Senior leadership sparks Notre Dame to a 56-53 comeback win over Farmington

After trailing for nearly the entire game, Notre Dame basketball coach Paul Unterreiner turned to his senior experience in the fourth quarter for guidance and they delivered, overcoming an eight-point deficit to win 56-53 by a last-second three-pointer by sophomore Logan Landewee Tuesday at Notre Dame Regional High School.

The Bulldogs struggled to get any kind of consistent offense going out of the gate, falling behind the visiting Knights 6-0 early in the opening quarter and trailing 16-9 at the end of the first eight minutes.

Notre Dame, led by seniors Reece Callow, Greg Dennis, and Brock Clippard, who had recently been benched, scrapped its way back into the game in the second quarter by only trailing the Knights by three points with 1:44 remaining in the half. But a quick 4-0 run by Farmington would set back the Bulldogs 27-20 heading into halftime.

Another run by Farmington to start the third quarter saw Notre Dame trail the Knights by 11 at the four-minute mark of the frame as the Bulldogs failed to hit shots and struggle with the offense once again.

Whatever message coach Unterreiner had for his players in the huddle between quarters sparked the home squad as the Bulldogs went to work on the defensive side of the ball, making the Knights turn over the ball with a stifling full-court press that had the home team only down by a single mark just two minutes into the period. The lead would swap back and forth several times until under a minute left to go when Dennis stole the ball and took it the length of the court and laid it in to tie the game up at 53.

After Farmington inbounded the ball, the Bulldogs stole the ball back and called timeout with 14 seconds remaining, just enough time for Unterreiner to draw up one last play.

With 3 seconds left, Landewee received a pass just left of the top of the key and sank the three-pointer to give Notre Dame a 56-53 lead as the Farmington coaching staff immediately called timeout with 1.5 seconds remaining. A last-second full-court heave ended up going wide left of the basket ending any hope for the Knights.

“Our seniors were huge tonight,” Unterreiner said about his four elder classmen. “I told Brock (Clippard) about three games ago that his minutes to the season were almost done and we were going to move forward in a different direction but the kid just keeps working and proved tonight he is our best interior defender along with Greg (Dennis).”

All three seniors (Dennis, Clippard, and Callow) led the attack on the defensive end in the final quarter, grabbing loose balls, diving on the floor to retrieve those loose balls, and doing the little things to get Notre Dame back in the game.

“I looked at my seniors there at the end of the third quarter and told them it’s your time,” Unterreiner said. “If we’re going to do it, the time is now and they proved in the fourth quarter that the fire is still there as disappointing of a season as we’ve had.”

Dennis led the trio of seniors with 12 points followed by Callow’s five points. Clippard did not score but grabbed several key rebounds in the final quarter that helped him swing the momentum back in favor of the Bulldogs. Sophomores Brett Dohogne (14 points) and Kolton Johnson (13 points) led the Bulldogs offensively. Landewee’s game-winning three-pointer was the only three points scored by the sophomore guard.

“When Logan hit that shot it was a big boost of confidence,” Dennis said after the game. “I felt like it trickled down through the entire team and him hitting that shot just proves that we can play with anybody out here.”

Dennis was also happy the eight-game losing streak is over, “It was long overdue,” Dennis said. “This win gives us a big boost of confidence and helps us out going into districts knowing we can beat anybody on any given night.”

Notre Dame (8-17) will play its final regular season game next Tuesday at home against Dexter at 7:30 p.m.