ND GIRLS DROP THEIR OWN BOMBS ON LADY BOMBERS IN TIGER SHOWCASE 48-39

Go ahead. Shoot it. I dare you.

That was the approach used by John Burroughs against Notre Dame's girls basketball team Saturday in the Tiger Showcase.

After struggling from the field early, the Lady Bulldogs answered the challenge and pulled away in the fourth quarter with a 48-39 over the same team that ousted Notre Dame in the state quarterfinals a year ago.

Sophomore guard Lisa Millham was the shooter who put Notre Dame -- ranked sixth in Class 2A -- over the top Saturday, scoring a team-high 17 points, including 15 in the second half and nine in the fourth quarter. She made four 3-pointers in the game, including three in the fourth quarter which gave Notre Dame the cushion it needed.

In all, Notre Dame (11-2) made eight threes on 19 attempts for 42 percent.

"We've got some good shooters," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "Teams will pack it on Deana (McCormick) because she is one of the best post players around here. But if we get some inside points and kick it out and if we make the defense move like we did in the fourth quarter, we'll get some good shots."

John Burroughs -- which has played a grueling schedule which includes several larger, state-ranked opponents -- dropped to 5-8 on the season.

The game, until the fourth quarter, was remarkably even.

The two teams were tied at 12 after the first quarter, John Burroughs held a 22-21 lead at halftime and Notre Dame held a 32-31 lead going into the fourth quarter. In all, there were 24 ties and lead changes.

Notre Dame took the lead for good on its last possession of the third quarter when Emily Lange scored to make it 32-31.

Then Millham's bombs started burning the nets. Millham gave Notre Dame a 35-31 lead. Millham hit another trey shortly thereafter, giving Notre Dame a 38-33 advantage. Then, Courtney Vickery caught the three bug and nailed a three to give the Lady Bulldogs a 41-33 lead with 5:22 to go.

John Burroughs didn't threaten Notre Dame's lead thereafter.

Notre Dame held its biggest lead of the game at 46-34 with 1:00 left when Millham hit her third three of the quarter on four attempts.

"(Millham) really warmed up in the fourth and that was the turning point," said John Burroughs coach Dennis Moore. "We're not normally a zone team, but we played last night against our arch rival. We went to the zone because I didn't think we had enough legs to play man-to-man."

Well, that wasn't the only reason.

"We had film on them and played them last year and we thought they liked to go into the post so we wanted to contain (McCormick)," said Moore. "It worked well too until the fourth quarter. They're a good team. They're well coached. (Millham) is a good complement to their inside game and they're good defensively too."

McCormick and Vickery each scored eight points for Notre Dame. McCormick also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.