ND girls turn back Lady Cats

On a difficult day for their coach, the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs provided a bit of good news.

Notre Dame dominated play in a 72-45 win over visiting Fredericktown Monday night without coach Jerry Grim, who was absent due to the death of his brother.

Athletics director Chris Janet, who took on a coaching role in Grim's absence along with assistant Craig Millham, said, "I think their hearts were a little heavy because of coach Grim's loss, but you could see the focus in their eyes."

Janet added, "They knew what to do, what Coach Grim wanted them to do and they went out and did it."

On paper, the matchup looked pretty even as Fredericktown was coming in on a four-game win streak. But the relentless defensive pressure and offensive explosiveness of Notre Dame proved too much for the Class 3A Lady Blackcats.

Notre Dame improved to 5-1, while Fredericktown fell to 4-2.

The Lady Bulldogs came out of the opening tip with full-court pressure, vaulting to a 19-5 first-quarter advantage.

"We came out on them pretty hard with the press and created a few turnovers," said Janet, "and they didn't make a few tough shots that they got to fall later in the game."

For the game, Notre Dame forced Fredericktown into 18 turnovers.

The Lady Cats clawed back a bit in the second stanza, outscoring Notre Dame 12-8 to close the gap to 27-17 at the half.

"They're a scrappy bunch and they can play with a lot of teams in Southeast Missouri," said Janet.

After the intermission, Fredericktown narrowed the score to 29-21 before Notre Dame erupted on a 22-10 run to move ahead 51-31at the end of the third period.

Said Janet, "Our girls team can really jump on you quick and put up points in a hurry. They're so explosive offensively and the defense sets the tone."

Junior guard Ashley Millham led the Lady Bulldogs, who got scoring from nine players, with 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Senior center Deana McCormick recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while senior guard Lisa Millham added 12 points.

Fredericktown was paced by junior guard Megan Brown's 16 points and 15 from senior center Nickey Tucker.

"It was fun to just be able to sit on the bench and watch these girls play," said Janet. "They're so prepared and that's a credit to Coach Grim."

Notre Dame's JV routed Fredericktown 53-19 behind 10 points apiece from Laura Weissmueller and Sommer McCauley.