Charleston storms past Notre Dame

Notre Dame coach Paul Hale and Charleston coach Danny Farmer both came to the same conclusion following Saturday night's third-place game in the 62nd annual Southeast Missourian Christmas Tournament.

The Bluejays simply wore down the Bulldogs in the late going on their way to an 83-73 victory, thanks to a 25-12 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter.

"We wore them down for sure in the fourth quarter," Farmer said.

Said Hale: "We were just out of gas, from the week and tonight, too. Four games is too much for the way we play, and you really have to have a lot of energy to play against a team like Charleston.

"I think last night took it out of us some, but I'm not making excuses. We got beat by a better team tonight."

Farmer was pleased that the top-seeded Bluejays (11-2) were able to bounce back from the disappointment of failing to reach the tournament championship game for the fourth straight year.

Charleston was upset by fifth-seeded Bell City 52-46 in Friday's semifinals, and the Cubs went on to claim the title.

"We came out ready," Farmer said. "After last night, the only way to get that out of your system is to play hard.

"I didn't know if we would win, but the effort was there and that produced the win. Notre Dame is a good team. You have to play well to beat Notre Dame."

Justin Clark, a 6-foot-4 senior guard, had a monster night for the Bluejays. He scored 33 points, 21 coming in the second half. Clark, an all-tournament selection, had 82 points in four tourney games.

"Justin is capable of that," Farmer said. "When he's on, he's on."

Clark, who is being recruited by Division I schools for both basketball and football, said he recently gave Murray State a verbal commitment for football, although he didn't sound as if it's a done deal.

"I still want to keep my options open," he said.

As for Saturday's win, Clark said the Bluejays had no choice but to bounce back from the loss to Bell City.

"Last night was kind of tough. We couldn't really get it going," Clark said. "I just told the guys before we went out we had to suck it up after last night."

Jamarcus Williams, a 6-5 senior forward who is also being recruited by Division I schools for basketball and football, scored 20 points for the Bluejays.

Williams had 64 tournament points and made the all-tourney squad for the second year in a row.

Sophomore guard Antonio Riggens added 10 points for Charleston.

Six--foot-7 junior forward Ryan Willen, also a probable Division I basketball recruit, paced the second-seeded Bulldogs (11-3) with 26 points.

Willen scored 97 points in four games to make the all-tournament team.

Also scoring in double figures for the Bulldogs on Saturday were sophomore forward Austin Green with 17 points, junior guard Ty Williams with 15 and senior guard Abe Dirnberger with 12.

Notre Dame started strong with an 18-11 first-quarter lead. Although that was trimmed to 22-20 by the end of the period, the Bulldogs led most of the way until the decisive fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs closed the opening half with a 13-2 run as they carried a 44-35 advantage into the locker room.

Notre Dame twice opened up 10-point leads in the third quarter but that was cut to 61-58 entering the final period.

That's when the Bulldogs finally began to show signs of fatigue, and Charleston took over.

Clark scored a fast-break layup 1 minute, 14 seconds into the fourth quarter to put Charleston up 62-61 and mark the Bluejays' first lead since early in the second quarter.

Clark also scored the next five points as part of an 11-0 run that put Notre Dame in a 69-61 hole as the Bulldogs went scoreless for more than four minutes at the outset of the final period.

Clark's 3-pointer with 1:23 remaining made it 79-69 and iced the victory.

"I'm pleased with the guys. They played smart," Farmer said.

Farmer was not about to make excuses, but he couldn't help but think what might have been had standout senior point guard Shawn Sherrell not missed the tournament. He has been out several weeks with a hand injury.

"He makes a big difference for us," Farmer said. "I feel if Shawn was on the court, we'd be undefeated right now. But he'll be back in January."

Said Clark: "It hurts a lot not having Shawn out there. The inexperience ... he's a four-year point guard."

As for Notre Dame, Hale said it's obvious from the last two games -- when the opposition scored 83 points in each contest -- that the Bulldogs need work on their defense.

"We have to get better on the defensive end," he said. "We're going to work on that."

Charleston 83, Notre Dame 73

Notre Dame 22 22 17 12 -- 73

Charleston 20 15 23 25 -- 83

NOTRE DAME (73) -- Mark Himmelberg 3, Abe Dirnberger 12, Ty Williams 15, Austin Greer 17, Ryan Willen 26. FG 23, FT 23-27, F 18 (3-pointers: Himmelberg 1, Williams 3. Fouled out: none.)

CHARLESTON (83) -- Antonio Riggens 10, Garyion Johnson 1, Jerquawn Sherrell 6, Jamarcus Williams 20, Justin Clark 33, Markale Kent 5, Brian Parham 8. FG 32 FT 12-21, F 18 (3-pointers: Riggens 2, Williams 1, Clark 3, Kent 1 . Fouled out: none.)