ND GETS ITS WISH -- BURROUGHS

Forget Jackson.

Forget Cape Central and Poplar Bluff.

John Burroughs is the one team Notre Dame wants to beat more than any other.

The Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs have had March 10 circled on their calendars since the first day of workouts in November. And the Lady Bombers have been their long-range target.

Burroughs (22-7) ousted Notre Dame (25-3) from the Class 2A playoffs the last two years. In both those quarterfinal games, the Lady Bulldogs felt they were the better team.

Two years ago, they felt undermined by some inconsistent officiating. Last year, they missed numerous easy baskets and went on a scoring drought which lasted the entire second quarter.

Now, Notre Dame is hoping the third time's a charm.

The two Class 2A powers will get another rematch at 8:15 tonight at Park Hills High School for the right to advance to the Final Four.

Both teams plowed through their competition in district and sectional games.

"Starting out at the beginning of the season, this is where we wanted to be," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim.

Said Notre Dame standout guard Lisa Millham, "That's what we've thought about all season -- state. We want it even worse than we did the last two years because it hasn't happened."

Perhaps Lisa Millham, a junior and her sophomore sister Ashley have the most motivation. Their older sisters Krista and Michelle both went to the state semifinals with Jackson.

"I've seen it. I know what it's like and I know how exciting it is," Lisa Millham said. "It makes me want it that much more."

"I know how bad they want to do it," said Burroughs coach Denny Moore, referring to the entire Notre Dame team. "We had a scout there at their sectional game and their fans were cheering Bring on Burroughs.' When our players heard about that, it excited them a little bit."

The two teams have built up quite a rivalry in a short amount of time. They have met three times and the Lady Bombers won the most important two. Notre Dame defeated Burroughs in a regular season game in the Tiger Showcase last year.

The rivalry started two years ago when the Lady Bombers won 63-56 in a game that got out of hand. In a game that was loosely called in the first half, there ended up being 53 fouls called and 76 free throws attempted, not to mention an intentional and technical foul.

"Last year, I thought they (Lady Bombers) played well enough to win," Grim said. "But two years ago, I thought it was taken away from us. The last two years, I thought we played well enough to win but the cards didn't fall."

"We have been fortunate," Moore admitted. "They're as good as we are if not better. Both games were close. Both teams have played hard and we've been lucky enough to win. We're getting to know each other pretty well."

But that was then.

Tonight, Notre Dame will face the challenge of containing returning all-stater Amy Argetsinger, a 6-foot senior guard/forward. Argetsinger, who is being recruited by some Division II schools, is averaging 20.5 points per game. She eclipsed the 2,000-point barrier in the Lady Bombers' 64-32 sectional win over West County.

"She's gotten better every year," Moore said.

Coupled with Argetsinger is 6-1 center Carrie Morris, who averages eight points and eight rebounds. Catherine Daake, Burrough's 3-point threat, averages 10.1 points.

The problem with Burroughs, however, is that they don't go very deep.

"We want to slow it down a bit," Moore said. "They press and are deeper than we are. They force the issue and force some turnovers. We can't let them score easy baskets and we want to control the tempo."

Whatever the tempo, it should be an even game.

"We all want it, but I'm sure they do too," said Ashley Millham. "They know we're going to come out hard and we know they're going to come out hard."