Notre Dame boys basketball team subdues Advance in fourth quarter

Notre Dame had trouble shaking Advance most of the night.

But the Bulldogs weren't concerned. They expected a tough test from the underdog Hornets and figured they eventually would find the spurt they needed to pull away.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," Notre Dame senior guard Jonathan Lynch said. "We just tried to focus on keeping the tempo up, keeping the pressure on."

The second-seeded Bulldogs finally put away seventh-seeded Advance 72-59 in Tuesday's quarterfinals of the Southeast Missourian Christmas tournament at the Show Me Center.

Notre Dame (5-4) advances to Thursday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal against three-time defending tournament champion Scott County Central. The Bulldogs failed to reach the semifinals last year.

"We're excited to be where we are," Notre Dame senior guard Nathan Meystedt said.

Meystedt scored 10 of his game-high 23 points in the final period to help Notre Dame outscore Advance 22-13.

"They hung with us for three quarters. It was close to the end," Meystedt said. "We kind of picked up our intensity on defense. We felt like we eventually got it going, got some runouts."

Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts marvels at the consistency of Meystedt, who is averaging about 20 points per game.

"We need him to score. Everybody knows that," Roberts said. "He does a lot of things for us."

Senior forward Joe Siebert added 12 points for Notre Dame. Lynch contributed 11 points and handed out several impressive assists while directing the Bulldogs' offense for much of the contest.

"He gets us going. He creates so well," Roberts said.

Advance (5-4) got a big performance from sophomore guard Lane Below. He scored 20 points and caused Notre Dame problems all night with his penetrations that often resulted in him finishing around the basket or distributing assists.

"He played really well. Hopefully he'll continue to grow," Advance coach Andrew Halford said.

Junior forwards Ethan Barr and Trey Wallace added 15 and 12 points, respectively, for the Hornets. Halford had few complaints about his squad's performance.

"I really liked our effort," Halford said. "Notre Dame's defense was really good, and they hurt us on the boards."

Notre Dame trailed just once, at 4-2. There were six ties in the first quarter before the Bulldogs ended the period on an 8-0 run.

Junior guard Patrick Williamson banked in a 3-pointer with 43 seconds left to break a 14-14 deadlock.

The Bulldogs then forced two consecutive turnovers with their relentless pressure. Those miscues led to a 3-pointer by senior guard Ryan Hale with 15 seconds left and a Hale layup with 3 seconds remaining to put up Notre Dame 22-14 entering the second quarter.

"I think we only had 17 or 18 turnovers, but it's when we had the turnovers that hurt," Halford said.

Advance, which trailed 36-29 at halftime, cut the deficit to 48-46 late in the third quarter, and it was 50-46 entering the final period.

Notre Dame steadily pulled away despite making just 5 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs, who went 9 of 21 from the line in the game, led by as many as 16 points.

"Advance is a good team," Roberts said. "We started guarding and doing what we needed to do defensively, and we started rebounding.

"We played with outstanding effort. We're glad to get the win."

Advance will play Leopold at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the fifth-place semifinals.

Advance 14 15 17 13 -- 59

Notre Dame 22 14 14 22 -- 72

ADVANCE (59) -- Tyler Middleton 1, Hunter Wilson 7, Lane Below 20, Trey Wallace 12, Curtis Gilliliand 4, Ethan Barr 15. FG 26, FT 5-7, F 15. (3-pointers: Wilson 1, Below 1. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (72) -- Demonte Farmer 3, Jonathan Lynch 11, Jordan Reddin 4, Nathan Meystedt 23, Patrick Williamson 4, Joe Siebert 12, Cody Heisserer 8, Ryan Hale 7. FG 30, FT 9-21, F 10. (3-pointers: Meystedt 1, Williamson 1, Hale 1. Fouled out: none)