Notre Dame goes 2-0, Cape Central falls to Eureka at 6th Man Shootout

__Eureka 54, Cape Central 29__

The Cape Central Tigers fell behind early and never recovered as the Eureka Wildcats coasted to a 54-29 victory over the Tigers.

Eureka quickly jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first quarter as Cape Central couldn’t get shots to fall.

The trend continued for the Tigers as they trailed 15-8 after the opening eight minutes.

“Eureka is really good,” Tigers coach Drew Church said. “I thought we looked tired. That’s no excuse because (Eureka) played well. It was just one of those games where I thought we were tired and shots just didn’t fall.”

Eureka was able to continue to control the game in the second quarter as the Wildcats won the frame 9-2 to take a 24-10 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The third quarter was the best of the evening on the offensive side for the Tigers as they scored 11 points in the frame.

“We did get some good looks,” Church said. “There’s just nights like that. (Eureka) shot it really well and that’s just basketball. It’s also a learning lesson for us. We have to be able to go through adversity if shots aren’t falling and find a different way to score or let defense lead to offense.”

Church said overall he was pleased with the way his team defended in the loss.

“They’re really good and they run good sets,” Church said. “If you hold a team to around 50 points you’d like to say you have a chance. It was just one of those crazy nights in basketball.”

Cape Central (13-7) will return home for a highly anticipated battle between two Class 5 powerhouses when the Tigers host Sikeston at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 9, at Cape Central High School.

__Notre Dame 48, Thayer 47__

The Notre Dame Bulldogs were able to survive the Thayer Bobcats 48-47 on Saturday in the 6th Man Shootout at Charleston High School.

A big three late from Skylar Craft and some free throws from Kate Rubel were enough to propel the Bulldogs to a win.

Notre Dame led 8-5 after the first quarter and eventually took a 27-18 lead into halftime.

After a big third quarter from Thayer, the Bulldogs took just a 32-30 lead into the fourth quarter.

Leading the scoring for Notre Dame was Neveah Lucious with 10 points.

Also contributing were Skylar Craft and Kate Rubel with 8 points a piece, Olivia Wagoner with 7 points, Mia Panton with 6 points, Brie Rubel with 5 points and Eliza Barnette and Maddy Erbst with 2 points each.

Notre Dame (13-7) returns to action at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 5, when the Bulldogs host Dexter at Notre Dame Regional High School.

__Notre Dame 52, Meridian 42__

A big scoring day from Kolton Johnson led the charge for the Notre Dame Bulldogs as they downed the Merdian Bobcats 52-42 in the 6th Man Shootout at Charleston High School.

Despite Johnson drilling three first-quarter three-pointers, Notre Dame trailed 15-14 after the opening eight minutes.

The second quarter is where the Notre Dame defense began to show up as it held the Bobcats to just 7 points as the Bulldogs took a 25-22 lead into halftime.

The lead would remain at three entering the fourth quarter as Notre Dame led 39-36.

Leading the scoring for the Bulldogs was Johnson who poured in 24 points on 5 made threes.

Also contributing were Brett Dohogne with 15 points, Trenton Schumacker with 6 points, Hunter Bonham with 5 points and Carson Essner with 2 points.

Notre Dame (10-12) hits the road at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, when the Bulldogs take on Hillsboro at Hillsboro High School.