Notre Dame boys basketball team thumps Perryville in district opener

DEXTER, Mo. -- Any thoughts Perryville had of an upset in the first round of the Class 4 District 1 boys basketball tournament were quickly shredded by a Notre Dame buzz saw.

The Bulldogs, seeded third in the district, scored early and often, hitting 11 three-pointers on their way to an impressive 82-44 victory over the No. 6 Pirates.

The Bulldogs (15-11) jumped to an early 22-2 lead, stretched it to 29-8 after one period and 52-23 by the half. The Pirates (6-19) managed to pull within 21 points early in the third, but Notre Dame responded with another run to lead 68-37 after three periods and force a running clock for the entire final quarter.

"That's what we wanted to do," Notre Dame coach Kevin Roberts said about getting an early lead. "They're a team that, if you let them hang around, they can beat you. We wanted to punch them early."

Grant Ressel (16 points) and Cody DeBrock (14 points) each had two 3-pointers in the opening quarter while Quinn Poythress (11 points) added one. The Bulldogs added three more in the second to bury the shell-shocked Pirates.

"Notre Dame came out hot from the very beginning," Perryville coach Justin Dreyer said. "I thought that they were a step faster than we were."

Dreyer said the Pirates hoped to take care of the basketball and limit mistakes. Instead, they committed 22 turnovers -- in the first half alone.

"I thought [Notre Dame] shot the ball extremely well tonight," he said.

It was difficult to pinpoint anything the Bulldogs didn't do efficiently.

"We put the whole entire game together," Notre Dame guard Jordan Williamson said. "Everything just came to everybody."

"We were knocking down our shots," Ressel said. "We had a good press, good defense all around."

Colin Schirmer led the Pirates with 13 points.

Notre Dame advances to face second-seeded Central in a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Perryville 8 15 14 7 -- 44

Notre Dame 29 23 16 14 -- 82

PERRYVILLE (44) -- Nate Kinnison 8, Garrett Martin 6, Grant Dix 8, Brett Schnurbusch 3, Colin Schirmer 13, Jacob Lawrence 6. FG: 16, FT: 6-14, F: 18. (3-pointers: Lawrence 2, Dix 2, Kinnison 1, Martin 1. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (82) -- Cody Debrock 14, Quinn Poythress 11, Nicholas Bradshaw 4, Jordan Williamson 2, Clayton Jansen 2, Patrick Williamson 2, Dalton Welch 5, Trenton Schumer 5, Grant Ressel 16, Jordan Barber 2, Thomas Himmelberg 3, Derek Hulshof 8, Tanner Shively 8. FG: 29, FT: 13-19, F: 11. (3-pointers: Ressel 4, Debrock 3, Poythress 1, Welch 1, Schumer 1, Himmelberg 1. Fouled out: none)

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Class 4 District 1 Perryville 42, Kennett 38

Natalie Gremaud scored eight of her game-high 20 points in the final period as the fifth-seeded Pirates rallied past the No. 4 Indians.

Perryville (14-10) trailed 34-32 midway through the final quarter after Kennett's Lara Abmeyer (14 points) nailed her third 3-pointer of the quarter.

But the Pirates' Desiree Brown (8 points, 8 rebounds) drove the lane for a layup to tie it at 34-34, and Gremaud scored underneath and added two free throws moments later to put the Pirates up 38-34 with 1:01 remaining in the game.

With the score 40-36, Abmeyer was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer, but she hit just 2 of 3 free throws. Gremaud rebounded the miss and was fouled with 10.4 seconds left, hitting both free throws for the game's final points.

"We knew it would come down to the end," Perryville coach Vicki Lohmann said. "To get [the lead] back early was the key."

Abmeyer's bombs nearly snatched away the victory for Kennett (14-12).

"We've never seen that before," said Gremaud, who added 14 rebounds and six blocks. "She didn't make those in the first half. We changed back to a 1-3-1 [defense] and we got a hand in her face."

Perryville will face the district's top seed, Dexter (23-3), in a semifinal Monday at 6 p.m.

Perryville 10 6 10 16 -- 42

Kennett 6 10 9 13 -- 38

PERRYVILLE (42) -- Natalie Gremaud 20, Allison Moldenhauer 4, Libbi Schnurbusch 4, Brooke Moll 6, Desiree Brown 8. FG: 18, FT: 6-8, F: 8. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

KENNETT (38) -- Lara Abmeyer 14, Kenna Hounihan 8, Kathryn Shetley 2, Anna Hilburn 8, Logan Vaughan 2. FG: 13, FT: 3-11, F: 11. (3-pointers: Abmeyer 3, Hilburn 2. Fouled out: none.)