NOTRE DAME, SCOTT CITY GIRLS TO DECIDE 2A, DISTRICT 2 TITLE

BLOOMFIELD -- Notre Dame High's girls had a better night than the boys Tuesday, reaching the 20-win plateau and advancing to the Class 2A, District 2 basketball tournament final with a 55-36 victory over fourth-seed Greenville.

The top-seeded Lady Bulldogs improved to 20-7 overall and will go for their second consecutive district title Friday at 6:30 p.m. Greenville, which got a game-high 23 points from Amber Beckett, ended its season with a 17-10 mark.

Notre Dame got most of its scoring on the inside as senior forward Rachael Schlosser scored 13 points and senior center Olivia Beel added 12. The Lady Bulldogs led 15-8 after one quarter and 27-13 at halftime.

"Our inside players were big keys to our success," said Notre Dame coach Jerry Grim. "We got the ball into them and when they got it they put it in the hole."

Senior Melissa Maurer added seven points and ran the offense with classmate Jennifer Glueck hobbled by a sore thigh.

"Melissa did a good job out on the court," said Grim. "She scored some points and did a lot of the ballhandling. That's good for her; she needs to do that."

Notre Dame led 38-21 entering the final quarter and outscored Greenville in the fourth quarter 17-15 to close out the victory. Ten of Notre Dame's 13 players scored.

Scott City 38, Kelly 35

In the fourth meeting of the season between these two teams, third-seed Scott City advanced to meet Notre Dame for the district title in the final game of the evening with a 38-35 victory over second-seed Kelly.

The victory marked the third time this season Scott City knocked off the Lady Hawks. Kelly ended its season with a 20-7 record. Scott City improved to 20-5 and will meet Notre Dame for the first time this season Friday.

"I'm very, very pleased with our defense," said Scott City coach Randall White. "You hold Kelly to only 35 points and you've played a very good defensive ball game."

Trailing 23-12 at halftime, Kelly got the score to within 26-21 entering the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by Pam Essner pulled the Lady Hawks to within one point, 31-30 with 2:26 left, but the Lady Rams held on from there.

Jessica Dees led Scott City with a game-high 19 points. Dees scored eight of her points in the first quarter and added seven in the final period.

"Jessica played a super ball game," said Scott City coach Randall White. "She got herself open, kept moving and had some big baskets for us."

Amy O'Brien added 10 points for the Lady Rams. Kelly, which trailed 15-4 after the first quarter, got 13 points from Ashley Dirnberger.

"We picked a bad time to have a bad first quarter," said Kelly coach Clay Vangilder. "We still played hard all year and had a good season.

Class 1A, District 2

ORAN -- The top two boys seeds, Delta and Scott County Central, set up a championship showdown by cruising in Tuesday's semifinals.

No. 1 Delta routed No. 4 Richland 89-62 while No. 2 Scott Central disposed of No. 3 Bell City 78-65.

Also Tuesday, No. 2 Scott Central ripped No. 3 Oran 91-41 in a girls semifinal that was the only pre-championship game of the three-team girls bracket.

Thursday night, No. 1 Delta and Scott Central will square off for the girls title at 6:30 while the same teams will meet for the boys crown at 8.

Delta's boys (19-7) received balanced scoring as five players reached double figures. Garrett DeBrock led the way with 29 points. He was followed by Andy Blattel (20), Greg Voelker (17), Shawn Kinder (10) and Ryan Livingston (10).

Richland (12-12) was paced by Cory Gipson with 24 points.

The Bobcats led 37-27 at halftime and rolled in the second half.

Scott Central's boys (14-12) got 29 points from John Fort and 17 from Jreece Johnson to dispose of the pesky Cubs.

Bell City (13-13) had four double-figure scorers: Justin Stephens (18), Matt Knoderer (16), Jacob Jenkins (10) and Richard Surface (10).

An 18-7 second-quarter edge sparked the Braves' victory.

In the girls game, Scott Central (14-11) was led by Vontrice Blackmon with 24 points, Ashley Whitson with 20 and Lakeya Turner with 10.

Oran (2-18), which got 24 points from Sara Heisserer, trailed 55-18 at halftime.

Class 1A, District 3

PATTON -- Meadow Heights' boys saw their season end Tuesday night as the host, sixth-seeded Panthers fell to third-seeded South Iron 62-50 in a first-round game.

The Panthers (5-18) were led by Kevin Weaver and Jeremy Heine with 17 points apiece.

South Iron got 24 points from Brandon Lashley, 14 from John Alcorn and 11 from Ben German.

Meadow Heights trailed only 28-25 at halftime but South Iron gradually pulled away in the second half.

Thursday's semifinals will pit top-seeded Ste. Genevieve Valle against No. 5 Leopold at 6 p.m. and South Iron against second-seeded Marquand at 7:30. The finals will be Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Also Tuesday, girls semifinal action saw No. 1 Bunker rout No. 4 Lesterville 59-32 and No. 3 Valle slip past No. 2 South Iron 69-63.

Rita Copeland scored 20 points and Alaana Martin had 19 for Bunker.

Jody Blum paced Valle with 20 points and Robin Vorman had a game-high 26 for South Iron.

Bunker and Valle will play for the girls title Friday at 6 p.m.

Class 2A, District 3

CRYSTAL CITY -- Sara Cissell hit four 3-pointers and finished with 20 points as St. Vincent's girls beat Grandview 42-33 in a quarterfinal game Tuesday night.

With the score tied 33-33 with 1:36 left, fourth-seeded St. Vincent scored the game's last nine points. Fifth-seeded Grandview made just 9 of 23 free-throw attempts.

Debbie Welker added 11 points for St. Vincent (8-15), which will meet top-seeded Valley Caledonia Thursday night at 6.

St. Vincent led 14-7 after one quarter and 20-12 at halftime. The fourth-seeded Squaws led 26-22 entering the fourth quarter.