Notre Dame girls’ basketball finishes season in fourth place

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – It would have been easy for the Notre Dame girls' basketball team to pack it in and go home.

Still smarting from a tough semifinal loss a day earlier, the Bulldogs watched defending state champion West Plains drain four three-pointers in the first quarter, including a banked-in buzzer-beater, and take a commanding double-digit lead.

“We had to pick it up on defense,” senior Anna Garner said. “They were shooting and making everything, and we had to step up.”

Led by Garner and senior Tori Rubel, Notre Dame made a valiant comeback and took a lead into the fourth quarter, but West Plains rallied late to defeat Notre Dame 42-38 Saturday in the Class 5 third-place game at the Show-Me-Showdown in Springfield.

Notre Dame (23-7), which finished as the fourth-place team in Class 5, earned its first state trophy since placing second in 2010.

“I have no regrets,” Rubel said. “We gave it our all.”

That maximum effort was evident on Saturday.

Trailing 17-5 after the first quarter, Notre Dame ratcheted up the defensive intensity and proved they could run with the Zizzers. Steals on the perimeter by Garner and Brie Rubel and blocked shots in the paint from freshman Nevaeh Lucious turned defense into quick offense.

Garner scored in transition and Tori Rubel drained a three to start the rally. Putbacks by Lucious and freshman Kate Rubel trimmed the deficit to 17-14 before the second quarter reached its halfway point.

“We just stepped it up and went full out,” Garner said.

In the third quarter, Garner leaped for a ball heading out-of-bounds and fired a left-handed laser into the opposite corner, where it landed perfectly in the shooting pocket of Brie Rubel for a three-pointer.

“I thought I saw Brie in the corner, and I just hoped to get it to her,” Garner said.

Tori Rubel took it from there.

She scored in transition to tie the score, sank a short jumper to give Notre Dame the lead, and then drained a corner 3-ball for good measure, as the Bulldogs completed a 10-0 run to open their biggest lead of the game at 29-24.

“Anna and Brie were working so hard on defense, Kate (Rubel) was driving in and creating, everyone was getting rebounds. Without that team effort, we wouldn’t have gotten those looks on offense,” said Tori Rubel, who led the Bulldogs with 12 points.

But West Plains withstood the Notre Dame haymaker and methodically clawed their way back into the lead during the final eight minutes.

A backdoor cut by Olivia Lawson opened the fourth quarter, and three-pointers by Zoey Williams and Kaylea Dixon put the Zizzers ahead to stay.

“We connected on the backdoor cut and it brought our energy up, and then we able to create space and hit some threes,” said Lawson who led the Zizzers with 16 points.

With two close losses to two powerhouse programs, Notre Dame learned a great deal from their experience in Springfield – most importantly, that they are among the best teams in the state.

“We played with the best, and we belong at the final four,” Notre Dame coach Kirk Boeller said.

Garner added, “Being here has been an amazing experience.”