Lady Bulldogs stick it to rival Central 61-43

The Notre Dame girls basketball team led wire-to-wire in a 61-43 win over host Cape Central Wednesday night.

The Lady Bulldogs (3-1), the Class 2A state runner-up in 2000-01, displayed a nice inside-outside mix on the offensive end and held the Lady Tigers (3-1) to 14 first-half points.

Ashley Millham, a junior shooting guard, did most of the damage from the outside with a game-high 22 points, while senior center Deana McCormick was a force on the inside with 16. Lisa Millham chipped in with 14 points, including two three-pointers. Ashley Millham also hit two from beyond the arc.

Notre Dame held a 28-14 lead at the half, but Cape Central's trapping, pressure defense forced some turnovers in the second half to keep it interesting. But Notre Dame still outscored Central 33-29 in the second half.

Said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim, "Central played hard and they hung around. We never really put them out of reach."

The Lady Tigers pulled to within 11 points in the fourth period, but could get no closer as Notre Dame, with five points each from McCormick and Ashley Millham silenced the final Cape Central run.

Cape Central entered the contest at Notre Dame with a championship at the Oakville Tournament last week, which included three lopsided wins.

"We didn't see anyone as aggressive as Notre Dame," said Cape Central coach Sheila Midgett.

The Lady Tigers were led by Sarah Hyslop with 12 points, followed by Alex Wieser with 10. Point-guard Megan McDonald chipped in with nine points.

Cape Central was 80 percent from the charity stripe on 17-of-21 shooting.

"They've got a nice young team and they're going to get better," said Grim.

Notre Dame won the junior varsity game 41-26.

Amanda Dirnberger led Notre Dame with 13 points, while Jessi Snell led Cape Central with 14.