ND PUTS WIN OVER 2A CHAMPS IN SHOWCASE

Notre Dame mounted a last-quarter surge to gain a 51-49 come-from-behind victory over defending Class 2A state champion Whitfield in the opening game of the Tiger Showcase on Saturday.

It is a fact that Whitfield (7-5) is not the same team -- they lost six seniors, including two all-staters -- that went all the way last year, but it was, nevertheless, a gutsy win for the Bulldogs. Notre Dame improved to 10-3.

Notre Dame's Mark Rubel, 6-foot-4 senior forward, figured in all the scoring down the stretch.

Rubel's 3-pointer sent the Bulldogs up 48-47 with 1:20 left to give them their first lead since halftime.

But on the next Whitfield possession Rubel picked up a foul that sent Whitfield's Dan Oppland to the line for two, which he converted to send the Warriors back up 49-48 with 50 seconds remaining.

With 36 seconds left, Rubel redeemed himself, calmly sinking two clutch free throws which proved to be the game-winners. Michael Hoffman sank one final free throw with one second left to determine the final margin of victory.

"We hung around and finally made a few shots late in the third and early in the fourth quarter," said Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott. "That kind of picked up our intensity level a little bit and we found a way to win."

Notre Dame's hot shooting -- seven of 11 from the field -- allowed it to take a 14-13 lead at the end of the first period.

Both teams shot poorly in the second stanza as the Bulldogs went into the intermission leading 22-20, thanks to a Scott Wittenborn basket at the buzzer.

Whitfield came back and promptly reeled off a five-point run to begin the third quarter and went on to outscore Notre Dame 17-8 to take a 37-30 advantage at the end of the third period.

But then the Bulldogs regained their shooting touch and battled back to nip the Warriors at the wire.

Rubel, with 13 points, led the Notre Dame attack, while Doug Schaefer added 10.

"We're a young team and we made a lot of mistakes to the point where we shouldn't have been in the position to lose it by a bucket," said Whitfield coach Matt Rogers. "But Notre Dame is a good team. They pound you. They're very physical."

It was the Bulldogs' defense that kept them close when the offense stalled.

The defense held Whitfield's high-scoring twin brother combination of Dan and Mike Oppland to season-lows of nine and 11 points, respectively. Dan came in with a 24 point-per-game average, while Mike was at 18 points.