Notre Dame Bulldogs dominate Cape Central Tigers with strong senior leadership

On Monday, the Notre Dame Bulldogs girls basketball team defeated the Cape Central Tigers 69-41 at Notre Dame Regional High School.

Eliza Barnett led the Bulldogs with 18 points followed by Skylar Craft with 13. Abigail Davenport led the Tigers with 10 points.

The Bulldogs began the game on a 7-0 run and led 20-8 after the first. Notre Dame scored at will inside the paint and sank eight threes as they cruised to the lopsided victory.

Notre Dame head coach Kirk Boeller said that despite a few issues, the team's win over a rising Tiger squad was good.

“I thought, other than some careless turnovers, we played really well on both sides of the ball tonight, especially defensively,” Boeller said. “I thought we did a lot of good things, and we're kind of trending in the right direction on that side of the ball.”

This began a five-game stretch of conference games for the Bulldogs as their next four opponents are Saxony Lutheran, Dexter, New Madrid County Central and Jackson.

Boeller said he feels his team is in a good place to take on these tough conference opponents.

“The lights come on and the ball gets tipped and it's 0-0, anything can happen any given night,” Boeller said. “The challenge to the girls is, can we show up ready to play from the start? I think in the last few games, we've done a good job of that.”

All five Notre Dame seniors scored in the game, which Boeller said has been a theme this year. While the team is senior-heavy, the seniors have been leaders for the underclassmen all season.

“We know that we can trust that senior group,” Boeller said. “Those upperclassmen have done a great job of leading the team this year and being leaders and trusting each other. So they've been fun to watch.”

Notre Dame hosts Saxony Lutheran on Friday at 6 p.m. while Cape Central hosts Farmington on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.