Notre Dame boys basketball team saves its best for Perryville

~ The Notre Dame boys prevailed 74-52 for their 11th consecutive win on senior night

Notre Dame senior guard Demonte Farmer lofted an alley-oop pass toward the Perryville goal with the clock winding down in the third quarter Tuesday.

Instead of finding senior forward Joe Siebert, its intended target, the ball dropped through the basket for a 3-pointer.

It was that kind of game for the host Bulldogs, who celebrated senior night with an impressive 74-52 victory in a battle of strong Class 4 District 1 rivals.

"This is by far the best game we've played all year," said Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts, whose team improved to 17-5 with its 11th consecutive win. "That's a good sign. You want to be playing your best at this time of the year.

"We were clicking on all cylinders. We played good defense, we moved the ball well, we hit shots."

Farmer smiled when recalling his pass that resulted in Notre Dame's ninth and final 3-pointer of the night. It sent the Bulldogs to the fourth quarter ahead 59-43.

"I was trying to pass it to Joe Siebert, and it just went in," Farmer said. "I was pretty surprised."

Added Roberts: "You know it's going to be your night when that goes in."

Six players hit 3-pointers for the Bulldogs, who made half of their attempts from beyond the arc.

"We really clicked tonight. Everybody contributed," Notre Dame senior guard Nathan Meystedt said. "Any time we're all on like that, it makes us tough to beat."

Meystedt led the Bulldogs with 17 points, including 12 in the second half.

Notre Dame senior forward Cody Heisserer scored 10 of his 16 points after halftime.

"Everybody was clicking tonight," Heisserer said. "It was a big team win. Perryville has a good team."

The 6-foot-4 Heisserer more than held his own inside against the much taller Pirates (17-6), who feature a 6-8 center and two 6-5 forwards.

"He's starting to play like a man inside," Roberts said. "He does so much for us."

Siebert added 11 points for the Bulldogs, who had four other players score between six and nine points.

All of Notre Dame's offense came from seniors.

"It's that leadership that has taken us to the next level," Roberts said.

Perryville got 19 points from senior guard Ross Moldenhauer, who hit five 3-pointers.

Moldenhauer, who recently returned after missing nine games with an injury, made a school-record eight 3-pointers during Friday's loss to Festus.

"He's come back on fire," Perryville coach Joel Roth said.

Bryce Weibrecht and Jared Thieret, a pair of 6-5 senior forwards, added 14 points apiece for the Pirates.

Perryville scored the game's first five points and later led 7-5.

Siebert's 3-pointer midway through the opening period put Notre Dame ahead for good at 8-7.

It was 21-14 after one quarter partly because the Bulldogs drilled five 3-pointers and took advantage of eight Perryville turnovers.

The Pirates fell behind by 12 points early in the second period but trailed just 34-26 at halftime.

"We just turned the ball over too much," said Roth, whose squad had 22 turnovers. "We had 13 turnovers about halfway into the second quarter.

"Our goal was to keep our turnovers down to about 13 in the game. It never gave us a chance to take advantage of our size."

Perryville cut its deficit to 38-34 early in the third quarter and still was in contention at 43-38.

The explosive Bulldogs then scored 10 straight points in a little more than a minute. All of a sudden it was 53-38, and Perryville never recovered.

Farmer's accidental 3-pointer made it 59-43 after three, and Perryville got no closer than 12 points in the final period.

"I don't think it was as bad as the final score. We made a run," Roth said. "I told them don't hang your heads. We'll probably see them again in districts."

Perryville almost certainly will be the No. 3 seed for the upcoming district tournament in Sikeston, with the host squad and Notre Dame in a battle for the top seed.

Whoever gets the No. 2 seed, either Notre Dame or Sikeston, likely will face Perryville in the semifinals.

"I know they'll be ready for us if we see them in districts," Meystedt said.

Perryville 14 12 17 9 -- 52

Notre Dame 21 13 25 15 -- 74

PERRYVILLE (52) -- Colby Brown 5, Ross Moldenhauer 19, Bryce Weibrecht 14, Jared Thieret 14. FG 20, FT 5-7, F 11. (3-pointers: Moldenhauer 5, Weibrecht 2. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (74) -- Demonte Farmer 6, Jonathan Lynch 8, Jordan Reddin 9, Nathan Meystedt 17, Joe Siebert 11, Cody Heisserer 16, Ryan Hale 7. FG 28, FT 9-14, F 13. (3-pointers: Farmer 2, Lynch 1, Reddin 1, Meystedt 2, Siebert 2, Hale 1. Fouled out: none)

JV -- Notre Dame won 75-41