Notre Dame boys basketball team holds off Jackson

Seven days earlier, Notre Dame junior Blake Bauwens set a school record by hitting eight 3-pointers in a road victory against Saxony Lutheran.

Bauwens looked like he might be revving up for another big game against Jackson on Friday night at Notre Dame Regional High School.

He finished the first half with three 3s, with the latter a buzzer-beater on a turn-around shot from the corner while blanketed by an Indian defender. It gave Notre Dame a 12-point lead and plenty of momentum.

The Bulldogs ended up needing those three points in the end. After building its lead to 18 points in the third quarter, Notre Dame held on for dear life down the stretch and emerged with a 57-55 victory.

Bauwens scored 11 of his team-high 14 points in the first half, with the buzzer-beater being his last 3 on the night.

“I knew I only had about 3 seconds left so I just got the ball and shot it up,” Bauwens said. “Lately it’s been going in, so it was good to have that end the half.”

The shot and the win left Notre Dame coach Paul Unterreiner with a big grin.

“I’ve never once in practice worked on that shot with him, but I’m sure glad he’s apparently done it at some point,” Unterreiner said.

Bauwens, the lone returning starter from last year’s Class 4 final four team, has been a consistent double-figure scorer for the Bulldogs all season, topping out with 27 points a week earlier against Saxony.

“He’s a phenomenal player,” Unterreiner said. “He does things you can’t teach. I’m not going to take any credit for what he does. God has blessed him with a lot of natural ability. He’s really starting to turn into the player he can become.”

Bauwens’ hot start helped the Bulldogs jump on Jackson, which knows something about big 3-point shots. The Indians were coming off an emotional final-second, one-point win over state-ranked Park Hills Central on Wednesday — thanks to a Stephen Irons 3-pointer — and looking to complete a 3-0 week.

Jackson (11-9, 1-2 SEMO Conference) took its final lead of the night when senior Jacob Smith deposited an offensive rebound for a 7-6 advantage midway through the first quarter. After sophomore Cameron Hester added a free throw, Notre Dame (9-10, 2-2) pulled even when Bauwens fed a pass inside to junior Winston Welter, who finished with 12 points. The Bulldogs went ahead for good on their next possession on a free throw by sophomore Dawson Dohogne for a 9-8 lead with 3 minutes, 5 seconds left in the first quarter.

Notre Dame held a 12-10 lead at the close of the quarter.

Jackson, which made just 4 of 12 shots from the field in the first quarter, struggled from the field in the second quarter, recording just six points on 2-of-8 shooting. The Indians’ 30-percent shooting from the field in the half included just 1 of 8 on 3-point attempts.

The Indians’ 16 points in the first half were reminiscent of their game two days earlier, when they went into halftime in an 18-18 deadlock at Park Hills.

“We just struggled to make shots,” Jackson coach Darrin Scott said. “We had some good looks, done some things well, just not knocking down shots. And I thought Bauwens made some really tough shots in the first half. His tough 3s were kind of the difference or it might have been an 18-18 game again like it was Wednesday.”

Notre Dame outscored Jackson 16-6 in the second quarter for its 12-point halftime lead, but Unterreiner braced his team for the inevitable.

“I told them, ‘We held them to 16 points, I’m super proud of that, but I also know they’re a well-coached team that’s going to make a run. We have to be prepared for that. How are we going to handle that run?’” Unterreiner said about the message to his players at halftime.

Jackson outscored the Bulldogs 39-29 in the second half.

“We scored 39 in the second half, and we didn’t score much the first three minutes of the second half,” Scott said. “That’s why we got down 18.”

The Bulldogs took only 10 shots from the field in the second half — including just two in the fourth quarter — but were good on eight attempts. The Bulldogs drew 12 fouls, with numerous coming on drives to the basket, resulting in 20 free throws. Their shots also were held down by 12 turnovers — nine in the fourth quarter. Jackson launched 28 shots in the second half, hitting on 13.

Notre Dame held its biggest lead of the night at 42-24 at the 1:35 mark of the third quarter, but Jackson scored on its final four possessions of the period to cut the deficit to 45-32.

The Indians opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run and had the lead down to seven points, 45-38, in less than a minute.

Jackson’s full-court pressure defense was at the heart of the comeback, forcing the majority of Notre Dame’s turnovers over the final eight minutes.

“We knew all along we were going to come in and make a run,” said Smith, who finished with 14 points. “That’s just how we are, but a lot of what coach says, like keeping our composure, that cost us a little bit.”

The comeback seemed to stall when Notre Dame senior Carson Ketcher scored the Bulldogs’ lone field goal of the fourth quarter at the 6:54 mark to start a 6-0 run, a 2-minute span that included a technical foul on the Indians, that restored the 13-point lead from the start of the quarter.

Jackson countered with a 10-2 burst, with the Indians’ first five points accounted for by Smith, and the latter five scored by Irons, who followed up a 3-pointer with an offensive putback on the next possession, trimming the lead to 53-48 with 3:02 left. Irons finished with 14 points.

After a free throw by Welter, senior Garrett Walker cut the gap to 54-51 on a 3-pointer with 2:11 left.

It prompted a timeout by Unterreiner, who recently saw his team yield second-half leads to Kennett and Advance.

“He said, ‘Just do it for ourselves,” Bauwens said about Unterreiner’s instructions. “Prove to everybody that we can win big games,’ and we did, so that was nice.”

It wasn’t quite that easy, though.

The Indians stole the ball on Notre Dame’s ensuing possession — the Bulldogs ninth and final turnover of the quarter — and had a chance to draw even, but Walker misfired on a 3-point attempt.

Hester blocked a shot on Notre Dame’s next possession, but the Indians countered with a turnover.

Ketcher eventually made it a two-possession game with a pair of free throws after getting fouled in a scrum for a loose ball with 29 seconds left.

Jackson junior Jacob Friess hit a running 10-footer in the lane with 9 seconds left to again cut the deficit to three points, 56-53, but Dohogne iced the outcome with a free throw.

“One thing I was proud of is we cut it to 10 or 11 and had some things not go our way and made some bad decisions, and we still fought back after that,” Scott said. “We needed just a little more time to win it there at the end.”

Notre Dame’s final 10 points came on free throws.

“We talked about how you get fouls called — if you attack the basket and you put the other team in position to do that,” Unterreiner said. “And we don’t always do that, and tonight we took only seven 3s, and we looked to attack the basket and score around the basket, therefore we shot a lot of free throws.

“I’ll take it. I don’t care how the points get on the board, and we’ll be happy and celebrate a win tonight.”

Jackson 10 6 16 23 -- 55

Notre Dame 12 16 17 12 -- 57

JACKSON (55) -- Jacob Friess 6, Garrett Walker 7, Jacob Smith 14, Pete Lake 2, Stephen Irons 14, Cameron Hester 8, Grayson Ward 1. FG 19, FT 10-16, F 18. (3-pointers: Walker 2, Smith, Irons 4. Fouled out: Walker.)

NOTRE DAME (57) -- Andrew LeGrand 3, Blake Bauwens 14, Ross Essner 8, Tanner Robert 4, Winston Welter 12, Dawson Dohogne 9, Carson Ketcher 7. FG 18, FT 17-26, F 16. (3-pointers: LeGrand, Bauwens 3. Fouled out: none.)