Turnovers prove vital in Notre Dame’s loss to Westminster

A slow night offensively proved to be costly as the Notre Dame Bulldogs fell 52-37 to the Westminster Christian Academy Wildcats on Friday at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Notre Dame coach Kirk Boeller credited the play of the Wildcats following the loss.

“We played a really, really talented, fundamental team,” Boeller said. “They made us look silly at points. Their length, their athleticism, their speed, it really affected us on the offensive end.”

The Bulldogs trailed 11-7 after one quarter as Notre Dame struggled to take care of the basketball.

“We’re not used to seeing that speed and length,” Boeller said. “It’s frustrating but at the end of the day, it’s also a good experience. For us, we’re getting ready for the postseason, so it’s a good experience to see that speed and see that length and know what’s coming down the road.”

Boeller believes that losses can be more valuable than wins, and he’s hoping the loss to Westminster is no exception.

“It shows what you need to work on,” Boeller said. “It gave us a good gauge of where we need to be here in a few weeks so we will build on this one and get ready for Monday at Farmington.”

Notre Dame trailed 25-20 at the half, but the offensive struggles carried over into the second half as the Bulldogs scored just 9 points in the third quarter and 8 points in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we got really good shots,” Boeller said. “We got good looks at the basket, it was just one of those (nights) where it just wasn’t falling. If a couple of those threes or a couple of those layups go in, it’s a different game. I thought when we didn’t turn the ball over we looked as good as we usually do.”

The turnover problem was very prevalent as the Bulldogs turned the ball over 27 times in the loss.

Tori Rubel led the Bulldogs in scoring with 14 points and 7 rebounds in the loss. Kate Rubel had 7 points and 11 rebounds, Brie Rubel and Eliza Barnette had 5 points, Skylar Craft and Nevaeh Lucious had 2 points and Anna Garner and Lolah Wunderlich had 1 point.

Julia Coleman paces the Wildcats with a game-high 20 points. Sydney Bradley had 14 points, Adelynn Kane had 10 points and Addison Drumm had 8 points.

Notre Dame (17-4) will be back in action at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13 when the Bulldogs travel to take on the Farmington Knights at Farmington High School.

The Bulldogs will round out their schedule with a Feb. 17 road matchup at Cor Jesu Academy and a Feb. 22 matchup with Cape Central at Notre Dame Regional High School.