Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim didn't hesitate to call Thursday's game with Twin Rivers ugly.
But he'll take the results nonetheless.
The Lady Bulldogs, ranked fifth in Class 2A, survived 33-23 to Twin Rivers, which dropped to 14-2 on the season.
"Ugly was the story tonight," said Grim. "I told the girls that this was the ugliest game that I've seen that we've won. It was not a very well played game by either side. Deana (McCormick) got into foul trouble in the first quarter and she didn't get back in until the third quarter."
In the second and third quarters, the two teams combined for just 14 points. Notre Dame (12-3) was held to just one point in the second quarter and found itself trailing 17-13 at halftime.
Notre Dame committed 19 turnovers -- including 13 in the second half -- but its defense played well enough to get the win. The Lady Bulldogs allowed just six points in the second half.
"We worked hard on defense especially in the second half," said Grim. "I was pleased with the effort, we just didn't make some good decisions with the ball. You've got to hand it to Twin Rivers. They took care of the ball, rebounded well and shot the ball well when they got a shot."
Kelly 61, Greenville 35
BENTON -- Bridgett Riley scored 13 of Kelly's 22 points in the first quarter as the Lady Hawks posted a decisive victory over Greenville.
Riley went on to record 19 in the game for Kelly (13-3), while Audrey Burford notched 14 and Marissa Essner added 12.
"Greenville has a pretty good team," said Kelly coach Curtis Finley. "They will probably be rated in the top four in our district, but we just got off to a good start tonight, thanks to Riley."
Michelle Meloy led Greenville with 12 points.
Kelly's JV squad improved to 7-1 with a 46-14 victory.
Scott County Central 70, Scott City 39
SCOTT CITY -- Scott County Central had two players combine for 62 of the team's 70 points as the Bravettes rolled to an easy win over Scott City.
Vontrice Blackmon scored 32 points and Lakeya Turner added 30 for Scott Central.
For Scott City (4-7), Lisa Sanders scored nine points to lead the way. Rachel Spinks pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
"We shot 13 for 52 and you're not going to win a lot of games doing that," said Scott City coach Randall White. "We had 38 shots in the paint. We'd shoot from five feet and brick it or from seven feet and brick it. But I've got a young group. I played seven freshmen tonight."
Scott City, which trailed 43-18 at halftime, is playing without starting point guard Erin Raines (torn anterior cruciate ligament) and without its top rebounder and post player Ashley Lynn (fractured elbow).
St. Vincent 46, Windsor 18
PERRYVILLE -- St. Vincent used a dominating 32-4 first half to post an easy win over Windsor.
The Squaws improved to 10-4 with the victory.
"We played a real good first half," said St. Vincent coach Terry Wengert. "In the second we worked on ball control."
Jessica Lakenan scored a game-high 19 points, followed by teammate Danielle Sutterer's 14.
Perryville 72, De Soto 52
PERRYVILLE -- Four Lady Pirates posted double-figure scores to down De Soto.
Perryville improved to 7-8 (5-0 in the Jefferson County Conference) with the win.
Jamie Amberger netted a game-high 19 points, followed by Amanda Schumer, who tossed in 16, Stacy Baer helped out with 13, while Amanda Nuyt added 10.
"I thought Amberger, Schumer, Baer and Nuyt came out fired up tonight," said Perryville coach Vicki Lohman. "They had heard that De Soto was coming down to take our crown away, even though our record isn't as sparkling as it has been."
Hannah Latham paced De Soto in scoring, with 17 points, while Terri Fischer added 10.
Chaffee 75, East Prairie 24
CHAFFEE -- Jennifer Vandeven netted 26 points as Chaffee rolled to an easy victory.
The Lady Red Devils built a 17-3 lead in the first quarter and held a insurmountable 43-7 lead by halftime.
Morgan Kiefer added 21 points for Chaffee (6-9) while Jodi Pfefferkorn tallied 11 and Amy Burnett scored 10.
Vandeven, a freshman, also enjoyed a big night on Wednesday, scoring 30 points in a 75-74 loss to Valle of Ste. Genevieve.
Oran 51, Delta 30
DELTA -- Sara Heisserer scored 21 points and Stacey Eftink added 14 for Oran as the Lady Eagles disposed of Delta.
For Delta (4-8), Rebecca Cook led the way with 16 points and was the only player in double figures for the Lady Bobcats.
Oran led 21-15 at halftime, then proceeded to outscore Delta 30-15 in the second half.
SWIMMING
Parkway North 119, Cape Central 63
ST. LOUIS -- Stratton Tingle was a two-event winner in a losing effort as the Cape Central dropped a dual meet to Parkway North.
Tingle took first in the 200 freestyle at 1:56.35 and in the 100 freestyle at :54.18.
Central dropped to 1-6 this season.
The medley relay team of Andrew Moreton, Jon Lowrance, Casey Dwyre and Gabe Austin dropped three seconds off its time to 1:55.33.
"We're getting there," said Central coach Dayna Powell. "Our relay times are getting close to some state cuts."
Parkway North 119, Cape Central 63
200 freestyle - 1. Stratton Tingle, 1:56.35
200 IM - 1. Jon Lowrance, 2:24.06
Diving - 3. Justin Hawkins, 142.40
100 butterfly - 2. Andrew Moreton, 1:10.61
100 freestyle - 1. Tingle :54.18
500 freestyle - 2. Gabe Austin, 6:43.85; 3. Warren Williams, 6:55.07
200 freestyle relay - 2. 1:46.85 (Casey Dwyre, Stephen Stahr, Williams, Tingle)
100 backstroke - 3. Moreton, 1:08.14
100 breaststroke - 2. Lowrance, 1:08.42
400 freestyle relay - 2. 3:52.13 (Austin, Moreton, Lowrance, Tingle)
WRESTLING
Jackson 65, Sikeston 3
JACKSON -- Jackson won all but one match as it improved its dual record to 7-1.
The Indians picked up five pins on the way to victory.
"(Sikeston) has a younger team this year and not quite as experienced, and we wrestled real well again tonight. " said Jackson coach Steve Wachter.
Jackson won the JV match with equal ease, routing the Bulldogs 66-6 in improving to 8-0.
Jackson 65, Sikeston 3
103 - J.P. Sides forfeit
112- Ricky Feiner (J) pin Cleveland Anthony, 4:50
119 - Robbie Barbour (S) dec. Kelly Vines, 8-4
125 - Brett Stroud (J) pin Chris Danels, 2:40
130 - Cyle Huck (J) maj. dec. Patrick Casey, 15-4
135 - Chris Brown (J) pin Jamie Pucket, :50
140 - Adam Wachter (J) pin Jackie Cowley, 2:30
145 - Josh Deneke (J) dec. Zac Fraley, 6-2
152 - James Love (J) pin J.T. Myrick, 1:20
160 - Mark Wade (J) pin Justin Vaughn, 1:45
171 - Gabe Koehler (J) default Jonathan Keenan
18 9 - Seth Harrell (J) maj. dec. Stuart Carroway, 11-3
215 - Ray Goodson (J) dec. Justin Sindle, 10-4
HWT - Spencer Hobeck (J) dec. Ryan Merideth, 8-3
JV winners: Chad Capone (103), Michael Taylor (130), Nick Donley (135), Ryan McClard (140), Drew Howard (145), Stewart McIntosh (152), Matt Kahle (160), Justin Rice (171), Andy Herndon (189), Peter Ressler (215), Luke Wade (HWT)
Poplar Bluff 40, Cape Central 26
POPLAR BLUFF -- Cape Central won the battles but lost the war Thursday night in a dual meet at Poplar Bluff.
The Tigers (1-6) won six of the 11 matches they competed in, but gave up 18 points in forfeits in a 40-26 loss.
Among the highlights for Cape Central was Dustin Ingram's pin of Poplar Bluff's Patrick Krishna in 49 seconds at 119 pounds.
"It's tough to win as a team when you're giving that up," said Central coach Josh Powell. "But our kids are wrestling a lot tougher."
Poplar Bluff 40, Cape Central 26
103 - Matt Boyer (Poplar Bluff) def. Joey Carr, major decision
112 - Paul York (Cape Central) def. Robbie Nations, major decision
119 - Dustin Ingran (CC) pinned Patrick Krishna, 49 seconds
125 - Tyler Berry (PB) forfeit
130 - Chuck Hampton (PB) forfeit
135 - Trevor Duncan (CC) pinned Chris Cookson, 3:32
140 - Josh Peterson (PB) def. Leland Weolk, 16-11 decision
145 - Josh Goodrich (CC) def. Tony Cookson, 9-7 decision
152 - Jamell Austin (CC) def. Aaron Wheeler, 11-8 decision
160 - John Robison (PB) def. Nick Harter, 6-3 decision
171 - O.J. Turner (CC) def. Josh Stewart, major decision 15-5
189 - Jake McFadden (PB) pinned Shannon Mungle, 2:12
215 - Daniel Larkins (PB) pinned Tay Moore, 1:26
HWT - Jeff Mannon (PB) forfeit
JV Winners: Monroe Hicks, Justin Cain
BOYS BASKETBALL
Stoddard County Tournament
BLOOMFIELD -- Advance narrowly escaped its second loss of the year with a 62-57 win over rival Bernie in a semifinal game of the Stoddard County Activities Association Tournament.
The other semifinal game, however, wasn't so close as Dexter disposed of Bell City 99-39.
Garrett Broshuis had another brilliant night for the Hornets, scoring 33 points which included six 3-pointers. Advance, which led 18-15 at halftime, also got 11 points from Daniel Turner.
Bernie, which made 11 threes, got 22 points and six 3-pointers from Jason Karnes. Derek Stone added 11.
Dexter, meanwhile, jumped out to a 57-25 halftime lead and got 20 points from Brett Hale, 19 from Dustin Jarrell, 18 from Shannon Wright and 14 from Scott Mattingly.
Bell City had just one player in double figures as Jason Rampley scored 13.
Dexter and Advance will meet for the championship game tonight at 8. Dexter is ranked fourth in Class 3A, while Advance is ranked fourth in 1A.
Scott-Mississippi Tournament
ORAN 00 Scott City and Scott County Central both won on Thursday, advancing to a championship showdown tonight at 8.
Fourth-seeded host Oran was defeated by top-seeded Scott City, 67-52.
The Rams, ranked No. 2 in Class 2A team, took a 28-17 lead into halftime and a 47-27 lead into the final quarter en route to the win.
The Rams forced 25 turnovers on the way to the win. Ben Sample, Scott Johnston, Ryan Weatherspoon and Ronald Watson all scored 14 points apiece for Scott City.
Oran was led in scoring by Travis Friga, who netted 18. Philip Seyer followed closely behind with 16, while Garrett Cook added 10.
Scott City improved to 16-1 (8-0 in the conference) with the win, and has now won 33 out of its last 35 games, as Oran fell to 8-6.
Scott County Central was led to victory with another explosive offensive effort from Jreece Johnson, who poured in 36 points, as the Braves bested Kelly, 66-58.
Johnson averages over 30 points a game.
The Braves' Todd Blissett recorded 12 points, while Terrance Williams added 11.
Leading the way for Kelly was Jamie Essner, who scored 16 points, followed by Brett Burger's 14 and Jeremy Skelton's 12.
Connect with the Southeast Missourian Newsroom:
For corrections to this story or other insights for the editor, click here. To submit a letter to the editor, click here. To learn about the Southeast Missourian’s AI Policy, click here.