Notre Dame upsets undefeated Doniphan, wins sixth straight district championship

The Notre Dame girls’ basketball team won their sixth straight district championship by knocking off undefeated Doniphan 59-57 in the final round of the Class 4 District 1 Tournament on Friday, March 1, at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau.

Bulldogs head coach Kirk Boeller said of all the district titles they have won during their six-year run, this was the toughest of them all.

“That Doniphan team is one of the best teams in the state,” Boeller said. “It took all 32 minutes, however many seconds, to pull that one out.”

The two teams were tied after both the first and second quarters to enter halftime knotted at 28-28. The Bulldogs took a slight 44-43 lead entering the fourth quarter.

It felt like this stopped being a game. Rather it was a four-game series compacted into a single contest.

“It's exactly how it was,” Boeller said. “Where gonna battle for eight minutes, call a timeout, go to your corners, and battle again for another eight minutes. That's what two good basketball teams do. They each got to lead, each came back, each got to lead, each game back. That was one of those fun, one of those special, basketball games.”

Notre Dame started to pull away in the middle of the fourth quarter after a three-point basket by Brie Rubel, who finished with nine points.

“We got some we got some opportune steals there in the fourth,” Boeller said. “We were able to make a couple of layups and Brie hit a huge three for us and then we just held on for dear life.”

Brie’s twin sister, Kate Rubel, scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half to power the Bulldog offensive in the crucial quarters.

“She saw a lane to the basket and she was able to attack,” Boeller said. “She's so strong, she's got good court vision and she saw those holes and she was able to get to the hoop.”

Eliza Barnette scored a team-high 16 points for the Bulldogs, followed by nine from Skylar Craft, six from Nevaeh Lucious, and three from Mia Paton.

Doniphan head coach Adam Epps directs from the sidelines during a Class 4 District 1 championship game against Notre Dame on Friday, March 1, at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau. Tony Capobianco ~ tcapobianco@semoball.com

Doniphan entered the championship round 25-0 and looking to win its third straight district title and fourth in the previous five years. The Donettes have won 20 games or more every year since 2019.

The Donettes were led by Carson Hagood, who scored a game-high 31 points including eight baskets from the three-point line. Ellie White scored 10 points, followed by eight from Kenzie Redus, five from Madilyn Redus, and three in the first half from Sarah Owen.

Unfortunately for the Donettes (25-1), their first loss was the one to end their season.

The Bulldogs (20-7) travel to Park Hills Central on Monday to take on the Class 4 District 2 champion Rebels (24-4) in the sectional round of the Class 4 State Tournament.

__Cape Central’s season ends in semis__

Cape Central’s girls basketball season came to an end in the Class 5 District 1 semifinals after a 60-35 loss against Hillsboro on Friday, March 1.

The Tigers weren’t able to score 10 points in each of the first three quarters. Emani Summers and Gracyn Morris each scored eight points to lead the Tigers.

Cape Central reached the semifinals after defeating Festus 45-42 on Wednesday, thanks to 16 second half points by Summers.

The Tigers finished the season 10-17 after going 16-12 the year before.