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SportsJanuary 27, 2001

Notre Dame would like to get the second quarter back. And a few of its 19 turnovers, too. A quick and anticipating Portageville defense forced Notre Dame to do things it wasn't accustomed to doing as the visiting Bulldogs beat the host Bulldogs 63-54 at Notre Dame in a highly anticipated clash between two of Southeast Missouri's top Class 2A schools...

Notre Dame would like to get the second quarter back.

And a few of its 19 turnovers, too.

A quick and anticipating Portageville defense forced Notre Dame to do things it wasn't accustomed to doing as the visiting Bulldogs beat the host Bulldogs 63-54 at Notre Dame in a highly anticipated clash between two of Southeast Missouri's top Class 2A schools.

Despite jumping out to a 9-0 lead, Notre Dame (13-4) dug itself into a hole in the second quarter and it couldn't climb out.

Notre Dame led 13-6 going into the second quarter but nine turnovers proved disastrous as Portageville (13-3) took a 28-23 lead into halftime.

"I thought the second quarter was the big thing," said Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott. "They got up on us and we didn't handle the pressure. We haven't played against that type of quickness in a while and we made some turnovers that led to some easy baskets. We missed some easy shots but that was because they made us play quicker than we wanted."

Except for the second quarter, the teams were dead even.

Portageville, which made only three of its 16 threes, seemed to make everything from inside the 3-point line as it made 21 of its 30 two-pointers for a blistering 70 percent.

Roy Booker, Portageville's best player, couldn't seem to miss. He ended up with a game-high 22 points, most of them coming as a result of penetration and short jumpers in the paint.

"He's been averaging 25 or more points for the past several games," Portageville coach Jim Bidewell said. "And he's getting a lot of assists and steals too. He's really showing a lot of senior leadership."

He showed that leadership with his first basket of the game.

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Notre Dame erupted to a 9-0 lead and had the momentum. Bidewell called a timeout and Booker promptly responded with a basket, his team's first, at the 4:36 mark.

"I just said, Guys, don't panic, it'll be all right,'" Bidewell said.

And was he ever right.

Portageville outscored Notre Dame 28-14 to end the first half.

Portageville nearly put the game away in the third quarter, jumping out to a 34-25 lead with 3:17 left, but Notre Dame wouldn't go down easily.

Thanks to three jump shots by Scott Wittenborn and a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Jonathan Ressel, Notre Dame trailed just 41-36 going into the fourth quarter.

Portageville would go on to lead by as many as 11 midway through the fourth quarter, but Notre Dame rallied again and trailed 55-49 with 2:17 to go.

Notre Dame missed a couple of easy shots underneath and failed to take advantage of some opportunities, while Portageville made all eight of its free throws in the final 1:07. It made 12 of its 13 foul shots for the game.

But it wasn't a disastrous loss for Notre Dame.

Scott's squad didn't play its best game and Bidewell didn't know if his squad could've played much better.

"This is a good experience for us," Scott said. "We need to respond and learn from what we didn't do well and build on what we did do well."

Said Bidewell, "Notre Dame isn't a team I'd want to play every night. They're a good ballclub. They didn't shoot as well tonight as they have been, but they're tough. They make you work."

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