NOTRE DAME, KELLY GIRLS OPEN DISTRICT PLAY WITH BLOWOUT WINS

BLOOMFIELD -- The top-seeded Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs clobbered eighth-seeded Puxico 75-8 in the opening round of the Class 2A, District 2 Tournament Saturday.

Notre Dame will now face fourth-seeded Greenville Tuesday at 6:30 in the semifinals.

Notre Dame (19-5) completely dominated the game and never trailed, holding Puxico to just four points in each half.

Notre Dame opened up with a 22-2 first-quarter lead and extended its advantage to 41-4 going into halftime. The Lady Bulldogs blanked Puxico 19-0 in the third quarter.

"We weren't trying to hold them down," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "We were just playing hard. We do play a pretty good half-court defense, though. I was pleased that everyone on our team got to play an entire half."

All 11 Notre Dame players found the scoring column and were led by Lisa Millham, who tossed in 16 points. Katie Canfield deposited 11 points and Michelle Hency finished with 10.

Amanda Miller led Puxico with six points.

Second-seeded Kelly swept aside seventh-seeded East Prairie 62-9 in another first-round blowout, as the Lady Hawks move on to face third-seeded Scott City at Tuesday at 8 p.m.

The outcome was never in doubt as Kelly (22-4) outscored East Prairie 52-1 through the first three quarters.

"They came ready to play," said Kelly coach Curtis Finley. "We tried to get it done defensively and were able to do it. It was nice to get everybody on the team into the game."

Eight Kelly players scored, with Marissa Essner leading the Lady Hawks with 18 points. Teammate Audrey Burford added 10.

Michelle Bone led East Prairie with four points.

In the day's closest game, fourth-seeded Greenville edged fifth-seeded Chaffee 49-48.

Chaffee trailed 37-27 entering the fourth quarter but came back to tie the game in the final minute on a free throw by Amy Burnett inside the final minute.

However, Greenville's Kristie Thompson scored the last of her team-high 17 points on a free throw with six seconds left to secure the win.

"In fourth quarter we finally got it going," said Chaffee coach Tammy Brock. "My kids played hard."

Jennifer Vandeven led Chaffee with 21 points while Burnett finished with 12.

In the final first-round game, third-seeded Scott City defeated sixth-seeded Woodland 37-25. No other results from the game were available.

Class 1A, District 2

ADVANCE -- Second-seeded Oran advanced to Thursday night' championship game with a 51-36 victory over third-seeded Delta on Saturday.

Oran will face top-seeded Scott Central at 6 p.m. in the final of the three-team district.

Sara Heisserer led Oran's winning effort with 16 points while teammate Ashley Dirnberger added 10.

Rebecca Below paced Delta with 14 points. Erin Cook added 11 points and Rebecca Cook finished with 10.

Oran took a 10-8 lead into the second quarter, where it delivered a decisive blow, outscoring Delta 14-2 for a 24-10 halftime lead. The Lady Eagles led 33-24 entering the final period.

Boys Basketball

Class 1A, District 2

ADVANCE -- Eighth-seeded Richland overcame a four-point halftime deficit to defeat ninth-seed Zalma 59-51 in a play-in game in Class 1A, District 2.

Richland (4-18) won a 4 p.m. date against top-seeded Advance (22-4).

Josh McMullen and Lance Sanders each netted 15 points for Richland and Sherome Cole added 10 points.

Chris Canoy was the only double-figure scorer for Zalma, netting 10 points.

Zalma took a 30-26 lead into the second half, but saw Richland nudge ahead 43-41 by the start of the fourth quarter. Richland outscored Zalma 16-10 down the stretch.

Class 2A, District 2

(First round)

East Prairie 78, Chaffee 49

BLOOMFIELD -- Eighth-seeded East Prairie eliminated ninth-seeded Chaffee in the opening round of the 2A, District 2 Tournament on the strength of Blake Munger's and Ryan Poyner's performance and will advance to face top-seeded Scott City Monday at 4 p.m.

Munger poured in a game-high 29 points, including six 3-pointers, for East Prairie and Poyner followed closely behind with 28 points.

East Prairie took a 40-27 lead into the break and outscored Chaffee 38-22 through the second half to earn the win.

Chase Eskew paced the Red Devils by tossing in 18 points -- including four 3-pointers -- and Perry Rice finished with 13.