Notre Dame slips past Kelly, into district finale

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- Wayne Essner provided a much-needed spark off the bench to lead top-seeded Notre Dame (20-7) past No. 5 Kelly 62-59 and into the final of the Class 2A, District 2 tournament.

"Wayne's (Essner) scoring off the bench was real big for us," Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott said, "and Scott Wittenborn gave us a lot of senior leadership when we had trouble scoring."

Essner scored 17 points, including five 3-pointers, and Wittenborn 15 for the Bulldogs. Tyler Cuba added 11.

Scott pointed to four straight last-quarter possessions that the Bulldogs converted as keys to the game -- two 3-pointers by Essner, a Doug Schaeffer putback and two free throws by Cuba.

Kelly (8-16), which held a 48-45 lead after three quarters, was paced by Tyler Schlosser's 18 points. Major Burger scored 16 and Barry Ziegler had 13.

South Iron 59, St. Vincent 50

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo.-- The Indians ended the season at 14-11 after they fell behind early in a Class 1A, District 3 semifinal game. South Iron took a 13-4 lead early.

St. Vincent got within a point in the third quarter, but it wasn't enough.

Tyler Wengert led with 18 points. Matt Wengert had 10.

Virburnum 78, Meadow Heights 65

FREDERICKTOWN, Mo. -- Fifth-seeded Meadow Heights bowed to top-seeded Virburnum in the Class 1A, District 3 semifinals.

Unable to overcome a 36-6 disparity at the free-throw line, Meadow Heights concluded its first winning season since 1990 at 15-11 .

Josh Mayfield led Meadow Heights with 22 points and Joey Bell had 16.

-- From staff reports