Notre Dame girls dominate court to end Kennett winning streak

KENNETT — Notre Dame (12-1) rolled into Kennett (13-6) Monday night and left nothing up to chance as they ended the Indians’ 10-game winning streak with a resounding 41-14 victory.

Wasting absolutely no time, Notre Dame’s press kicked in immediately as they held Kennett scoreless for five minutes and forced turnover after turnover while eliminating their own, which Bulldog head coach Kirk Boeller explained has been an issue and a priority for the team recently.

“Kennett’s been playing great,” Boeller said. “I’ve seen some of their scores and watched some of their games – they’re scrappy and they get after it. So being focused was our number one talking point for tonight. We knew we’d have our hands full, so we had to be ready.”

Nevaeh Lucious opened the matchup with a 3-point shot which was soon followed up by another by Brie Rubel. Tori Rubel found a rhythm and secured a layup, two steals, and consequently put in two free throws in rapid succession just after.

Down 9-0 after three minutes had ticked by, Kennett head coach Aaron New called a timeout to regroup. On the Indians’ next possession, Taleigh Harrell forced a steal and put in a layup for Kennett's first points of the night with time dwindling in the first quarter.

Boeller’s keys to winning Monday night’s conference contest? “Be patient, slow down and take care of it.”

“Tonight, against a really good defense, we did a really good job of taking care of the ball, and that took a big pressure off of our defense,” he continued.

Leading 11-2, Notre Dame’s Lucious struck first in the second quarter with a quick and easy layup. Showing some potential for a turning of the tides, Kennett’s Anekia Farmer pulled in a steal and threw in a layup. It would be the last offensive play for Kennett in the first half, with the exception of two free throws.

“They sped us up and we couldn’t get anything going on offense,” Kennett head coach Aaron New said. “I thought that on defense we were able to do what we wanted to do in the first half. Their size was too much for us, but we tried to double team the post and it was pretty successful, holding them to just 22 in the first half.”

Kennett's Taleigh Harrell (15) jumps for a layup while guarded by Notre Dame's Kate Rubel Monday night at Kennett High School.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

If Notre Dame had not put the game away in the first half with a 22-6 advantage, they certainly did so in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

Using every ounce of their size advantage, Notre Dame consistently forced Kennett into an impossible tempo, leading to inconsistent passes into the hands of Bulldog defenders.

“Their length was too much and their matchup zone is really, really good,” New said. “It was a lot better than the first time we played them. They’re a really good team and they played well tonight on the road.”

While Notre Dame went on a respectable run for nearly the entire quarter, seven minutes ticked by before Kennett found the net for the first time in scoring one of the team’s three points accrued in the third quarter.

Notre Dame’s edge was pushed forth by Brie Rubel, who put in a 3-pointer and a long 2-point jump shot, in addition to two layups scored by none other than Nevaeh Lucious, a true force to be reckoned with on the inside.

Lucious once again opened the fourth quarter with a layup, and after the Bulldogs added four more points to their score, the starters came off the court.

With Notre Dame’s bench on, Taleigh Harrell finally broke the 10-point threshold for Kennett with a layup. While Harrell shot one more soon after and Lani Heeb took away a pass for a layup as well, Notre Dame’s lead was far too strong and the Bulldogs won 41-14 after running down the clock in the final seconds.

Notre Dame was paced by Nevaeh Lucious who scored 12 total points. She was backed up by Brie Rubel and Kate Rubel, each scoring eight, Tori Rubel with seven, Skylar Craft with four and Anna Garner with two.

Anekia Farmer and Taleigh Harrell both contributed five points each for Kennett, while Lani Heeb added three and Christi Tejeda scored one.

Next, Kennett will take a trip to Portageville (12-4) Thursday with a junior varsity game starting at 6 p.m. Notre Dame hosts New Madrid County Central (0-6) on Thursday at the same time.