Notre Dame girls basketball team reaches district final with win over Central

~ Notre Dame fended off rival Central to reach the Class 4 District 1 championship game

DEXTER, Mo. -- Central may have shown its mettle, but Notre Dame showed its might.

Notre Dame prevailed in a matchup of Cape rivals Monday night, winning 64-41 in a Class 4 District 1 semifinal game that was much closer than the final score indicated.

Annie Seibert scored a game-high 22 points and Kaitlin Welter added 13 as the Bulldogs, the district's second seed, advanced to Thursday's district championship game against top-seeded Dexter.

But it wasn't easy.

Central’s Alayah Cooper-Johnson tries to get a shot off between Notre Dame’s Halle Lynch, left, and Kaitlin Welter during the third quarter of their Class 4 District 1 semifinal game Monday in Dexter, Mo. Notre Dame won 64-41 to advance to Thursday’s championship game. (Fred Lynch)

The Bulldogs (21-5) held a seemingly comfortable 38-15 halftime lead, only to see the Tigers claw their way back into the game with a 15-0 run that not only trimmed their deficit to 38-30 with two minutes left in the third period but also got their vocal fans back into the game.

But Seibert quickly quieted the crowd, driving the lane for a basket and drawing a foul, converting the 3-point play. Miranda Fowler followed with two free throws to push the lead back to 43-30.

"We were making silly fouls and not boxing out," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said of the Tigers' third-period run. "That was a huge wake-up call. We've got to be able to play through that."

The quick five-point run seem to settle down the Bulldogs.

"Those kinds of things happen and they shouldn't," Seibert said. "That was probably the most important part of the game. [The 5-0 run] seemed to calm everybody down."

Central’s bench encourages teammates after a basket against Notre Dame during the third quarter of their Class 4 District 1 semifinal game Monday in Dexter, Mo. The Tigers went on a 15-0 run in the period but couldn’t fully close the gap on a 23-point halftime deficit, losing 64-41. (Fred Lynch)

Central's Alayah Cooper-Johnson, who led the Tigers with 17 points, sparked the rally with a rebound basket off a missed shot. The senior forward added eight more points in the 15-0 run, all from the free-throw line. And when sophomore teammate Tramonee Stewart converted a three-point play late in the quarter, Central had outscored Notre Dame 18-5 in the quarter and came into the final period trailing just 43-33.

"We came out with a little more fire on defense," Central coach Sherri Shirrell said. "I think they realized that they had to."

But the Bulldogs went back to what built their first-half lead. Seibert opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from the wing, then converted a layup off a steal to push the lead to 48-33. That sparked a 13-0 run that put the game out of reach for the Tigers, who saw Cooper-Johnson head to the bench with her fifth foul at the 6:15 mark of the period.

"Alayah got in foul trouble, and when she fouled out, we lost our senior leadership on the floor," Shirrell said.

"We came out and played harder than we did in the first half," Cooper-Johnson said. "In the first half, we played to their game instead of our game, and we got into a big hole."

Notre Dame’s Kayce Landewee shoots over Central’s Alayah Cooper-Johnson during the second quarter.

Central (12-14) had hoped to slow the pace in the first half, but the Bulldogs wouldn't allow that, jumping to a 20-5 lead after one period on the strength of 9-of-14 shooting from the field and forcing eight Central turnovers, which helped lead to seven transition points.

"They live on their transition game," Shirrell noted. "Our intention was to slow the pace down. But they were getting a lot of open shots in the first half."

Peters was pleased with they way her squad played in the first half.

"We were passing the ball well, shooting the ball well," she said. "We saw they came out with a different lineup, a quicker lineup, and I was kind of hoping they were going to press us and try to run.

"We came out with intensity. I was very pleased in the first two quarters."

Central 5 10 18 6 -- 41

Notre Dame 20 18 5 21 -- 64

CENTRAL (41) -- Abby Shupert 2, Alayah Cooper-Johnson 17, Bailey Kratochvil 2, Tramonee Stewart 3, Kassidy Pannier 8, Madison Daum 4, Katie Williams 5. FG: 13, FT: 13-18, F: 19. (3-pointers: Pannier 2. Fouled out: Cooper-Johnson. Technical foul: Kratochvil)

NOTRE DAME (64) -- Miranda Fowler 6, Annie Seibert 22, Halle Lynch 2, Shelby Beussink 2, Kaitlyn Welter 13, Taylor Feeney 2, Madeline Rosenquist 8, Kayce Landewee 5, Kelsey Luster 4. FG: 24, FT: 8-14, F: 16. (3-pointers: Siebert 2, Welter 1, Landewee 1. Fouled out: none)