ND seniors set course for bright future

A tenacious group displayed the heart and work ethic for the remaining Bulldogs to duplicate.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Notre Dame's five seniors did something no senior class has been able to do for a long time.

By stringing together five straight wins starting in the district tournament, the Bulldogs' seniors traveled back to Cape Girardeau on Saturday with a state trophy. The Bulldogs finished fourth in the Class 4 boys basketball state final four following a 67-61 loss to Westminster Christian at Mizzou Arena on Saturday.

This was the sixth state boys basketball trophy for the Bulldogs, but the first since 1987.

"It's kind of a special season, one I'll always remember," Notre Dame coach Paul Hale said. "One of the most well-played seasons I've coached in 27 seasons."

Notre Dame's four seniors had to keep the team together when classmate Bryce Willen, the team's top returning player from last season, went down with an injury before the season. With the leadership of Jeremy Brinkmeyer, Mark Unterreiner, John Eric Klein and Steven Eeftink, the Bulldogs competed hard night in and night out but came through the regular season with a 9-16 record.

"After he got hurt, we all kind of put our heads down," Unterreiner said. "Because of that, it forced us all to step up. The amount we improved was incredible."

Willen's return from a torn ACL helped spark a late-season surge which saw the Bulldogs claw their way into the final four. Along the way, they beat Dexter, Festus and Salem, teams all expected to beat the Bulldogs.

"When districts came around, I don't know what happened, something sparked," Brinkmeyer said.

Notre Dame gave second-ranked O'Hara a scare in the state semifinal and played basket-for-basket with Westminster in the third-place game.

"Just everybody stepped up," Klein said. "[Coach Hale] expects a whole lot out of us, and we did what we had to do."

Bulldogs fans have reasons to be excited about next year. Junior starters Alex Ressel and Frankie Ellis are expected to return along with key reserves Abe Dirnberger, Kirk Boeller and Jacob Essner. The Bulldogs will also have Central transfer Xavier Delph available after Delph had to play junior varsity this season due to transfer rules.

"I think things are looking good. They have some good players coming up," Klein said.

Hale is not ready to look forward just yet.

"We want to think about this team," Hale said. "The team coming up has a lot to look up to."