Notre Dame rebounds to capture third place

Notre Dame, the second seed, showed no signs of a letdown in a 69-57 win over scrappy Oran to capture third place in the University High School Tournament Saturday night.

Coming off a disappointing semifinal loss to third-seed Jackson Friday night, in which the Indians literally snatched victory from the Bulldogs in overtime, it might have been easy for Notre Dame to lay down.

"Of course, we wanted to be in the finals," said Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott, "but the biggest thing is, now, can you take what happened and improve from that and grow throughout the rest of the year. I thought we made great strides as a team.

"I told them their character was going to show from how they played tonight. We played well, so I think that shows a positive for their character."

After gaining a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Bulldogs never trailed the remainder of the contest.

The Bulldogs took a 30-21 lead into halftime and were never threatened in second half.

Dominating on the boards, particularly on the offensive end, the Bulldogs repeatedly got second and third shot chances.

Oran played gamely, but never seemed to get in sync offensively.

If fatigue was a factor, Eagle coach Mitch Wood refused to use that as an excuse.

Said Wood, "I definitely think we were tired, but we're not going to blame it on tired. You've got to work through those things. They played four games just like us."

Added Wood, "I do think their depth hurt us. They had a little more depth off their bench then we did and they got a little more mileage out of it."

Forced to foul in an effort to get back into the game in the final quarter, Oran sent the Bulldogs to the line 19 times where they hit 14 to close out the win.

Fourth-seeded Oran, one of the smaller schools in the tournament had no reason to hang its head.

Said Wood, "You mention Charleston, Jackson and Notre Dame and then you put us in there with the top four, that's nice names to be with. So, I'm tickled to be there."

Travis Siebert led Notre Dame with 21 points, including four 3-pointers, while Tyler Cuba added 13.

Ryne Wood paced Oran with 16 points and teammate Nathan Seyer scored 14.