Notre Dame boys capture third in SEMO tourney

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Notre Dame Bulldogs looked to be in some trouble after one quarter.

After two quarters, the Bulldogs looked to be in control.

They took a slow start and turned it into a 60-42 victory over New Madrid County Central in the third-place game at the SEMO Conference tournament Friday.

New Madrid rattled Notre Dame in the first.

The Eagles held the Bulldogs scoreless for the opening three minutes by playing tough man-to-man defense.

Notre Dame's Luciano Starling drives past New Madrid's G'Darius Anderson during Friday's SEMO Conference tournament game in Sikeston, Mo.

"They really came out and pressured us and guarded us really well," Bulldogs coach Kevin Roberts said. "They pushed the passing lanes and guarded Jacob [Tolbert] quite a bit down low. We couldn't get into a flow. We have to run our offense and take our time and be patience. We got sped up early."

Notre Dame's defense kept the game close in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs only trailed 13-9.

Notre Dame turned the tide in the second quarter. The Bulldogs' defense swarmed and their offense fed off it.

Notre Dame used a 7-0 run to start the second to go up 16-13 then another 7-0 run to go up 25-18. Jacob Tolbert had seven points during that stretch.

"We started running our offense, being patient and getting Jacob a few more touches," Roberts said. "When that happens, we are a lot better."

Notre Dame's defense created fits for the Eagles in the second, holding them to three field goals and 11 points.

"We can guard," Roberts said. "That is one thing we can do. We struggle scoring and rebounding. But defensively, we were tremendous and we rebounded really well tonight."

Notre Dame expanded its lead to 34-24 at halftime.

The third quarter got no better for the Eagles.

Notre Dame's defense didn't allow a basket until four minutes into the second half, scoring eight points in that span to take a 42-24 lead.

"It was crucial that we got turnovers," Tolbert said. "They couldn't handle the pressure well. We just tried to force them to make turnovers and try to get fast breaks and easy buckets."

New Madrid cut its deficit to 47-33 heading into the fourth, but two quick buckets by Nick Koeppel and Tolbert to start the quarter ended any thoughts of an Eagles comeback.

Notre Dame kept up its lead in the fourth, again holding New Madrid to only three field goals in a quarter.

Part of the Bulldogs' success came from stopping the Eagles' 6-foot-5 senior Kony Ealy in the second half. Ealy only scored eight points in the second, compared to 13 in the first.

"He's got a body of a grown man," Roberts said of Ealy. "When he puts his mind to go to that basket, you're not stopping him. He hits the glass like nobody else. But I thought we did a really good job of rebounding."

The Bulldogs were led by Tolbert, who matched Ealy with 21 points.

"Jacob's hard to guard," Roberts said. "He can put it on the floor and go by you, he can post up and he can shoot the 3. That was a matchup of two pretty good players in there. I thought they both played well tonight."

New Madrid 13 11 9 9 -- 42

Notre Dame 9 25 13 13 -- 60

NEW MADRID (42) -- Lamone Nelson 5, Keith Holmes 9, G'Darius Anderson 2, Kony Ealy 21, Brandon Johnson 3, William Bledsoe 2. FG 13, FT 17-26, F 16. (3-pointers: none. Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (60) -- Nick Koeppel 12. Liam Maher 11, Ke-Ke Kellum 2, Luciano Starling 7, Jacob Tolbert 21, Matt Helle 5, Dylan Essner 2. FG 21, FT 15-20, F 24. (3-pointers: Maher 1, Tolbert 2. Fouled out: none)