The look of champs

Deana McCormick hated to lose (and usually didn't)

By Jeff Breer

Southeast Missourian

Deana McCormick doesn't try to hide her competitive nature.

"I don't like to lose," she says.

She catches herself and amends her words with a pugnacious stance.

"I hate losing."

Her words match her actions.

During McCormick's four years as the starting center, Notre Dame's loss total dwindled each year as it won four district championships. The Bulldogs went 78-12 over her final three years and 56-6 over the last two. She finished her career as the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder.

But the highlight came last weekend when the Bulldogs tracked down their first Class 2A state championship, completing a 29-2 season. Part of a talented Notre Dame team that included all-stater Lisa Millham and her younger sister Ashley, McCormick was in the thick of both victories.

While Notre Dame wore blue uniforms in its 41-39 semifinal victory over defending state champion Stockton and white in a 65-55 victory over Elsberry in the championship, the blonde-haired McCormick also sported a deeper-than-normal shade of pink in her cheeks.

"She was determined," Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim said. "That's what she was."

Determined not to lose.

She saved her best for last. Averaging 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds through the season, McCormick averaged 19.5 points and 12 rebounds in the two victories that clinched the title.

She scored the game-winner with two second left against Stockton, a team that thwarted Notre Dame in last year's championship game. She endured game-long foul problems against Elsberry to score a team-high 20 points and pull down 10 rebounds, seven on the offensive end.

At 6-foot, McCormick fit nicely into the role of center on a team that had strong position players. The Bulldogs had it all, from a sure-handed point guard in senior Courtney Vickery, to sharp-shooting forwards Lisa and Ashley Millham, to an athletic defender in Ali Tyson to a deep bench.

While Stockton and Elsberry had some of the same ingredients, neither had a 6-foot player that could match McCormick's aggressive, blue-collar style on the inside.

"It's her demeanor on the floor that really is more valuable than anything else she does," Grim said. "Because she is a power to be reckoned with in the paint.

"She's a big teddy bear," Grim added. "Deana is a kind person, but when she steps out on that floor, the aggressiveness comes out of her. She's out there to play a game and she gives it everything she's got from the time she steps out on the floor to the time she comes off."

McCormick typified a team work ethic that Grim often raved about. Along with the aggressive play were polished moves that helped her shoot 67 percent from the field.

"Her work ethic is matched by none," Grim said. "If she's having problems with something, she'll stay until she gets it corrected."

After struggling from the free-throw line in a comfortable quarterfinal victory over John Burroughs, McCormick stayed after practice for an hour each day to shore up the problem prior to going to Columbia.

A 70-percent free throw shooter on the season, she hit 11 of 13 in the final two games, including all six of her attempts in the championship game. With the Bulldogs trying to hold off Elsberry to claim the title, she swished through four attempts inside the final two minutes to help seal the win.

"We knew what we wanted and we knew how to get there," McCormick said. "We worked hard."

Her four-year journey in blue and white left a lesson on McCormick.

"It definitely takes a team to win," she said. "I'm going to miss my teammates a lot."

She is being recruited by several colleges and will undoubtedly play somewhere next season.

As for that memorable weekend ...

"It was the most nerve-racking weekend of my entire life," McCormick said. "I knew it was my last chance to win a state championship and that definitely put some pressure on me. I definitely put pressure on myself our last games. It's a good way to close the year."

And a high school career.

jbreer@semissourian.com

(573) 335-6611, extension 124

Dominitrix Johnson was an artist on the court

By Jeff Breer

Southeast Missourian

There's an artistry to the way Dominitrix Johnson plays basketball.

Just a sophomore who turned 16 this month during Bell City's drive to the Class 1A state title, he averaged 15.2 points a game and 5.7 assists.

But if a boxscore contained a column for style points, this young left-handed point guard would lead the area. He had a way of lubricating the mechanics of dribbling, passing and shooting, making them look silky smooth.

"He's got a lot of intangible things that you can't judge with a stat," Bell City coach David Heeb said. "But he makes people around him better. He's a unique kid. He's special. He's just a winner."

Johnson makes basketball look fun and easy, but it didn't quite have that appearance earlier in the season when he was struggling as the Cubs' point guard after transferring from Scott County Central following his freshman year.

Trying to figure out his role, he averaged about eight points through the first seven games of the season when Bell City was 5-2.

Something was lacking.

The solution came after a futile first half against Bernie in which Johnson was scoreless with a half-dozen turnovers.

With his team trailing by 17 points, Heeb pulled his guard aside while all-stater Eric Henry stood at the free-throw line. Equipped with a critical eye, Heeb had simple advice for the talented youngster.

"He said I needed to get to the paint with a plan," Johnson said. "To start going in with a plan instead of not knowing what I was going to do, and try to score."

With a picture in his mind, Johnson began to flourish in the paint and helped the Cubs create a masterpiece. Johnson finished that game with 14 points, Bell City rallied for an 88-78 win and the Cubs began an unlikely march to their first final four appearance since 1981.

Heeb recalls that defining moment with precision -- the 6-minute, 45-second mark of the third quarter.

"I can remember the exact second," Heeb said. "I told him to get a new plan. Get all the way to the basket. Quit settling on your jump shot. These guys can't cut you off. Go all the way to the basket. And when he started doing that, it opened up the whole floor for the rest of the team and made our whole team better."

Johnson's confidence grew as more of his feathery shots began to fall. He scored in double figures every game the rest of the season except in a blowout victory over Risco in the first round of the district tournament. He stepped up his game even more in the state playoffs, averaging 20.1 points in five games.

"I don't think it was necessarily my advice," Heeb said. "It was like a light bulb went off. 'Coach is right. These guys can't cut me off. Let me try something else.' We just went on a good run after that."

He became one-third of a devastating Bell City threesome that included Henry, a junior, and senior transfer C.J. Hadley.

"At the beginning of the season I didn't think we'd make it as far as we did," Johnson said. "As the year went on we started to get a little faith in what we could do."

The playoffs served as a canvas for the talents of Johnson. In the face of tests from Delta C-7, Thayer and Crocker, his cool demeanor never cracked as the Cubs reached Columbia. Against Stewartsville in the semifinals and finally Santa Fe in the championship game, he looked like he was born and raised on the Hearnes Center floor.

"He's got the unique ability to play like he's playing in a gym by himself," Heeb said. "Pressure doesn't affect him at all. He's just oblivious to it."

On the few occasions the Cubs needed to compose themselves, he seemed to will his calmness on the situation.

"The thing about Dominitrix that amazes me looking back at our season," Heeb said, "there were a lot of times they're maybe trying to cut into our lead and we need a basket, and I just yell out on the floor -- 'Go, Dom go!' The other team knows he's coming and they still can't do anything about it. He still goes on in there and gets his shot."

That was often the situation in the waning moments of a quarter, when Johnson held or dribbled the ball near half-court waiting for the precise time to attack, weaving clock management and offense, waiting to strike for two final points.

He did that against Santa Fe prior to the half in the championship game, attacking from the top of the key, splitting a lane full of Chiefs and scooping an underhanded shot off the glass at the buzzer. It gave the Cubs a 20-point halftime lead and left a demoralizing message for the Chiefs: Bell City could not be stopped.

"My wife asks me if that's like a play that you run or do you tell the kids to be in a certain place," Heeb said. "It's not really a play. It's kind of a get-out-of-Dom's-way play. With great talent you can simplify as a coach. It's simple, get out of his way."

Don't bother an artist.

jbreer@semissourian.com

(573) 335-6611, extension 124