Sikeston girls basketball team denies Notre Dame's comeback attempt

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The first two meetings with Sikeston had not been memorable ones for the Notre Dame girls basketball team this season.

After losing both contests by at least 18 points earlier, Notre Dame knew it would be tested once again in a Class 4 District 1 semifinal on Tuesday night.

After trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half, it looked as if Sikeston was ready to pull away and never look back. But Notre Dame fought back late and took a two-point lead, its second and largest lead of the game, in the final three minutes.

The comeback didn't last long for third-seeded Notre Dame, which turned the ball over five times in the final stretch of the game before being eliminated by No. 2 Sikeston in a 58-49 loss at Sikeston Field House.

"We knew going into this game that they've beaten us twice this year, we're playing on their home court and we're not expected to win," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said. "All year I've been saying it -- we're young, we're young and we're still young. And once the experience matches ability, it could be a lot of fun. Tonight, the fact that we came out in the second half down 12 and we gained the lead, I thought that showed a lot of heart and character on behalf of my girls. But the last two minutes our inexperience did show and unfortunately that's part of this game."

Notre Dame (8-17) turned the ball over 10 times in the fourth quarter and allowed Sikeston's Tyeshia Mitchell to take over.

The sophomore had four steals and scored Sikeston's final 11 points in the last 2 minutes, 47 seconds of the game. Mitchell scored 15 of Sikeston's 19 points in the fourth and finished with a game-high 23 points to lead her team to a victory.

Sikeston's Tyeshia Mitchell drives past Notre Dame's Allie Ziegler in a Class 4, District 1 semifinal on Tuesday night at the Sikeston Field House. (David Jenkins photo)

"All year, we've been a team where anybody can catch fire, anybody can score and tonight it was Tyeshia," Sikeston coach Matt Schonhoff said. "When we put the first group back in with about four minutes left to go, the game was tied and she just became a different person, a different player. She got steals, she dove on the floor, she got a couple and-one's, layups and free throws. She was the difference-maker tonight."

Sikeston (20-5) will play top-seeded Dexter for the district title at 6 p.m. Friday. The matchup with the Bearcats will mark the second time Sikeston has played in a district final and the first time since 2002.

In the first half, Notre Dame shot just 8 of 22 (36 percent) from the field and trailed 34-22 at halftime.

They young squad came out a lot stronger in the second half, scoring on its first two possessions of the third, including a 3 from sophomore Morgan Duschell, which cut the lead to 35-27 with 6:08 to play in the third.

After attempting just two shots in the fist half, Notre Dame sophomore Sam Brennan hit three straight from beyond the arc in the final three minutes of the third to cut the lead to 39-36 heading to the final quarter.

"I am impressed with Sam. I ride Sam probably harder than anyone else because she plays my position, so when you coach that position you're going to be extreme," Peters said. "It starts on the top. It starts with coaching and goes down to her. She's got to be able to set the tone for that team. It's a double-edged sword because I'm giving her a lot of trust and confidence, but I'm also giving her a lot of responsibility. She's a competitor and an athlete and once she stepped up and hit a couple 3s, you could see that in her."

Sikeston was 2 for 13 (15 percent) from the field with one free throw, and was outscored 14-5 in the third.

"First of all, we didn't get on their shooters and they got hot. We didn't close out very well. We had silly turnovers, and we couldn't make easy stuff," Schonhoff said. "If we made easy stuff in the first half, it would've been a 20-plus deficit for them going into halftime. We didn't end them when we needed to end them."

A 3 from Notre Dame's Hayli Chapman 10 seconds into the fourth tied the game at 39, but Sikeston answered with a 6-3 run, thanks to three straight Notre Dame turnovers, to take a 45-42 lead with 5:41 left.

After a Notre Dame timeout, sophomore Allie Ziegler rattled off seven straight points, including a basket with 3:10 remaining to give her team a 49-47 lead.

"I think we understood that this was it. We had to put it all out there if we wanted to even come close to wining," Ziegler said. "So that's what we did. We put all that we had out there on the court and we just came up a little short. Our [youth] really showed out there towards the end."

Notre Dame's Hayli Chapman attempts to keep the ball away from Sikeston's Tyra Bonner in a Class 4, District 1 semifinal on Tuesday night at the Sikeston Field House. (David Jenkins photo)

Peters said she saw great improvement in Ziegler's post game, which is something they've been trying to establish all season.

"Allie Ziegler, God lover her. All year I'm like, 'Catch and shoot. It's a simple game.' At the beginning of the year it was difficult for us. We didn't have an inside game," Peters said. "We're still working to get a consistent inside game, but Allie showed a lot of heart and muscle tonight and she came through."

Following Ziegler's make, Mitchell was fouled and converted two from the charity stripe to spark her 11-0 run and close out the game.

Notre Dame only attempted two more shots in the final two minutes of the game.

"We've come a long way. People came in here saying this was a rebuilding year, but we came here to show them differently," Ziegler said. "We tried to show that every day in practice and in games, and I think that's what we did towards the end of the season. We really hopped on it at the end and we wanted to make some noise."

Notre Dame will only lose one senior to graduation. Peters said she's looking forward to being able to bring back some consistency and experience to Notre Dame's program next season.

"We've got just about everyone back. I had one senior this year and she was kind of a role player for us," Peters said. "So that's all we lose. I'm excited about next year. Despite everything we went through this year, we can come back even stronger next year and hopefully make a good run at it."

Notre Dame 12 10 14 13 -- 49

Sikeston 17 17 5 19 -- 58

NOTRE DAME (49) -- Allie Ziegler 13, Hayli Chapman 12, Sam Brennan 10, Morgan Duschell 10, Lexi Welter 4. FG 17, FT 7-12, F 18. (3-pointers: Duschell 3, Chapman 3, Brennan 2. Fouled out: none.)

SIKESTON (58) -- Tyeshia Mitchell 23, Zaytiana Williams 10, Tyra Bonner 7, Erica Peet 7, Dominique Roach 6, Kiera Steward 3, Miranda Harrison 2. FG 22, FT 12-21, F 12. (3-pointers: Bonner 1, Steward 1. Fouled out: none.)