Notre Dame boys basketball team reaches district title game

DEXTER, Mo. -- Notre Dame senior Alex Beussink never hesitated.

The 6-foot guard caught the ball in the corner and hoisted a 3-pointer.

Never mind his shooting woes in the game.

Never mind his team clinging to a one-point lead.

Beussink's a shooter and he refused to abandon his shot.

Notre Dame's Nathan Meystedt drives to the basket during the first quarter of the Class 4 District 1 semifinal game against Dexter on Thursday in Dexter, Mo. A photo gallery from the game can be viewed online at semoball.com. (Fred Lynch)

Beussink's rainbow swished through the basket with 5 minutes, 19 seconds left in Thursday's Class 4 District 1 semifinal to give his Bulldogs a little breathing room.

"Coach told me to keep shooting," Beussink said. "He told me he had faith in me. At halftime, he singled me out. He said, 'Alex, you're a great shooter. I know it.' The team said the same thing."

Beussink's 3-pointer sparked an 8-0 run, and Notre Dame advanced to today's district title game with the 45-38 victory.

"I'm always comfortable with Alex shooting the ball," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said. "He's been a tremendous shooter the entire year, and over the past four or five games when our winning streak has happened, he's been our most consistent shooter."

Beussink sank his first 3-point attempt of the game but went cold after that. He missed his next five attempts from long range. But Roberts said his confidence never wavered.

Notre Dame's Jacob Tolbert shoots over Dexter's Jacob Bollinger during the third quarter of their Class 4 District 1 semifinal game Thursday in Dexter, Mo.

"I knew when the time came and the big shot came, he'd knock it down," said Roberts, who called the trey the biggest shot of Beussink's high school career.

Notre Dame junior Jonathan Lynch got a good view of the shot.

"I had a feeling it was going in," Lynch said. "I knew it was going in as soon as it went up because he's been shooting the ball real good."

Notre Dame senior Jacob Tolbert said Beussink must keep shooting, even when he's in a slump, for the Bulldogs to be successful.

"Alex is a great shooter," Tolbert said. "He can shoot the ball with the best of them. He just has to keep that in his head and continue to shoot the ball. When he doesn't think about it and shoots it in rhythm, he can really knock them down."

There still was work to be done after Beussink's shot. Tolbert padded his team's lead when he converted on a drive. He charged toward the basket from the left side and almost lost the ball as he entered the paint. But he regained possession and laid it in to give Notre Dame a 37-31 lead with 3 minutes left.

"Just held strong and put it in," Tolbert said. "Any time you can score at the rim, it's huge. For us to be able to score like that in a game that close, it's huge."

Tolbert put an exclamation point on the victory with a two-handed slam with 9 seconds left.

"It felt pretty good," he said about the dunk. "I was playing hard all night and that triangle-and-two made it really tough on me. For us to come out and finish it off was really big."

Tolbert struggled to score until the final quarter. The Bearcats limited him to four points through the first three quarters, but the senior broke loose for 11 points in the final eight minutes. He credited Dexter's defense for his slow start.

"I just came out and tried to be as aggressive as I could, got some more screens on me in the second half," he said. "We set up a better offense with better spacing."

Tolbert converted five of his seven free throws during the fourth quarter.

"He was just getting to the basket better, just being more aggressive," Dexter senior Alan Flannigan said. "Give him credit, he's a great player and he'll do great at the next level."

Notre Dame started well, building a 10-point lead in the first quarter. The Bulldogs (16-11) pressured Dexter (14-12) into nine turnovers in the opening quarter.

But the Bearcats clamped down defensively in the second quarter, holding Notre Dame to five points on 2 of 13 shooting (15 percent). The teams entered halftime tied 19-19.

Both teams struggled in the third quarter, with Notre Dame shooting 33 percent (3 of 9) compared to 23 percent (3 of 13) for the Bearcats.

Roberts said his team wasn't fazed by losing its early lead because of past experience.

"We've had leads, big leads, and we've lost quite a few of them," he said. "So we've learned from that. We've learned not to let that get to us. The season is a long journey and those kind of situations help us in districts, and that showed tonight."

Notre Dame finally started hitting shots in the fourth quarter, going 6 of 10 (60 percent) from the field in the decisive quarter. The Bulldogs also benefited from slowing down Flannigan, Dexter's leading scorer. Flannigan finished with 15 points, but only five came after halftime.

"They go as he goes and he's a tremendous player," Roberts said. "He's had an unbelievable career there, and if you can make other guys beat you, you have a chance. That was our goal."

Flannigan shot 22 percent (2 of 9) from the field in the second half.

"They doubled down in the post any time I caught the ball and made me kick it out to the opposite side," Flannigan said. "When I caught it on top, they made sure they got a guy right up in my face."

Now Notre Dame turns its attention to a familiar foe. The Bulldogs will square off with Sikeston for the district title for the fifth consecutive year. Notre Dame won in 2007 and 2008 before Sikeston prevailed in 2009 and 2010. Sikeston already beat Notre Dame this season, a 64-57 decision Dec. 17.

"The main thing is take care of the ball," Tolbert said. "Their press is where they get a whole lot of their points off easy points, where they don't really have to work for them and get layups. If we take care of the ball and slow them down and get a quality, good shot every time, I think we have a shot at them."

Notre Dame 14 5 8 18 -- 45

Dexter 8 11 8 11 -- 38

NOTRE DAME (45) -- Jonathan Lynch 4, Jordan Reddin 1, Nathan Meystedt 13, Alex Beussink 8, Jacob Tolbert 15, Cody Heisserer 4. FG 17, FT 8-15, F 11. (3-pointers: Lynch 1, Beussink 2. Fouled out: none)

DEXTER (38) -- Jake Cox 7, Jordan Fitts 3, Alan Flannigan 15, Jacob Lee 2, Tyler Miller 7, Jacob Bollinger 4. FG 15, FT 5-7, F 14. (3-pointers: Cox 1, Fitts 1, Miller 1. Fouled out: none)