The circumstances are very similar.

Last season, Notre Dame High's girls basketball team thrusted through the Class 2A, District 2 tournament by nearly 40 points a game. This year, the Lady Bulldogs won the three games by an average of almost 42 points.

Last season, Notre Dame met East Carter County in a sectional game. Tonight at 6:30, the Lady Bulldogs, ranked No. 10 in Missouri Class 2A, and the Lady Redbirds, No. 9, will meet again at Cape Girardeau Central's Tiger Fieldhouse.

There's one key difference: last season Notre Dame was a surprise. Much more is expected of last year's state runner-up.

But will it make a difference in tonight's game?

According to Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim, it does. He said that being ranked in the state poll all season "took away a great motivational tool. But the kids are hungry; they want to go back (to the state tournament)."

Like Notre Dame (21-7), East Carter has much the same team as last season. A year ago, the Lady Bulldogs needed a game-ending 9-0 run to beat the Lady Redbirds 42-38. After the game Grim said it was his team's worst of the season.

"They've basically got the same team as they did last year," Grim said. "They like to play man-to-man and they like to press; I guess we're a couple of similar squads.

"They've got a nice record but I don't know that they've played the competition that we've played. I would imagine that (the game) would be pretty close. When you get in the postseason you're playing good teams. So, hopefully it will stay close."

Randi Senciboy, a junior forward, leads Notre Dame with 11.0 points a game. The other starters are senior forward Rachael Schlosser (8.6 points), senior guard Jennifer Glueck (8.2), senior center Olivia Beel (7.2), and senior guard Melissa Maurer (6.9).

"We've got a solid team; the scoring is pretty well equally shared," Grim said. "That is a plus when you get into the postseason."

Grim added that his team should have a size advantage inside.

"I think Olivia and Rachael have done a good job inside for us," he said. "The inside play has been exceptionally good through districts. If we can continue that we ought to have a slight advantage over the other team.

"I think we're playing about as well as we've played all season long. Right now we're playing defense real well. The kids are working hard and they've been here and they know what it takes to win it and hopefully they'll be able to accomplish it.

Grim said a key will be to stop sophomore post player Kara Phillips. Phillips scored 12 points in last year's game.