NOTRE DAME MAKES STATEMENT IN SPIRITED 71-69 LOSS TO SIKESTON

Despite a 71-69 loss, Notre Dame made a statement against Sikeston, likely the best Class 4A school in the region in a battle of the Bulldogs Friday night.

The 2A school that went 13-13 a season ago and got a No. 8 seed in the Sikeston tournament which begins Monday, has created a new identity under first-year coach Chris Neff with its relentless man-to-man defense and foot-to-the-floor effort.

Notre Dame's constant pressure and deep bench wore down Sikeston -- seeded first in the upcoming tournament -- but it couldn't overcome a 12-point, third-quarter deficit."I don't know what it is, but this group of 12 gives their all every night," said Neff. "We might have outplayed them, but we just didn't win. I'm not sure we're better than them, but a five-on-five game for 32 minutes, we can play with them."Notre Dame crawled to within just one point with 1:06 left when Mark Rubel nailed a 3-pointer to make it 66-65.

Sikeston's Justin Freeman, on the next possession, tipped in an offensive rebound -- the fourth consecutive offensive rebound on that possession -- to put Sikeston up 68-65.

Notre Dame cut the lead to 68-66 on a free throw by Chris Dirnberger with :36 left. With 25 seconds left, Freeman hit a free throw to put Sikeston up by three.

With eight seconds remaining, Dirnberger's 3-point attempt sailed wide and Notre Dame was forced to foul Tony Jones with 1.6 seconds remaining.

Jones, despite having his first free throw erased by the officials because Notre Dame had not yet replaced a player who fouled out, and despite having two timeouts called, made both free throws to put the game out of reach at 71-66.

Dirnberger nailed a three from about 35 feet to account for the final margin.

Notre Dame got a big night from both Jonathon Ressell and Rubel.

Ressell scored 23 points, most of which came against all-stater Bryan Ellitt.

Ressell used screens wisely, hitting open, medium-range jumpers and also exploded to the basket on occasions."When you have a special player like that, it means a lot as a coach to have a player reach his potential," said Neff. "I think he has the ability to play at the next level, but he won't be able to do that with his size (6-4) if he's just a post player. He has to explode from the top of the key sometimes. I don't know if he can do that in the first quarter (against players like Ellitt), but he can do it in the fourth because he's well conditioned."Rubel scored 15 points, which included three 3-pointers, and would've had more had he not been in foul trouble early in the game.

Sikeston's biggest offensive weapon Friday night wasn't its all-stater. Instead, Andre Morgan caught fire for 20 points, hitting three 3-pointers including a turnaround fadeaway at the buzzer at the end of the first half.

Ellitt was limited to 16 points, but he grabbed 22 rebounds, including nine offensive boards.

Freeman added 12 points and Tony Jones scored 13."I thought both teams played hard," said Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield. "We got a little sloppy and careless at times, but our kids handled the situation pretty well. You have to give Notre Dame credit. I knew it would be tough. They play with such intensity."There was a buzzer-beater in each of the four quarters.

Sikeston led by as many as seven in the first quarter, but a 3-pointer by Adam Obermiller at the buzzer cut the lead to 19-14 going into the second.

Sikeston held an eight point advantage in the second quarter, but Notre Dame came back and pulled to within three before Morgan nailed his bomb at the buzzer to make the score 40-34 going into halftime.

Ressell took it strong to the basket on an in-bounds play at the end of the third to pull Notre Dame to within 59-52.

Notre Dame trailed 56-44 -- the biggest margin of the game -- with 2:30 left in the third.

Notre Dame made 13 of 32 shots in each half (41 percent) and made seven of its 21 3-pointers for 33 percent. The Bulldogs turned the ball over just eight times the whole game and just two times in the second half.

Sikeston turned the ball over 17 times and shot 42 percent from the field (23 of 55).