Sophomore shines in Notre Dame girls basketball team's tourney win over Central

A breakout game from Hayli Chapman was exactly what the Notre Dame girls basketball team needed Wednesday night.

The Notre Dame sophomore was nearly unstoppable and almost perfect, hitting 7 of 8 shots (88 percent), including five from beyond the arc on her way to scoring a career-high 21 points to lead fifth-seeded Notre Dame in a 53-43 victory over fourth-seeded Central in the opening round of the Kelso Supply Holiday Classic at the Show Me Center.

"It feels really good. I didn't expect to score this many points tonight, but I expect a lot of myself so that I can help this team win," Chapman said. "I think I'm adapting really well. Every day we're working really hard to get better and better and we're improving a lot."

Notre Dame coach Reneé Peters said Chapman is starting to become more of a leader with her actions, which she proved in the Bulldogs' win.

"I love Hayli. She loves the game, she wants to play hard, but she would not say 'boo' if she was on fire," Peters said. "I'm trying to constantly get her more into a leadership role and she's going to lead by actions and not by words, and tonight I thought she did a good job. She kept us in the game."

Notre Dame (2-4) never trailed against Central (2-3). The Bulldogs opened up an 8-0 lead three minutes into the game and led 13-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Chapman's only miss of the night came from beyond the arc with four minutes, 10 seconds to play in the first, but she made up for it by banking in a 3 three minutes later to close out the quarter.

Chapman started right where she left off in the second, making a 3-pointer 20 seconds into the quarter.

Central's Tramonee Stewart answered with back-to-back layups to cut Notre Dame's lead to 16-10 with 7:02 to play.

Notre Dame junior Cheyenne Sander banked in a jumper from the top of the key on the Bulldog's next possession, and, after a Tigers' turnover, Chapman hit another 3 with 5:55 to play in the half.

The Tigers turned the ball over three times in the final three minutes of the half.

Central coach Sherri Shirrell said the Tigers took bad shots early and failed to take care of the ball.

"We just threw up some shots," Shirrell said. "We told them we needed to move the ball around until we got the open shot, and I thought we were impatient with the ball to start the game. It got a little bit better in the second half when we showed some patience, but it was tough to come back from."

Notre Dame closed out the half with a jumper from sophomore Sam Brennan and a layin by Chapman to extend its lead to 25-18 at the half.

Chapman led the Bulldogs with 11 points in the first half.

Peters said she was happy to see her young team grasp an early lead and take it into the break, something that has not been constant since the Bulldogs lost their five starters from a season ago.

"We're so young and we're trying to learn how to put together four quarters, so having a lead at half was nice," Peters said. "But at the same time I knew it wasn't going to be enough against a good Cape team."

Notre Dame's youth shined through at the start of the second half.

Stewart scored the Tigers' first seven points of the third quarter and Kassidy Pannier added a 3 at 6:15 to cut the Notre Dame lead to 27-26.

Abbie McAlister drove to the basket and put in a layup for Notre Dame one minute later, but Sydney Tollison responded with a game-tying 3 with 5:11 to go in the third.

"The message at halftime was that we needed to come out ready to play and we didn't and that they better come out ready in the second and we did," Shirrell said.

Peters was reluctant to call a timeout during Central's 10-2 run. Instead, the veteran coach let her players figure it out.

"It was just a matter of playing our game and relaxing," Peters said. "Sometimes we're so young that we're thinking too much. I said, 'Just play. Have a little confidence and don't worry about making mistakes,' and the young kids did."

The Bulldogs answered and took their largest lead of the game with a 16-4 run.

Chapman added eight points, including two 3s during that span, while freshman Brooke Blankenship scored her only two baskets of the game to push the lead to 43-31 lead with 36 seconds to play in the third.

Central had plenty of chances to comeback in the fourth.

Notre Dame turned the ball over eight times, but the Tigers only converted six points off of the Bulldogs' miscues.

"You work so hard on defense and you create that turnover and then you turn around and turn it back over to them," Shirrell said. "When you create those turnovers and get the ball, of course you have to score."

Sarah Boerboom led Central with 14 points, while Stewart added 13 points and five rebounds.

Brennan contributed eight points for Notre Dame and juniors McAlister and Allie Ziegler each netted four points.

Central falls to the loser's bracket and will play Scott City at 4 p.m. today

Notre Dame will play Saxony in a rematch of the past two Kelso Supply Holiday Classic championship games in a semifinal at 7 p.m. today.

"They've got the exact same team and we've got nobody back," Peters said about the Crusaders. "I want us to go out and play hard. I want us to play a respectful game and obviously it would be nice to walk away with a win. I know we're going to have to dot every 'i' and cross every 't,' but that's why you play the game, anything could happen."

Notre Dame 13 12 18 10 -- 53

Cape Central 6 12 13 12 -- 43

CENTRAL (43) -- Sarah Boerboom 14, Tramonee Stewart 13, Sydney Tollison 5, Kassidy Pannier 5, Corrie Reece 2, Madison Daum 2. FG 19, FT 3-8, F 12. (3-pointers: Tollison 1, Pannier 1, Fouled out: none)

NOTRE DAME (53) -- Hayli Chapman 21, Sam Brennan 8, Sydney Newell 6, Allie Ziegler 4, Abbie McAlister 4, Cheyenne Sander 4, Brooke Blankenship 4, Morgan Duschell 2. FG 24, FT 0-1, F 17. (3-pointers: Chapman 5, Fouled out: none)