NOTRE DAME FLATTENED IN DOGFIGHT

The stage was set for Notre Dame High's boys basketball team to finally break through and snap its five-game losing streak against visiting Portageville. Three things made Notre Dame coach Chris Janet very optimistic entering the game:

*Out since Jan. 7 with an ankle injury, Notre Dame's leading scorer and rebounder, 6-foot-6 senior Dirk Dirnberger, returned to the lineup.

*It was the team's homecoming game.

*The Bulldogs entered the game on the heels of a six-point loss at Jackson. It was the team's best showing in recent games and Janet said, "This is as proud as I've ever been after a loss," after the game.

None of that mattered Friday night.

Notre Dame went an abysmal 0 of 17 from 3-point land, couldn't counter Portageville's athleticism and suffered a 70-40 loss.

An emotional Janet was thoroughly confused by his team's performance after the game.

"I'm just bewildered right now; bewildered," Janet said. "Tonight our minds sure weren't on basketball, not at all. It was embarrassing. This one hurt.

"There's not one aspect of the game we did well. We didn't shoot the ball well, we didn't pass the ball well, we didn't rebound the ball, we didn't dribble the ball, and I don't know why. We didn't play with any intensity."

Portageville (10-6) led from start to finish. Notre Dame brought the game within four points, 16-12, seconds into the second quarter. The visitors outscored Notre Dame 54-22 from there and the hosts never brought the game any closer than 13 points in the second half.

Portageville coach Jim Bidewell said that his team's play has varied greatly from game to game and the team's performance against Notre Dame (5-10) was one of its best of the season.

"We really played well; it was one of our better ballgames, no doubt about it," said Portageville coach Jim Bidewell. "Our kids were focused tonight. We've played teams not as good as Notre Dame that beat us this year. I was just tickled to death that our kids came and played as hard as they did."

Bidewell was pleased with his team's defense. Portageville forced 15 Notre Dame turnovers.

"I'm really pleased [to hold Notre Dame to 40 points]; our defense had been non-existent the last couple games, but tonight we hit the boards well and got some easy buckets inside," Bidewell said.

Portageville, which has no player taller than 6-2, had very balanced scoring. Greg Thomas had 17, electrifying leaper Gerald Pickering added 15 and Richie Garmon and Brett Smith both had 11.

Notre Dame was led by Nathan McGuire's 10 points. Dirnberger, who missed five games, had six, all in the first half.

The game was the first of five straight games against Class 2A or Class 1A teams for Notre Dame. The Bulldogs' next two games are against Bernie and Woodland, teams in Notre Dame's district, on the road.

"We're a lot better team than that," said Janet. "I think we're as good as Portageville. I don't think they should have beaten us, much less by 30 points.

"This is a big stretch of games for us. We've got to turn this thing around."