SCOTT CITY SURVIVES TEST FROM HAYTI, WINS 66-59

HAYTI -- Scott City High boys basketball coach Derek McCord counted on an extremely tough game Saturday as his top-ranked Class 2A team battled host Hayti.

And that's exactly what the Rams got as they pulled away late to squeeze out a hard-fought 66-59 victory.

"I knew it would be a really tough game," said McCord, whose squad improved to 22-1. "Hayti is super quick and they've been really been playing well. It's a good win for us."

Ronald Watson poured in 30 points to pace the Rams, who won their 16th straight game and their 39th in their last 41 outings dating back to last season.

Ryan Weatherspoon added 19 points for Scott City while Ben Sample contributed12.

Lee Marvin Hamilton scored 23 points to lead Hayti, which trailed by just one point in the fourth quarter before the Rams pulled away for good.

Notre Dame 63, Spr. Cath. 49

Notre Dame's Chris Dirnberger scored a game-high 22 points, picked off six steals and dished out five assists as the Bulldogs cruised to an easy home victory.

Notre Dame was up 27-22 at halftime and outscored Springfield Catholic 19-10 in the third quarter to lead 44-32 going into the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs led by as many as 22 before Notre Dame coach Chris Neff emptied his bench.

"It was a sloppy win, really," said Neff. "They traveled five hours to get here and we played a couple of tough ones this week. There's no rivalry there. And they're known for their football, so they're physical and we're not going to back down from anybody. There was a lot of tough, tough play."

Springfield Catholic scored 20 of its 49 points at the free-throw line.

John Hamm added 10 points for Notre Dame, which improved to 13-9 on the season.

Perryville 61, St. Vincent 50

PERRYVILLE -- Ryan Wichern scored 22 points in lifting the Pirates to a home win over their cross-town rival.

Perryville (6-15, 3-6) held a sizable lead most of the second half, but St. Vincent (12-6, 6-3) cut the lead to four points in the fourth quarter. The Pirates made nine of their 11 free throws in the fourth quarter to secure the win.

Todd Meyer was the only double-figure scorer for the Indians, who had five players with seven or more points.

Thomas Barber scored 12 points for Perryville.

St. Vincent, which has won six of its last eight games, shot just 30 percent from the field.

Perryville led 30-28 at halftime and 44-39 going into the fourth quarter.

Portageville 76, Kelly 45

PORTAGEVILLE -- In a game from Friday night, Portageville rolled past Kelly.

William Durden scored 18 points for Portageville while Daniel Seyer had 15 for Kelly (10-9).

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Cape Central 54, Perryville 53

PERRYVILLE -- The Perryville Lady Pirates nearly pulled off a huge upset Saturday, taking Cape Central to the wire only to miss a pair of foul shots and fall short.

Perryville's Amanda Schumer stood at the free throw line with no time left on the clock but missed both free throws as the Class 4A, ninth-ranked Lady Tigers (17-4) breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"She feels bad, but she did a lot of things that led up to that time," said Perryville coach Vicki Lohmann. "I told her not to worry about it because the effort was there all day long."

As for Central, Dionna Webb saved the day, scoring 13 of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter.

"She started pushing the ball and created more shots," said Central coach Darrick Smith.

Cape Central, which handed Perryville a 30-point loss earlier this season, trailed 40-35 heading into the fourth quarter.

"We led most of the game," Lohmann said. "They took the lead with about a minute left."

Jamie Amberger led the way for the Lady Pirates, scoring 17 points. Stacy Baer added 14.

"We came out flat for whatever reason," said Smith. "We only played one good quarter and that was the fourth. We finally got in rhythm, stepped up and played a lot harder."

Perryville dropped to 12-10 on the season.

Notre Dame 71, Spring. Cath. 52

Notre Dame got a career-high 26 points from Lisa Millham Saturday as the Lady Bulldogs disposed of visiting Springfield Catholic.

"We shot exceptionally well," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim, whose team is ranked fifth in Class 2A. "And we only had eight turnovers so you can't hardly beat that. And this is probably the best defensive game we've played. (Springfield Catholic) could really shoot the ball. They couldn't miss early even with hands in their face."

Notre Dame (16-5) shot 49 percent from 2-point range, making 21 of 43 attempts. The Lady Bulldogs hit seven of their 20 3-pointers for 35 percent and made eight of their 11 free throws.

Millham made six of her nine shots from inside the arc and four of her eight shots from behind the 3-point stripe.

Deana McCormick and Jessica Seratti each added 10 points apiece for Notre Dame.

Springfield Catholic, a 2A squad, dropped to 15-6 on the season.