Notre Dame boys basketball team sets district final date with Sikeston

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Notre Dame deployed its sharpshooters in the first quarter of Friday night's Class 4 District 1 semifinal at the Sikeston Field House.

Five different players knocked down 3-pointers for the top-seeded Bulldogs, who were 5 of 8 (63 percent) from beyond the arc in the opening period and cruised to a 75-58 victory over fifth-seeded Kennett.

"The guys can shoot it. I've been telling them that all year," Notre Dame coach Paul Unterreiner said. "Sometimes you've just got to give them a little confidence to say, 'You guys can all shoot it. If you get an open look, then take it.' When they start hitting like that, that's the best part about it. They can all shoot. It's not just one guy that teams have to guard, and whenever we go to the post, we've got three guys on the perimeter. ... That definitely makes things a little easier."

Notre Dame (23-4) will take on Sikeston in the district championship at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

"We're going to have our hands full. ... It's just an honor and a privilege to even play in this championship game. It truly is because this is a tough, tough district that we have down here," Unterreiner said.

After Landon Vaughan gave Kennett (8-17) a 4-3 lead on a fastbreak layup with 6:22 to go in the opening period, Blake Bauwens drained a 3-pointer from the corner to give the Bulldogs the lead for good.

Quinn Poythress scored seven of his 17 points in the first quarter, during which Notre Dame outscored Kennett 25-11.

The Indians cut the lead to nine points on a pair of free throws from Edward Wilson at the 3:36 mark of the second period but went into halftime trailing 43-29. Unterreiner was less than pleased with his team's second-quarter performance.

"I felt like we went away from what we do well, which is throw the ball inside and then get looks. I don't mind those 3-point looks, but it needs to touch inside before we get a look outside. So I thought it made us a little lazy at times, but overall, I'm not going to say I wish those shots wouldn't have went in. I'll take them," Unterreiner said. "I thought we shot the ball well. I thought we took care of the ball well, for the most part. Defensive intensity and rebounding need to be better if we want a chance to win tomorrow."

Bauwens contributed seven points in the second period. He finished with a quiet 17 points on 6-of-11 (55 percent) shooting from the field.

"That's a big game for a sophomore to have in this environment," Unterreiner said of Bauwens. "He hasn't really been a big scoring threat for us. Yes, he can score the ball, but he knows he doesn't have to all the time. The guys have done a good job of buying into him being a part of this team and his role. He did an outstanding job for us tonight."

The Bulldogs led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter and led by 17 heading into the final period.

Andre Oliver and Jad Kenny each had 12 points to lead Kennett, which shot 31 percent on 18-of-58 shooting from the floor. Wilson and Rantrell Caruthers each added 11 points for the Indians.

"[Kennett coach] Jim [Vaughan] does an outstanding job with those guys. No matter what kind of players he has, they're going to compete, and they're just hard-nosed players. ... His son [Landon Vaughan] is one of the toughest kids you'll see around here, and they just fight. On offensive rebounds, they're all over the place. They pressured us well on defense," Unterreiner said. "I just knew it was a game that we couldn't overlook. If you overlook Kennett, they're going to beat you. That's all there is to it."

Tanner Shively contributed 13 points for Notre Dame, which finished 27 of 56 (48 percent) from the field, including 10 of 20 (50 percent) from beyond the arc.

Despite the outside threat, Unterreiner said he wants to see more of his offense develop from the post.

"It's always big when you can come out and shoot the ball well, but at the same time, I think it turns us a little lazy on throwing the ball inside," Unterreiner said.

Kennett 11 18 15 14 -- 58

Notre Dame 25 18 18 14 -- 75

KENNETT (58) -- Andre Oliver 12, Jad Kenny 12, Edward Wilson 11, Rantrell Caruthers 11, Carlos Turner 6, Landon Vaughan 4, Patrick Maddox 2. FG 18-58, FT 19-27, F 17. (3-pointers: Caruthers 2, Oliver 1. Fouled out: Caruthers.)

NOTRE DAME (75) -- Blake Bauwens 17, Quinn Poythress 17, Tanner Shively 13, Dean Crippen 7, Brendan Boswell 6, Thomas Himmelberg 6, Nick Bradshaw 4, Grant Ressel 3, Ross Essner 2. FG 27-56, FT 11-14, F 19. (3-pointers: Bauwens 3, Boswell 2, Himmelberg 2, Ressel 1, Shively 1, Poythress 1. Fouled out: None.)