PHS ADVANCES TO CLASS 1A-3A DISTRICT TITLE GAME

Perryville and St. Louis-Notre Dame will meet for the Class 1A-3A, District 1 girls soccer championship at 7 p.m. Friday after both claimed semifinal victories at Cape Giradeau-Notre Dame Wednesday night.

Perryville, the second seed, slipped past Cor Jesu 2-1, while the Rebels knocked off the host Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs 2-1 in overtime.

In the Perryville game, the Lady Pirates found themselves trailing 1-0 early, but Brooke Winkler put the Lady Pirates (20-3-3) on the board at the 36-minute mark, depositing an assist from Stacy Baer.

"Defensively, we came through and Amanda Nuyt was big for us in goal," Perryville coach Brean LeMaster said.

Baer also put in the game-winner on an unassisted goal 50 seconds into the second half.

In the other semifinal, a timid Lady Bulldog squad turned torrid in the second half, but a fluke goal ended the home team's season at 13-11-3.

The Rebels scored the game-winner on an attempted cross pass that found the top of the goal.

The Lady Bulldogs scored their goal on a penalty kick by Cyndi Cox.

"We came out a little tentative," Notre Dame coach Jeff Worley said. "We didn't want to make a mistake and let them dictate the tempo. At halftime we talked about how we wanted to relax and have fun. In the second half, it was unbelievable the way we came out. We let it hang out and put pressure on them."

According to Worley, the Lady Bulldogs spent almost the entire second half on the Rebels' side of the field.

"It was a tough way to get beat, but St. Louis-Notre Dame is a heck of team and I couldn't be prouder of the way we played," Worley said.

BASEBALL

Sikeston 13, Kennett 4

DEXTER, Mo. -- Top-seeded Sikeston rolled past second-seeded Kennett to claim the Class 3A, District 1 title.

Chris Cota picked up the win. He went four innings and allowed four runs, all earned, on eight hits and a walk while striking out four.

Sikeston freshman Blake DeWitt went 4-for-4 with a homer, two doubles and four runs batted in.

Adam Garrett, Jamie Puckett and Ben Nelson had three hits apiece for Sikeston (19-4).

Kennett ended its season at 19-7.

Sikeston advances to next Thursday's sectional playoff game against an opponent that will be determined later in the week.

Prior to that, the Bulldogs will play at Chaffee in a makeup game at 1 p.m. Saturday.