NOTRE DAME HEATS UP LATE, TOPS ST. VINCENT

It wasn't pretty on either side of the ball, but it counts.

The Notre Dame Bulldogs (8-3) outlasted the St. Vincent Indians 52-36 at Notre Dame High School on Tuesday.

With the shooting about as cold as the weather outside, both teams struggled early, going into the intermission with St. Vincent (5-3) up 19-15.

In defense of both squads, they were coming off four games in four days at holiday tournaments last week, where both competed well.

The first half saw the Bulldogs shoot a frigid 24 percent from the field, while the Indians weren't much hotter at 32 percent.

"We didn't play well offensively in the first half, but I was proud of the effort we came out with in the second half," said Notre Dame coach Darrin Scott. "We didn't play great, but we played harder."

The score remained tight with Notre Dame sneaking ahead by a three-point advantage at 27-24 at the end of the third period.

Scott Wittenborn led the Bulldogs with eight of their 12 points in the third stanza.

Notre Dame finally began to heat up in the final quarter.

Mark Rubel, a 6-foot-4 forward, came to life with two 3-pointers -- a four-point play when he was fouled on one make -- and a two-point field goal.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs hit 8 of 10 from the field to improve their overall field-goal percentage to a respectable 40 percent.

The Indians closed the gap to five points midway in the fourth, but poor shooting -- 28 percent overall -- combined with the Bulldogs' hot hands late in the game accounted for the final 16-point margin.

Notre Dame received balanced scoring with Jonathan Ressel, Cory Buessink and Rubel getting 10 points apiece. Doug Schaefer chipped in with nine.

Mark Gotto led the Indians with nine points on three treys.