Notre Dame uses height advantage to overpower Delta in first round of Christmas Tournament

The No. 4 seed Notre Dame Bulldogs defeated the No. 13 Delta Bobcats 80-42 in the opening round of the Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

Both 6-foot-4 Brett Dohogne and Hudson Dennis helped lead the Bulldogs with the height advantage proving to be the difference. Kolton Johnson added 15 points for Notre Dame.

Notre Dame had Delta on the ropes from the start, able to get whatever it wanted in the paint, while forcing the Bobcats into bad decisions and turnovers.

Bulldogs head coach Jeremy Brinkmeyer said his team did a good job setting the tone against a good shooting team.

“We did a good job with defensive energy and effort, and finding their shooters. They're well-coached, and they have a lot of good shooters on the team. It can be a complex challenge for us, trying to find them on the outside, and they do a good job of sending cutters and stuff,” Brinkmeyer said. “I thought we did a great job communicating in that first half, and that set the tone for the rest of the game. We’ve been harping on our guys all year about transition. We haven't done a great job of it all year and I thought today we did a good job of trying to push the tempo and get the ball up the floor.”

Delta did not give up easily despite the deficit. The Bobcats ran their offense to the best of their abilities against a much larger opponent running a tough press defense.

Notre Dame will take on the winner of Scott City and Kelly, while Delta will get the loser of the same game on Day 2. Brinkmeyer said his team would rest the remainder of the day and refocus for tomorrow.

“Scott City or Kelly, whichever team wins, are both well-coached and physical teams with some big playmakers,” Brinkmeyer said. “We just have to worry about what we do and focus on what we do. Focus on one play at a time, try to beat whichever team we play, and do the best we can.”