LADY TIGERS BURSH UP FOR DISTRICT, BEAT ND 41-32

Cape Central's girls jumped on Notre Dame early, held off a Notre Dame rally and emerged with a 41-32 victory Saturday.

Laura Lukens scored 12 points to lead Cape Central while Abby Harris added 10. The Lady Tigers closed their regular season schedule with a 19-6 record.

Randi Senciboy, 14 points, was the lone double figure scorer for Notre Dame, which fell to 15-9.

The Lady Tigers took a 16-8 lead in the first quarter and opened up a 26-15 advantage by halftime. Notre Dame closed the gap to 31-27 by the start of the fourth quarter. The Lady Bulldogs got as close as three points in the final period before Central pulled away.

"They hit their free throws and we missed some key shots," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "That really was the story of the game."

Notre Dame will visit Chaffee on Thursday while Cape Central opens Class 4A, District 1 play on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. against Poplar Bluff.

Boys basketball

Sacred Heart 56, Notre Dame 55

STE. GENEVIEVE -- The Notre Dame Bulldogs took state-ranked Sacred Heart of Sedalia down to the wire before falling on a last-second tip in at the buzzer during the Valle Shootout.

Sacred Heart, ranked seventh in the latest 1A poll, battled back from a five-point deficit with less than a minute to play to topple the Bulldogs. Notre Dame fell to 6-16 and plays today at 3 p.m., against John F. Kennedy Academy of St. Louis.

The Bulldogs trailed by 10 in the third quarter before taking control with a 16-2 run.

With 55 seconds left the Bulldogs held what appeard to be a secure five-point lead but with only 11 seconds remaining that lead had shrunk to one point.

Sacred Heart came down the court and missed a jump shot with time running out. But a Sacred Heart player crashed the boards hard and tipped ball in at buzzer for the win.

Nathan McGuire fired home 20 points to lead the Bulldogs. Dirk Dirnberger added 15.

Woodland 97,Meadow Heights 41

MARBLE HILL -- The Cardinals of Woodland scored over 23 points in every quarter Saturday night during a makeup-game win over Meadow Heights.

On defense, Woodland held the Panthers under 10 points in three of the four quarters to push the Cardinals' record to 17-8 with one more regular-season game at home Thursday against Bloomfield.

Shawn Massa scored 21, Greg Lincoln 19 and Travis Whitener 18 to lead Woodland to victory. Massa ripped the cords on five 3-pointers.

Kevin Weaver scored 20 points for Meadow Heights.