Notre Dame boys basketball team defeats St. Vincent

The St. Vincent boys basketball team is off to its best start in a number of years.

Notre Dame knocked the Indians down a notch Tuesday night, but not enough to discourage longtime St. Vincent coach Bruce Valleroy.

Valleroy was upbeat after his visiting Class 2 Indians had their moments but eventually got blown out by the Class 4 Bulldogs 67-32.

"They're a good team," said Valleroy, in his 20th season directing the Indians' program. "I would think this competition will help us later on -- if we learn from it. We can't get frustrated."

St. Vincent is 8-3 after the Indians won nine games all of last season. They already have captured two tournament titles, at Crystal City and Ste. Genevieve Valle Catholic.

St. Vincent’s Dylan Hellman looks to shoot against Notre Dame’s Luke Mocherman during the third quarter Tuesday at Notre Dame Regional High School. (Fred Lynch)

"We're having a good season. It's one of our better starts in several years," Valleroy said. "The competition hasn't been real strong, but it's the same schedule we've been playing for a while.

"Now we're in the thick of our schedule. We've got some tough games coming up."

The Indians host Oran on Friday and visit Oak Ridge on Monday.

While Valleroy was pleased with the Indians' effort, Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts also liked several things about the Bulldogs' play.

But Roberts emphasized that a young Notre Dame squad that plays a slew of sophomores is still searching for consistency.

"We played well in stretches. I was pleased with the outcome," said Roberts, whose team is 7-8. "We have to be more consistent. At some point you're not young anymore. That consistency has to come.

"The guys want to get better. They're working hard. We want to compete with the big teams."

Notre Dame put St. Vincent into an early hole as the Bulldogs came out strong behind tenacious defense and the offense of senior guard Cody DeBrock and junior forward Jordan Barber.

St. Vincent had 11 first-quarter turnovers in falling behind 22-4 by the end of the period.

DeBrock had eight of Notre Dame's first 12 points as the Bulldogs led 12-2 less than three minutes into the game.

Barber had seven of the Bulldogs' final 10 points in the opening period.

"We started off with good intensity, then we let back up," DeBrock said.

The Indians fell behind 31-10 in the second quarter but wound up outscoring Notre Dame 10-9 in the period to trail 31-14 at the break.

"We kind of started off slow, but as the game went along we settled down," Valleroy said.

The Indians pulled within 39-27 late in the third quarter and had the ball with a chance to draw even closer.

But St. Vincent failed to capitalize and Notre Dame finished the period with five straight points, including DeBrock's 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 44-27.

Notre Dame asserted itself again in the final period, scoring seven straight points in the opening minute to go up 51-27. It was a blowout the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs outscored St. Vincent 23-5 in the fourth quarter. About the last half of the period was played with a running clock, which transpires when a team leads by at least 30 points.

"In the fourth quarter we had nothing left. Their pressure wears on you," said Valleroy, whose squad committed 41 turnovers. "We don't normally turn the ball over nearly that much."

DeBrock hit three of Notre Dame's eight 3-pointers and led the Bulldogs with 16 points.

"We have to be more consistent. We play one good quarter, then we have one bad quarter," DeBrock said. "We have to put four good quarters together."

Barber added 14 points. and sophomore guard Grant Ressel had 10.

Dylan Hellman, a 6-foot-6 senior center, paced the Indians with 14 points while also being strong on the boards.

"He had a great game," Valleroy said.

St. Vincent 4 10 13 5 -- 32

Notre Dame 22 9 13 23 -- 67

ST. VINCENT (32) -- Jesse Francis 2, Trent Elder 4, Gabe Galati 1, Dylan Richardet 3, Dylan Hellman 14, Trenton Gremaud 8. FG 13, FT 5-13, F 19. (3-pointers: Richardet 1. Fouled out: Francis)

NOTRE DAME (67) -- Cody DeBrock 16, Quinn Poythress 3, Chase Urhahn 2, Jordan Williamson 6, Luke Mocherman 4, Trenton Schumer 8, Grant Ressel 10, Jordan Barber 14, Derek Hulshof 4. FG 23, FT 13-21, F 17. (3-pointers: DeBrock 3, Poythress 1, J.Williamson 1, Schumer 1, Ressel 2. Fouled out: none)

JV -- Notre Dame won 92-13.