Notre Dame upends top-seeded Sikeston in overtime

~ The fifth-seeded Bulldogs won 77-76 in overtime

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Notre Dame junior Grant Ressel was in the fifth grade the last time Notre Dame beat Sikeston in the Fieldhouse.

His coach, Kevin Roberts, was sitting on the sidelines as an assistant to Paul Hale.

That win came in 2007 on a miracle shot that will live forever in Sikeston-Notre Dame lore.

Thursday night produced a game worthy of comparison.

Notre Dame outlasted the top-seeded Bulldogs 77-76 in overtime to gain entry into their first SEMO Conference Tournament championship game.

Fifth-seeded Notre Dame (2-0) will play second-seeded Jackson (2-0) in today's 8:30 p.m. title contest.

"The last couple years, you have to give credit to the guys who have come through here and paved the way," Roberts said. "But these guys have put in their dues. These juniors were undefeated last year as JV guys and they know how to play and they know how to win."

This game had it all -- whether it was Ressel, a junior coming into his own, or classmate Quinn Poythress, or senior guard Jordan Williamson burying his final three free throws to clinch the win, or Sikeston's Zach Harrison hitting a game-tying 3-pointer with 1 second remaining in regulation.

"That was an amazing game," Poythress said. "We stuck together, and we knew we can't give up. As long as we made it close at the end, we knew we were going to have a chance."

Notre Dame's Trenton Schumer takes a shot against Sikeston's Luke Williams during the first quarter of their semifinal game Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013 at the SEMO Conference Tournament in Sikeston, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

Notre Dame was poised to set off a raucous celebration from their fan base, starving for the Bulldogs' first win over Sikeston in Sikeston in seven years.

Notre Dame shook off a seven-point halftime deficit and a six-point deficit with just over five minutes to play and grabbed a 67-64 on a Derek Hulshof basket with 37 seconds remaining.

Notre Dame appeared to have things in hand when Sikeston turned it over on its ensuing possession.

Not in this rivalry.

Sikeston's active defense forced a turnover and J.T. Jones grabbed the ball and forced a 3-pointer that was blocked into the air.

The ball was deflected back out to Harrison, who buried a trey from the left wing with 1 second remaining to send the game to overtime.

"He's a good player," Sikeston coach Gregg Holifield said. "He's a hard worker. He stays within himself, does a lot of good things for us and he's just gotten better and better."

Sikeston pounced first in the extra period on a Jones basket, but Ressel put Notre Dame ahead for good when he buried a 3-pointer for a 70-69 lead.

Notre Dame forced a Sikeston turnover and Ressel hit two free throws on the ensuing possession to push the lead to 72-69.

Sikeston's Corbyn Blissett answered with two free throws to cut the lead to 72-71 with 2 minutes, 31 seconds left.

The two teams traded misses before Ressel again netted two free throws to stretch the lead to 74-71.

Notre Dame forced another Sikeston miscue and the top-seeded Bulldogs were forced to foul, sending Notre Dame senior Jordan Williamson to the line.

Williamson missed the front end of a one-and-one and Blissett hit a lay in with 33 seconds remaining to make it a 74-73 game.

Williamson was sent to the line again on Notre Dame's next possession, this time making one of two from the line. Sikeston then turned it over on its next possession and Williamson iced the game with two free throws with five seconds remaining to make it a four point game at 77-73.

"Big players make big plays," Roberts said. "That's what a senior's supposed to do -- step up. "

It was a dramatic finish.

"Typical game," Holifield said. "I thought both teams had moments where they played well. We've got, as you can see, many areas to get better in, and I think our kids have a good attitude and we'll continue to improve. But you can't take anything away from Notre Dame, they really played well. You could tell they came in with a focus and did a lot of good things."

With all respect to Notre Dame's Poythress, who netted 18 points, and Sikeston's Jones, who had a game-high 24 points, Ressel stole the show late for Notre Dame.

The junior guard netted 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, including seven of Notre Dame's 10 points in the overtime period.

"We just turned it up in the second half," Ressel said. "That's what we needed. We settled down on the turnovers and slowed the game down as much as we could."

Added Roberts: "Grant showed what he can really do tonight."

Poythress and Ressel brought Notre Dame back from the dead after halftime, scoring 12 of their team's 16 third-quarter points.

Thomas Himmelberg hit a triple right before the half to cut Sikeston's lead to 40-33, and Notre Dame had the game tied at 42-42 just three minutes into the second half.

Sikeston failed to deliver the knockout blow.

"We never ever had that sense of urgency," Holifield said. "We never had those big stops. We never did the things we had to do to beat a good team. The thing about a Sikeston-Notre Dame game, you better take care of situations, and we didn't tonight and they did and we'll learn from it."

Notre Dame held Sikeston to just nine points in the third quarter on 4-of-14 shooting.

"We dug in," Roberts said. "It was relentless, realizing it was possession after possession. One possession at a time and we'll get back in this thing. We can't get 10 points in one possession. Get a stop and get a good shot."

Jones was the usual focal point of Sikeston's offense, scoring the majority of his points within two feet from the basket and dominating the boards.

"We knew he was going to be a big asset to them," Poythress said. "There's really no way to stop him, he's such a good player. You just have to try and contain him."

But on this night Ressel and his band of Bulldogs would not be denied.

It took them seven years, but they finally delivered.

Notre Dame 14 19 16 18 10 -- 77

Sikeston 19 21 9 18 9 -- 76

NOTRE DAME (77) -- Quinn Poythress 18, Grant Ressel 24, Dean Crippen 10, Tanner Shively 3, Trenton Schumer 3, Jordan Barber 9, Derek Hulshof 4, Thomas Himmelberg 3, Jordan Williamson 3. FG 29, FT 12-19. (Fouled out: none. 3-pointers: Poythress 2, Ressel 4, Himmelberg 1.)

SIKESTON (76) -- J.T. Jones 24, Marqese Parks 2, Reese Porter 8, Dominique Dyes 11, Ja'lon Marr 9, Dantrell Brown 2, Corbyn Blissett 8, Zach Harrison 12. FG 24, FT 19-29. (Fouled out: none. 3-pointers: Harrison 2, Dyes 3.)