NOTRE DAME STORMS INTO FINALS

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- One more down.

One more to go.

The Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs shot with dead-aim accuracy Friday night as they soared past Elsberry 71-50 to advance to the Class 2A state championship game.

Notre Dame will take on Stockton (24-6) at 9:30 tonight. Stockton defeated East Newton 60-38 in Friday's other semifinal.

The Lady Bulldogs shot an astounding 59 percent (27 of 46) and sophomore Ashley Millham was the deadliest assassin. She scored a game and career-high 25 points, three more points than Elsberry's heralded 5-foot-8 guard Kari Koch.

"No. 10 came to play," said Elsberry coach Todd Davis of Millham, who also pulled down eight rebounds. "I wasn't convinced she could do what she did tonight, but she did it.

"They're a great basketball team. The best I've seen all year."

Notre Dame (27-3) still hasn't been challenged by a Class 2A school. The Lady Bulldogs' closest game against a school their size was a 16-point margin.

"I didn't expect a 20-point win," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said. "I expect a one-point win and if I get that, I'm happy."

After a slow first quarter, Notre Dame finished with perhaps its best shooting game of the season. The Lady Bulldogs hit eight of their 17 threes.

Deana McCormick finished with 15 points, while Lisa Millham added 10. McCormick also had 13 rebounds and Lisa Millham added a team-high six assists.

The Millham sisters combined for seven threes, with Ashley hitting five. Left wide open on several occasions, she only missed two threes. She made nine of her 12 shots overall.

"I think I got open looks because they were packing it in on Deana and chasing Lisa around," Ashley explained.

Elsberry (27-4) got off to a fast start, making seven of its first 10 shots to take a 15-10 lead into the second quarter. Koch had eight points in the first eight minutes and Notre Dame made only four of its first 14 shots.

But both teams saw their fortunes reverse in the second quarter.

Elsberry missed its first six shots and 10 of its 12 shots overall in the quarter, while Notre Dame sank nine of its 13 attempts. Notre Dame junior Courtney Vickery caused Koch fits as she had only two second-quarter points.

Ashley Millham's three with one second left in the first half gave her 11 points and gave Notre Dame a 31-20 lead at halftime.

"That second quarter was brutal, absolutely brutal," Davis said. "The difference (between the first and second quarters) was we missed some easy shots that we would've normally made.

"We weren't getting our hands up on their 3-point shooters. I think they only missed one shot that wasn't challenged. Then we went man-to-man and they pounded it in (to McCormick). That girl's tough to handle."

Notre Dame started the second quarter on a 9-0 run and outscored the Lady Bulldogs 21-5 in the second stanza.

Both teams shot well in the third quarter, but the Lady Bulldogs were able to put the game away in the final minute.

Notre Dame hit eight of its 10 shots in the third -- including three of five from 3-point range. The Lady Bulldogs hit three 3-pointers in their final three possessions and took a commanding 53-35 lead into the fourth.

Notre Dame maintained its comfortable margin in the last eight minutes and Grim emptied the bench with about two minutes remaining.

Koch made only one of her six 3-pointers and finished with four points less than her season average.

"I just didn't play well," she said.

Davis was a little more descriptive about his team's performance.

"Columbia didn't see our basketball team tonight," he said. "We played like crap."

Elsberry's Shanna Lonsberry scored 16 points and Sara Byrne had 10. The Lady Indians had only one other player score, Trisha Stonebraker, and she had only two. Ten players scored for Notre Dame.