett was led by E’Marrhia Johnson’s 20 points and 16 from Alyce Edwards. The Indians 12-4) entered the game on a five-game winning streak and as one of the top contenders for the district title. Under head coach Erika Cobb, Kennett could very well meet Notre Dame again in the district tournament with the title on the line.

Another threat to the crown is Doniphan. Even after losing a lot of seniors from their 26-3 team last year, the Donettes have started the season on a 13-game winning streak and look as good, if not better, under the leadership of senior Kenzie Redus and head coach Adam Epps. Notre Dame will face them on Jan. 31 at Doniphan, Mo.

Notre Dame has only three home games left in the regular season, one of which is against district rival Dexter. The Bulldogs will be on the road for five straight games, starting with New Madrid County Central (Jan. 25) and Cape Central (Jan. 29). After the 6th Man Shootout on Feb. 3, the Bulldogs will have three of the final five games at home before the district tournament.

“This is the point of the season where teams kind of fall into their trajectory and what they want that final push to be,” Boeller said. “The girls are still having fun with each other. The camaraderie is there, the atmosphere is light so we’re wanting to keep improving where we’re at and see what we can accomplish down the stretch.”