ND BOARDS UP WIN OVER JHS 46-36

Notre Dame High girls basketball coach Jerry Grim knew the Lady Bulldogs would have to do one thing particularly well if they stood any chance of beating Jackson Thursday night.

"I knew we had to get them off the boards," said Grim. "The last time we played them (a 13-point Jackson win in December), I think Andrea (Koeper) outrebounded us by herself."

The wide smile Grim sported following the contest at Notre Dame told the rebounding story. The Lady Bulldogs controlled the boards as they posted a 46-36 victory in a battle of state-ranked teams.

Notre Dame, No. 3 in Class 2A, improved its record to 14-3. The Lady Bulldogs' only losses have been to a trio of strong 4A squads: No. 1 ranked Poplar Bluff, No. 8 Jackson and Cape Central, a team Notre Dame has split with.

"Notre dame played a good game," said Jackson coach Ron Cook, whose squad fell to 11-3. "They're really strong, a very good team."

The Lady Bulldogs owned a 24-16 rebounding advantage, which wasn't dominant, but it definitely satisfied Grim.

"The girls worked the game plan to perfection," he said. "Not only did we hit the boards, defensively we did what we wanted to do and offensively we worked the ball and got good shots."

Deana McCormick and Lisa Millham paced the Lady Bulldogs offensively with 12 points each. Ashley Millham added 10 points and Courtney Vickery scored nine, all coming on 3-pointers in the first half. McCormick led the way in rebounds with eight.

Koeper scored a game-high 18 points for Jackson. Jenna Leet added nine.

Even though Notre Dame won going away, much of the first quarter didn't go all that well for the Lady Bulldogs, who after jumping out to an early 7-2 lead fell behind 13-7 after an 11-0 Jackson run.

Notre Dame scored the final basket of the opening period to pull within 13-9, then blitzed Jackson by compiling the first 12 points of the second period as the Lady Indians were held scoreless for nearly five minutes.

A Vickery 3-pointer to start the second quarter pulled Notre Dame to within 13-12, then Ashley Millham's follow shot put the Lady Bulldogs ahead 14-13. They would not trail again.

By the time Notre Dame's big run ended, the Lady Bulldogs led 21-13 and they carried a 23-17 advantage into halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs then outscored Jackson 16-8 in the third quarter to take total control. Lisa Millham's 3-pointer in the final minute of the period boosted Notre Dame's lead to 39-25 heading into the final period.

Jackson made a few runs in the last quarter, getting as close as 41-35 with just under two minutes left. But the Lady Indians were hurt by making just four of 10 free throws in the fourth period.

Notre Dame went to its delay game to try and ice the victory. The Lady Bulldogs had no field goals in the final quarter, scoring all seven of their points on free throws. McCormick and Ashley Millham both made two of two in the last 37 seconds to seal the triumph.

"It's a big win for us, to beat a ranked 4A team," Grim said. "Jackson has a very good team, and Koeper is really tough."

Said Cook, "I didn't think we played very good, but they had a lot to do with the way we played."

Notre Dame also won the JV game 51-49 behind 13 points from Summer McCauley and 12 from Amanda Dirnberger. Jackson got 12 points from Courtney Standfield and 11 from Natalie Profilet.