ND boys hope district gives chance for vengeance

~ second-seeded Bulldogs have been handed two losses this seasonby top-seeded Sikeston.

When Notre Dame's Ryan Willen sat out the first five games this season with a stress fracture in his ankle, the Bulldogs lost twice to Sikeston.

The first loss was by 33 points in the third-place game of the SEMO Conference tournament. The other was a five-point loss during the regular season.

Willen, the team's 6-foot-8 center, hopes his team gets another chance to play Sikeston this season -- this time in the Class 4 District 1 playoffs, which start today at the Perry Park Center in Perryville.

Sikeston owns the No. 1 seed while Notre Dame has the No. 2, with both teams earning a first-round bye.

Today's first-round action has No. 3 Fredericktown playing No. 6 Perryville at 7:30 p.m. The winner then faces Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The other first-round game pits No. 4 Ste. Genevieve against No. 5 Dexter today at 6 p.m. The victor plays Sikeston at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

"Definitely," Willen said about wanting the chance to play Sikeston. "It [was] hard to sit on the sideline and watch, knowing I could be helping out the team. We almost beat them the last time. I think if I was out there, I could've helped a little bit. Hopefully, if we get to play them again, I'll be able to make a difference.

"They are going to be tough no matter what if we get to play them. They've got good players on their team. They can all play. They can all shoot."

Notre Dame, which has appeared in three straight district finals, beat Sikeston in the district championship on a game-winning 3-pointer by then-senior Abe Dirnberger last season.

Sikeston junior Michael Porter has posted 52 points combined in the two games against Notre Dame this year. He likely will be Notre Dame's biggest obstacle if the two teams meet again in the championship, which takes place Friday at 7 p.m.

"They [Sikeston] are real athletic, and Michael Porter is one of the best players in the area," Notre Dame senior Mark Himmelberg said. "He can beat you in a lot of different directions. He can drive off you. He can get offensive rebounds. He blocks shots. And they have a lot of athletes who can complement him. They can jump and rebound real well. We're going to have to play good defense."

Before a possible rematch with Sikeston, Notre Dame will face the winner of Fredericktown vs. Perryville.

Notre Dame has played both squads this season, beating Fredericktown 75-49 and the Pirates 84-51.

"Fredericktown gave us a little bit of trouble the first time we played them," Himmelberg said. "They kind of caught us off guard. They were beating our press and we were giving up some easy buckets. But, I mean, any team is going to be hungry come district time. Everyone is going to give us their best shot, so we better be ready."

Notre Dame coach Paul Hale said overall the district features strong competition from top to bottom.

"Our district is tough," he said. "We've got to get by our first game before we start worrying about Sikeston. No matter who it is, Fredericktown or Perryville, they will be a formidable foe. We're not looking past that game.

"[Fredericktown] is senior-laden. Every year they play someone tough in our district. Last year they played Sikeston tough. When you get a bunch of seniors playing in their last game, they're tough."

Hale said Sikeston will be tough for every team in the district.

"They have a lot of athletes," he said. "They're real athletic, they are well-coached and they have one of the best players in Missouri in Porter."

Girls bracket

Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said that the Class 4 District 1 playoff should be extremely competitive.

Dexter is seeded No. 1, followed by Notre Dame at No. 2. Both teams enjoy first-round byes.

First-round action includes Perryville, the No. 4 seed, against No. 5 Ste. Genevieve at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winner plays Dexter at 6 p.m. Thursday. The other game pits No. 3 Fredericktown against No. 6 Sikeston at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, with the victor taking on Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

All the girls games take place at the Perry Park Center.

"I'll tell you, the top four teams, in a given night, anything could happen," Peters said. "Dexter right now has the best record going in. They have beaten everyone in the district, including us in overtime. So they would be the favorable one going in on paper.

"Anything could happen."

Peters said that while her team is young, with its top scorer Jane Morrill being only a sophomore, its youth could work to its advantage.

"They [the players] have something they want to prove and establish," Peters said. "When we had Dexter here at home, we had 38 turnovers that game. And we went into overtime with them. So at this point, I think they know what it's going to take to go to that next level. ... Dexter is a very physical team. They played us very physical here. Our girls do know what it is going to take, and they want it. They want that opportunity."

Perryville coach Vicki Lohmann expects a dogfight for the district crown.

"I think from top to bottom, we have some solid performers, and anyone has a chance to win," Lohmann said. "I think anyone has a chance to pull off an upset, or possibly come out with a victory. I'd say it's a good district and the fans are going to have a good time watching them play."

Lohmann said for her team to have a chance, it needs to improve its rebounding. The Pirates have been giving up some second- and third-shots attempts lately.

"Rebounding would be an area we really need to focus on [this week] because it seems like every team we face that is in our district always has some size advantage on us," she said. "So we need to use our ability to block out and play better on that part of the game."