Without a doubt, the "no respect" theme has become exceedingly cliched, but if any team has a right to use a Rodney Dangerfield-type angle as motivation, Notre Dame High's girls basketball team does.

Notre Dame never appeared in the Associated Press 10-team state-wide poll this season. But what irked the Lady Bulldogs most was their absence from the SEMO top-10 area media poll. In the final SEMO poll, 17 teams received at least one vote.

Notre Dame received none.

And how many of those 17 teams, besides top-ranked Jackson, which finished second in the state in Class 4A, advanced to the state tournament?

None.

Notre Dame did.

So now that Notre Dame (21-9) has advanced to Friday's 8:05 p.m. Final Four game against Hartville at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, the Lady Bulldogs have forced people to take notice -- even if the media never did.

"We're mainly doing this to show ourselves that we can do it, but we want to show everyone else out there that we can be as good as we want to be," said junior post player Rachael Schlosser.

Nearly every year, Notre Dame endures perhaps the toughest schedule any Class 2A team in the state plays. So losses to teams like Jackson and Cape Central give the Lady Bulldogs a record that doesn't accurately represent just how good the team actually is.

"Sometimes it's frustrating when we're playing the best teams around and our record's not as good as it could be if we always played 1A and 2A teams," said Melissa Maurer, a junior guard. "I'd rather not have a great record but be better prepared for this time of the season."

Notre Dame lost to Pembroke Hill in the championship game two seasons ago in its first-ever Final Four appearance. Then last year, the Lady Bulldogs failed to make it out of its district. That could explain why some people might have overlooked Notre Dame this year.

"I think a lot of people underestimated us this year," said coach Jerry Grim. "We knew all along that we were a decent team and we had the . . . chance to get where we're at. We've got some good kids at each position and we play a good schedule, which I think prepares us for this part of the year."

Four Lady Bulldogs -- Schlosser, Maurer, senior Amanda Lange and junior Jennifer Glueck -- dressed for the state tournament games two years ago. Of those, Glueck, who is the first player off the bench this season, was the only one who received considerable playing time.

"It was a great experience and we learned a lot -- and I did especially," said Glueck. "I was real nervous, but when you step out on the floor you forget about everything else."

Lange, a 6-foot center who will be heavily relied upon against a small Hartville team, will fill a much different role than she did as a sophomore.

"Two years ago I was playing a much different role. It was more of one the sophomores have this year -- cheering and hoping that you get to play," Lange said. "But this year it's a little more nerve-wracking because I have to be the one to actually produce to help the team win."

Besides Schlosser, Maurer and Lange, the other two starters this year are senior Tracy Blattel and sophomore Randi Senciboy, who leads the team in scoring at 11 points per game.

"It was my eighth-grade year when they all went," said Senciboy, "and I remember listening to it on the radio and it was just like, `wow'."

This weekend, Notre Dame will look to "wow" a large Hearnes Center crowd -- and perhaps earn some respect in the process.