Notre Dame boys roll in tuneup for top-ranked Scott County

~ Notre Dame used its superior height to dump Saxony 84-48

Satisfaction and anticipation were the overriding emotions around the Notre Dame locker room Friday night at Saxony Lutheran High School.

The Bulldogs remained unbeaten in the 2010 portion of their schedule with their sixth consecutive victory, a thorough 84-48 dismantling of the host Crusaders. Maybe just as rewarding as the rout, which Notre Dame led 21-4 after one quarter and 31 points by halftime, was finally the opportunity to look ahead.

Notre Dame (13-4) had cleared itself of all distractions for one of the circled dates on coach Kevin Roberts' calender -- Tuesday, Jan. 26.

On that day, the schedule reads Notre Dame at Scott County Central.

Saxony Lutheran's Brayton Klaus is fouled by Notre Dame's Tanner Hiett during the second quarter Friday at Saxony Lutheran. (Fred Lynch)

"We're very excited," Notre Dame 6-foot-7 senior forward Matt Helle said. "Coach Roberts gave us a little speech in there and he got us all pumped up to play right now. He said, 'You don't want to look to teams too much, but I circled this one on my schedule.'"

Had Notre Dame lived up to its No. 2 seed in the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament, the Bulldogs would have met top-seeded Scott County Central in the championship game. However, sixth-seeded Central upended Notre Dame in the semifinals. The Bulldogs rebounded for a victory against Charleston in the third-place game and haven't lost since.

"You don't want to overlook an opponent, but it's definitely in the back of my mind. And now that that game is over, it's in the front of my mind," Roberts said of Scott County Central, the defending Class 1 state champions and the owners of a 15-game winning streak. "It'll be a challenge. It's the biggest test we've got. We'll see where we're at as a team come Tuesday."

Notre Dame capped an impressive week against Saxony. On Tuesday, the Bulldogs built a 20-point fourth-quarter lead in posting their third victory of the season against Charleston.

On Friday, the Bulldogs pounced on a much shorter Saxony team from the opening tip. Notre Dame's 6-7 center Jacob Tolbert scored inside off a pass from Luciano Starling on the first possession of the game and the Bulldogs were ahead for good. It was part of a 5-0 run, which would be followed by an 8-0 run. Leading 13-4, Notre Dame closed the quarter with another 8-0 burst for a 21-4 lead.

Notre Dame's Jacob Tolbert shoots over Saxony Lutheran's Trevor Mabuce during the third quarter Friday.

"We got shocked early," Saxony coach Sam Sides said. "We weren't ready from the get-go."

Notre Dame's full-court and half-court pressure resulted in 10 Saxony turnovers in the first quarter. The Crusaders found every pass contested as they only took five shots in the period. In contrast, Notre Dame took 17 shots.

"We wanted to get the game going and really guard," Roberts said. "And that's what we did. We played hard. We were probably a better team than they were, but you have to give them credit, they were scrappy. They outscrapped tonight, but we wanted to establish our defense and throw it in to Jacob and Matt."

Notre Dame forced Saxony to turn over the ball on its first five possessions of the second quarter as the Bulldogs stretched their run to 16 points in the first three minutes of the period for a 29-4 lead.

Leading 42-10 before intermission, Notre Dame removed all five of its starters. Roberts would call off the starting Bulldogs for good midway through the third quarter and the clock ran continuously in the fourth.

Saxony Lutheran's Gus Klaus tries to get is own rebound against Notre Dame's Matt Helle during the second quarter Friday at Saxony Lutheran. (Fred Lynch)

"We're getting better every single game, and that's what we stress," Roberts said. "We need to get better every single game, and tonight we definitely got better."

Junior Brayton Klaus led the Crusaders (4-13) with a game-high 19 points. But for the Crusaders, who top out at 6-1, no other player reached double figures.

"Every game we play we're playing people that are a foot taller than us," Sides said. "We just have to find a way to get around them. But their shortest man is as big as our biggest man. That makes it tough. The biggest problem with us is we're not very physically strong either. We get knocked off the ball. The more physical the other team plays, we're hurting. We just don't have enough body weight to handle it."

Tolbert finished with a team-high 18 points for Notre Dame. Alex Beussink was next with 11 points as 13 Bulldogs found the scoring column.

Afterward, Tolbert was ready to turn the page to Scott County Central.

"It's been on our mind for a while now," Tolbert said. "We just got to keep working hard and we're going to prepare for that game. I'm ready to play."

Helle acknowledged the towering size advantage the Bulldogs had against Saxony will not be a factor against the Braves, who feature 6-8 junior Otto Porter.

"Otto is a man," Helle said. "He averages like 30 points and 20 rebounds. He's the best player around here."

The Bulldogs also will have to contend with all-state senior Bobby Hatchett, who averages more than 20 points a game.

"Our guards have their work cut out for them," Helle said. "Bobby Hatchett is a great, great guard. I think our guards can step up. It's going to be a fun, fun game."

Notre Dame 21 27 26 10 -- 84

Saxony 4 13 18 13 -- 48

NOTRE DAME (84) -- Nick Koeppel 9, Liam Maher 8, Ke-Ke Kellum 4, Taylor Essner 4, Alex Carroll 2, Chris McCoy 6, Alex Beussink 11, Luciano Starling 2, Jacob Tolbert 18, Matton Patton 2, Matt Helle 8, Dylan Essner 2, Andrew Lange 2. FG 31, FT 19-23, F 15. (3-pointers: Maher 1, T. Essner 1, Beussink 1. Fouled out: none)

SAXONY LUTHERAN (48) -- Brayton Klaus 19, Trevor Mabuce 8, Trent Steffens 2, Kris Cook 4, Clayton Carver 3, Clay Roth 2, Matt Willis 3, Gabe Bohnert 4, Ryan Sprandel 3. FG 19, FT 7-16, F 17. (3-pointers: Klaus 1, Carver 1, Willis 1. Fouled out: Cook, Willis)

JV -- Notre Dame won 55-35.