NOTRE DAME GIRLS FALL TO POPLAR BLUFF'S PRESSURE DEFENSE 61-47

POPLAR BLUFF -- Notre Dame suffered just its third loss of the season, but second to Poplar Bluff, with a 61-47 loss to the Lady Mules Monday night in girls high school basketball action.

Notre Dame, ranked fifth in the state in Class 2A, fell to 11-3 on the season with the loss to Poplar Bluff, the fourth-ranked team in 4A.

"We didn't handle their pressure well and turned the ball over 21 times," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "You're not going to win any ballgames like that. Our kids played hard but didn't do the things they needed to do to win."

Lisa Millham scored a team-high 17 points for Notre Dame and Deana McCormick added 11 before fouling out.

Poplar Bluff led 10-7 after one quarter but outscored Notre Dame 24-12 in the second quarter for a 34-19 lead. Notre Dame outscored Poplar Bluff 28-27 in the second half but, with a 15-point halftime deficit, was in need of more.

Ashley Williams scored 17 points for Poplar Bluff and Nicole Rivers added 16.

St. Joseph's 48, Jackson 33

ST. LOUIS -- Playing in the King Classic Shootout at Maryville University, Jackson suffered its second loss of the season to St. Louis powerhouse St. Joseph's Academy.

Andrea Koeper was the Lady Indians' lone double-figure scorer with 11 points as Jackson fell to 7-6.

The Lady Indians trailed 20-11 at halftime, pulled to within 27-23 after three quarters and then was outscored 21-10 in the final period.

"They either made us look bad or we didn't play well at all," said Jackson coach Ron Cook. "We didn't shoot well and if you don't shoot well, you don't look good.

"But they do have a good team. You can't take anything away from them. They're big and strong, they can post you up inside and shoot outside."

Kelly 36, Scott City 20

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City was unable to lull Kelly to sleep as the Lady Hawks won the low-scoring affair.

Kelly (12-3) posted its second victory of the year over Scott City (4-6). The Lady Hawks had last beaten the Lady Rams in the championship game of the Chaffee Tournament.

" They slowed down the game and we had a little foul trouble," said Kelly coach Curtis Finley. "They prefer a low-scoring game, but we played some good defense."

Kelly's duo of Bridgette Riley and Audrey Burford outscored Scott City with 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Sikeston 63, Chaffee 53

CHAFFEE -- Sikeston sizzled from the free-throw line in holding off Chaffee.

The Lady Bulldogs hit an impressive 25 of 29 free throws, many of them coming late when the Lady Red Devils were forced to foul.

Candace Brown paced Sikeston with 22 points and Amanda Metzger added 15. Chaffee (5-8) got 20 points from Jennifer Vandeven and 10 from Jodi Pfefferkorn.

""I thought we played a pretty good game," said Chaffee coach Tammy Brock. "My girls really fought hard. I was very proud of the team effort.

"Sikeston shot great from the free-throw line. We pulled to within five points late but we had to foul and they hit their free throws."

Perryville 76, Festus 48

FESTUS -- Amanda Schumer scored 21 points as Perryville remained undefeated in Jefferson County Conference play.

Schumer tallied 16 of her points in the first half when Perryville (6-8 overall, 4-0 conference) bolted out to a 45-26 lead. Schumer added eight assists and seven steals.

"She was a spark in the first half," said Perryville coach Vicky Lohmann.

Stacy Baer added 13 points for Perryville.

Herculaneum 63, St. Vincent 43

HERCULANEUM -- St. Vincent fell to 9-4 with a lopsided loss.

The Squaws, who trailed 38-15 at halftime, got 15 points from Danielle Sutterer and 14 from Sara Cissell, who hit four 3-pointers.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Scott-Miss Tournament

ORAN -- Kelly and host Oran both romped as the Scott-Mississippi County Conference Tournament got under way.

Third-seeded Kelly routed No. 6 Oak Ridge 69-38 while No. 4 Oran rolled past No. 5 Delta 79-52.

Kelly (8-6) got 21 points from Jamie Essner, 13 from Quinton Schaefer and 12 from Daniel Seyer. Adam Hahs led Oak Ridge with nine points.

Oran (8-5) was paced by Adam Friga with 29 points. Travis Friga added 14 and Eric Spies had 11. Delta (5-8) got 17 points from Josh Altenthal and 10 from Robby Lemonds.

The first round concludes today as top-seeded Scott City plays No. 8 Chaffee at 5 p.m. and No. 2 Scott County Central faces No. 7 East Prairie at 8.