Notre Dame GBB bounces back, hands Chaffee first loss 50-42

CAPE GIRARDEAU — Notre Dame girls’ basketball coach Kirk Boeller knew he would need his toughest bunch on the floor to muscle up against unbeaten Chaffee.

All four of them showed up.

Eliza Barnette carried the load and posted a game-high 18 points, while fellow seniors Olivia Wagoner and Skylar Craft and junior Mia Panton made crucial plays down the stretch, and the Lady Bulldogs outlasted Chaffee 50-42 on Monday night at Notre Dame Regional High School.

“Eliza was huffing and puffing all game,” Boeller said. "A couple times I thought she was going to pass out. Liv came alive in the second half and was so much better on the forwards and was able to knock down a big 3 for us that kind of sent the momentum our way. Games like this where you are senior-heavy, you want some of them to step up and be leaders. I've been kind of impressed that we've had different ones each game.”

Notre Dame senior Eliza Barnette during a timeout against Chaffee on Monday, Dec. 16. Barnette finished with a game-high 18 points.Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

Ten days after a lopsided 62-32 loss to Jackson in the SEMO Conference Tournament finals, Notre Dame (3-1) responded by picking up Boeller’s 130th-career victory. Barnette fueled the win, falling one rebound short of a double-double after finishing with nine. Wagoner scored double figures with 11 points, while Panton and Craft each finished with seven apiece.

“It's a long season,” Boeller said. “So, I'm confident that these girls are going to improve. They work hard. I thought our passing overall was a little bit better tonight than it was against Jackson, and we're going to have turnovers in transition. That's part of trying to play fast pace. To say we're pleased where we are right now in December, we'd be lying. So, we're excited that we have stuff to improve on and keep getting better.”

Revved up by the home crowd, the Lady Bulldogs outplayed the Lady Devils in the paint for most of the night — a huge point of emphasis by Boeller against Chaffee’s stingy front line led by promising sophomores Carlyanne Cossou and Kiersten Arnold, who were held to a combined 14 points in the contest. Notre Dame led 10-7 in the first eight minutes to make up for a sloppy start from 3-point range.

Chaffee (4-1) stayed within striking distance, though, as the Lady Bulldogs continued to clank from the perimeter — 0 for 9 from 3-point range in the half — and only led 19-12 at the break. Barnette had six buckets through the first half, leading the team with 10 points.

Notre Dame then stormed on a 12-2 run in the third quarter to go up as much as 16 points in the frame. Along with stellar defensive play, Craft, who tallied seven points in the quarter, and Wagoner both drained 3s to ignite the crowd noise and put their team in a comfortable spot.

But Chaffee refused to go away.

The Lady Devils nearly completed a fourth-quarter comeback, outscoring the home team 17-9 in the frame on the back of sophomore Bailey Robertson, who had a pair of 3s to close out the night. Chaffee trailed as little as 46-42 in the final minutes before Notre Dame controlled possession and snuck away with the triumph.

“We went through a stretch there in the fourth quarter,” Boeller said. “Give all the credit to Chaffee. They had us back on our heels and they forced us to make some mistakes offensively. After the game, I told the girls that being mentally tough is a big part of high school basketball. So, I was proud of that. Down to the last two minutes of the game, everybody kind of settled down and wrapped it up for us.”

Notre Dame girls' basketball coach Kirk Boeller, left, talks with Chaffee first-year head coach Kennan Elfrink after the game on Monday, Dec. 16. The Lady Bulldog victory was the 130th of Boeller's tenured coaching career.Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

Robertson logged a team-high 13 points for the Lady Devils, while Cossou posted 10 and sophomore Jordynn Brown had nine. Similar to Notre Dame, Chaffee struggled from long range and, outside of Robertson’s trio of 3s, shot 0 of 15 on the night.

And in a game that went down to the wire, Notre Dame was more consistent in areas where Chaffee was not. The Lady Bulldogs shot 13 of 17 (76%) from the foul line, while the road Lady Devils made just 5 of 12 (42%) of their free throws.

“If they're free, they're giving you points,” Boeller said. “It's important to take them, so if we can shoot like that from the free throw line, it shows that some of their hard work is paying off.”

With the victory, Notre Dame now moves to 6-0 all-time against Chaffee since the two programs first met back in 2015.

Next up: Poplar Bluff.

“I know they’ve got a couple guards that are scrappy and can get after it," Boeller said. "So, we're going to have to take what we did well today and multiply it, and take what we did do well and make sure we get better by Thursday.”

Notre Dame returns to its home court on Thursday, Dec. 19, when Boeller's squad hosts the Lady Mules at 7:30 p.m. Chaffee will look to get back on track against East Prairie tomorrow night at a time TBD.