After watching youth be served Wednesday night, Notre Dame High coach Jerry Grim declared that the precocious triumvirate of Deana McCormick, Courtney Vickery and Lisa Millham are freshmen in name only.
The three first-year players helped lift Notre Dame to a 54-47 victory over East Carter County in the Class 2A Sectional basketball game at the Tiger Fieldhouse.
The Lady Bulldogs will meet John Burroughs, a 47-37 winner Wednesday over Valley of Caledonia, in a quarterfinal matchup at 8:15 Saturday night at Park Hills Central High School. The victor advances to the Final Four in Columbia.
McCormick, a 5-foot-11 center, exploited East Carter center Kim Smith's lack of mobility for a superb 19-point, 13-rebound performance.
Vickery, a relentless defender and the team's starting point guard, finished with 14 points and made 8 of 8 free throws. And Millham, the younger sister of former Jackson High all-staters Michele and Christa Millham, hit a 3-pointer and posted four points off the bench.
"This time of year they're not freshmen anymore," said Grim, who has led Notre Dame to the Final Four twice in the past four seasons. "These freshmen have really stepped up and played well for us.
"McCormick got started a little slow tonight, but she just basically dominated inside. And Courtney hit some big free throws there at the end."
Said Vickery: "I'm usually not a scoring person. I was nervous, but I just tried to pull through for my team because I knew they needed me. I just tried my hardest."
East Carter, which finished the season at 23-3, made six of its first seven attempts from the floor and opened a 19-9 first-quarter edge. The Lady Red Birds maintained their bulge through the second quarter, leading 29-24 at halftime, and still were on top, 36-33, heading into the final period.
Notre Dame (17-12), which never led in the first three quarters, finally tied the game 36-36 25 seconds into the fourth on McCormick's 3-point play.
After East Carter briefly regained the lead, Notre Dame's Erin Vickery scored inside and Randi Senciboy, who had 11 points, hit two free throws to give the Lady Bulldogs a 40-38 lead with 4:30 remaining.
Notre Dame retained the lead from there as McCormick and Jill Huber scored inside and the Lady Bulldogs sank 10 of 16 free throws in the final 1:48.
East Carter had only one field goal in the fourth quarter, Kara Phillip's 3-pointer with 23 seconds left. Notre Dame's full-court pressure wreaked havoc on the Lady Red Birds at times in the second half. Phillips tallied a team-high 19 points and Heather Bishop added 11.
"I thought we came out in the second half and played a lot better defense," McCormick said. "I think they got tired on us."
Said Grim: "We really knew that they could handle the press.
"It was a total team effort. You can't just look at the freshmen; you have to look at everybody."
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