Notre Dame crushes Festus to reach state's elite eight

PARKHILLS, Mo. -- Class 4 boys basketball teams around the state better beware: The Bulldogs smell blood.

After a quiet 9-16 regular season, Notre Dame has won four straight to secure a spot in the state quarterfinals. The latest was a convincing 78-51 victory over Festus on Wednesday night at Mineral Area College.

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of fight in the dog," Notre Dame senior Bryce Willen said. "And we're fighting hard right now."

The Bulldogs improved to 4-0 with Willen, who missed most of the year with an ACL injury, back in a vital role and scoring in double figures in each of those games. Notre Dame will try to make it five straight when they face Salem (24-4) on Saturday in the quarterfinals at Farmington.

The key for the Bulldogs on Wednesday was a heated press which simply wore the Tigers down. Notre Dame created turnovers, slowed Festus' offense to a standstill and simply frustrated the Tigers (23-6).

"He's always been on us about the press," Notre Dame junior Alex Ressel said of Bulldogs coach Paul Hale. "He likes to be uptempo. We did a good job of it."

Added Hale: "I looked at a film or two and I noticed they don't look like they handle the ball real well. They lose their heads. We were able to get in their head."

It was apparent by the second half Hale's strategy was paying off. Festus made four 3-pointers in the opening half and was in the game through 16 minutes. But as the second half went on, Festus appeared to tire, and all of its offense went through post player Zac Lentz.

Lentz finished with a game-high 24 points, but Festus did not hit a 3-pointer in the second half.

"That was one thing we knew before the game. We had to stop their 3-point shooters," Willen said. "We didn't do as well as we'd like in the first half, but we emphasized that at the half."

With the Tigers' outside game neutralized, Notre Dame was free to start running. Right from the start Notre Dame opened its lead with a pair of 3-pointers from Willen to start the second half.

As Festus tired Notre Dame was able to get to the line. The Bulldogs hit their first 13 free throws in the second half and went 21 of 29 overall in the half. That free throw shooting allowed Notre Dame to go ahead 51-37 after three quarters, and less than two minutes into the fourth quarter Notre Dame had stretched its lead to 60-40.

The Bulldogs were ahead by as much as 26 points late in the third.

Ressel led the Bulldogs with 20 points, much of them going against 6-foot-8 Lentz. In the district finals, Ressel managed just two points after struggling through foul trouble.

"I felt kind of disappointed in myself," Ressel said of his district performance. "I felt I had to step it up if we were going to win this game."

Added Willen: "When he's playing well, he's pretty much unstoppable."

Willen added 18 points, including a near dunk in the final minutes of the game. Kirk Boeller came off the bench to contribute 12 points along with some strong defense.

"I think Kirk Boeller off the bench had his best game of the year," Hale said.

The win puts Notre Dame one game away from a trip to the state final four, where the Bulldogs have not been since the the state championship team of 1987.

"I'm really proud of the kids and hope they can just luck up and get one more," Hale said.

NOTRE DAME 78, FESTUS 51

Festus 14 11 12 14 - 51

Notre Dame 19 12 20 27 - 78

FESTUS (51) - Zac Lentz 24, Eric Lawrence 9, Shane Neel 8, Ryan Lawrence 6, Brandon Winters 2. FG: 19, FT: 9-11, Fouls: 24. (3-pointers: E. Lawrence 3, R. Lawrence 1, Fouled out: R. Lawrence)

NOTRE DAME (78) - Alex Ressel 20, Bryce Willen 18, Kirk Boeller 12, Abe Dirnberger 7, Frankie Ellis 7, Mark Unterreiner 3, Jeremy Brinkmeyer 4, Lucas Dirnberger 1, John Eric Klein 1, Jacob Essner 5. FG: 26, FT: 23-35, Fouls: 18 (3-pointers: Willen 2, Essner 1, Fouled out: none)