NOTRE DAME'S ~`CARDIAC KIDS' COME UP SHORT; SKYLINE DEFEATES LADY BULLDOGS 61-45

COLUMBIA -- Give them back the 98 seconds, and the "Cardiac Kids" might have worked their magic one last time.

After trailing Urbana Skyline High by as many as 15 points in the second quarter of the Class 2A girls championship game at the Hearnes Center late Saturday night, Notre Dame's Rachael Schlosser hit a 10-foot jumper to cut the deficit to nine points, 40-31, with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

"I thought at that time that we were getting back in the game," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim.

Considering its proven ability to come from behind in post-season games, it seemed that if Notre Dame could maintain that nine-point deficit into the fourth period it would be in a decent position to make a run.

But Notre Dame committed two turnovers in the final 1:32 of the third quarter while Skyline hit a 3-pointer and a layin, and the Lady Bulldogs trailed by 14 points -- a seemingly insurmountable deficit -- entering the fourth period

Notre Dame eventually lost 61-45.

Skyline was the only 2A team Notre Dame lost to this season and the Lady Bulldogs ended their surprisingly outstanding season at 22-10 overall.

Skyline, the defending 2A state champion that had four of five starters back this season, finished 31-1 and showed that it was clearly the best 2A girls team in the state. It won its district championship, sectional, quarterfinal and Final Four games by an average of 23 points per contest. The Lady Tigers' only loss this season was a one-point setback in overtime to Springfield Glendale, which finished third in Class 4A.

While Notre Dame came back from deficits in both its sectional and quarterfinal games before reaching the Final Four, a quicker, more active Skyline team allowed nothing of the sort.

"I guess the `Cardiac Kids' ran out of adrenaline," said Grim. "I don't know what happened. We didn't do what we wanted to against them today. They were a lot more active than we were; a little quicker than what we were."

Skyline's quickness allowed it to come up with 13 steals, while Notre Dame had only one. The Lady Bulldogs committed a whopping 27 turnovers and shot only 37 percent from the field.

"We do (force that many turnovers) most every game; I think we're averaging about 18 or 19 steals a game," said Skyline coach Lynn Long. "I felt going in that we were probably quicker than they were . . . we're quicker than most teams."

Skyline's Stacy West, a 6-foot junior center, used her quick moves in the post to dominate the Lady Bulldogs for a game-high 21 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Although Notre Dame had the size to deal with West, who scored the first eight points of the game as her team quickly led 8-0, it didn't have the quickness.

Skyline's fine junior forward Carrie Long hit three 3-pointers and added 16 points.

For Notre Dame, junior guard Melissa Maurer had 11 points and sophomore forward Randi Senciboy finished with 10.

After Skyline opened a 15-6 lead in the first quarter, Notre Dame ended the opening period with a 7-2 run and trailed 17-13 entering the second quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs, who never led Saturday, then went scoreless from the field for the first 6:46 of the second period and Skyline opened the game back up and led 32-21 at the break.

The Lady Tigers' lead hovered around 12 points for most of the third quarter until a pair of free throws by Jennifer Glueck and Schlosser's jumper cut the deficit to single digits. But then Skyline took over again.

Down 45-32 entering the fourth quarter, Notre Dame trailed by as many as 19 points in the final period and came no closer than 14.