Sikeston girls reach second straight district final with romp over Notre Dame

Friday, March 4, 2016
Sikeston's Larysa McClellon and Notre Dame's Allie Ziegler collide while going after a loose ball in the second quarter of a Class 4, District 1 semifinal game Thursday night at the Sikeston Field House. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat)

sports@standard-democrat.com

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Notre Dame girls basketball team took a gamble by sagging in their matchup zone just enough to dare Sikeston to shoot from the outside.

With two losses already to the Bulldogs this year and knowing Sikeston isn't the greatest threat from three, it wasn't a bad bet. But on Thursday night in Sikeston, Mo., the house had the upper hand.

Second-seeded Sikeston hit five threes leading to a 13-point halftime advantage and that's all they needed to end Notre Dame's season with a 52-36 win during the Class 4, District 1 semifinals at the Sikeston Field House in Sikeston, Mo.

The win pushes Sikeston into the program's third-ever district title appearance after making their first last year since the 2002 season. It's also a chance for Sikeston (22-4) to play top-seeded Dexter in a rematch of last year's final after beating the Bearcats a week ago for a SEMO Conference regular season title.

Sikeston coach Matt Schonhoff said last week's 74-66 win over Dexter means nothing more than accomplishing a conference goal they set before the season.

"Last week was for conference and right now conference doesn't mean anything," he said. "If you want to see it as anything for the girls its maybe a confidence booster going into this game. But these girls have always had the mindset of next game up. We've done really well with that and I know we'll put our best foot forward and do well."

His team doesn't read too much into their recent win either. Senior Tyra Bonner definitely enjoyed Sikeston's first win over Dexter in recent memory, but knows the district's five-time defending champions won't go down easy.

Sikeston's Tyra Bonner goes up for a layup against Notre Dame's Hayli Chapman in the third quarter of a Class 4, District 1 semifinal game Thursday night at the Sikeston Field House. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat)

"I think it helped us as a team, but it's not where we're cocky now because of it or we know we're going to win districts of nothing like that," she said. "We know they're going to come harder since we beat them on their senior night. They're going to come hard. We just have to come harder."

Bonner led Sikeston with 16 points and hit three of Sikeston's six threes on the night. She shot 6 of 8 from the floor including 3 of 5 from behind the arc.

"We've grown more as a shooting team," Bonner said. "Most people don't think we are, but we're starting to be more comfortable shooting. More relaxed shooting those shots. It helped us out a lot."

As a team, Sikeston shot 5 for 11 in the first half from three and 6 for 15 overall. They finished 16 for 38 (42 percent) total from the floor.

"We changed our defense up the last couple days and we were going to play it tight and make them beat us from the outside," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said. "They've not been able to do that and they've got most their points on second shots. We really worked hard on packing it in and they just go and unload. So, you know what? It wasn't meant to be."

Sikeston led Notre Dame from wire to wire and got its hot shooting night started from the get-go.

Tyeshia Mitchell, who finished with 11 points, hit the game's first three followed by another from Bonner to give Sikeston a quick 6-0 lead.

A mix of turnovers from each team's pressure defense rattled both as a stretch of nine combined turnovers curbed most of the first quarter offense. Sikeston led 10-4 after one.

Sikeston's offense took a turn in the second, however, hitting 6 out of 10 from the field and 3 of 5 from behind the arc. A once 6-point lead ballooned to 13 by the end of the half, 27-14.

Sikeston's Tyeshia Mitchell grabs an offensive rebound in front of Notre Dame's Hayli Chapman in the fourth quarter of a Class 4, District 1 semifinal game Thursday night at the Sikeston Field House. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat)

The turnaround was helped by Sikeston's defense which finally led to opportunities to score on the other end. Notre Dame committed 14 turnovers in the first half with eight of those in the second quarter.

"We switched our defense and it got some quick turnovers for us," Schonhoff said. "That really put (Notre Dame) back on their heels and pretty much the cushion for the rest of the night."

Sikeston opened the second half with a run that essentially sealed the win. Outscoring Notre Dame 14-4 within the first four and a half minutes, Sikeston led 41-18 after a steal and basket by Antravia Green. Notre Dame had eight turnovers in the third quarter giving them a total of 22 up to that point. They finished with 30.

Coupled with a bad shooting night, things went south in a hurry for Notre Dame. The Bulldogs shot 12 for 37 and missed its first 10 3-point attempts going 1 for 13 from three. They were 3 for 12 in the third quarter where they fell behind 43-23.

"We got to be able to score against these teams," Peters said.

Though down by 21 at one point, Notre Dame made one final push before ultimately bowing out.

The third-seed started the final quarter with a 7-1 run to cut Sikeston's lead to 14 with just under five minutes to play. A much-needed bucket from Bonner broke a string of five-straight turnovers for Sikeston setting off a 6-2 run to put the hosts back in control for its sixth win in as many games against Notre Dame.

"It actually feels really great each time to come out with a win against them," Bonner said. "They are a great team to play against and they're always a good challenge for us."

Notre Dame will lose four seniors including two starters on relatively young team. They finished the season 11-16.

"Last year we had no varsity experience, district experience, nothing and I thought we came out a little bit better this year," Peters said. "Still not where we want to be wins and losses-wise, but we've grown. We've gotten a lot better. We're going to miss our senior but I've got a lot of hope and faith in our junior class. Next year will be their third year playing so I think we'll come back."

Sikeston's district championship game against Dexter will begin tonight at 6 p.m.

"It's going to feel good, but it's not going to be easy," Bonner said. "It's going to be a challenging game and I think whoever wants it more will come out with a win."

Notre Dame410913--36
Sikeston1017169--52

NOTRE DAME (36) -- Samantha Brennan 7, Faith Essner 4, Maddie Urhahn 4, Cheyenne Sander 2, Allie Ziegler 2, Hayli Chapman 3, Megan Heisserer 8, Lexi Welter 6. FG 12 FT 11-18 F 20. (3-pointers: Heisserer 1. Fouled out: none.)

SIKESTON (52) -- Kiera Steward 5, Antravia Green 2, Tyra Bonner 16, Larysa McClellon 9, Erica Peet 6, Miranda Harrison 3, Tyeshia Mitchell 11. FG 16 FT 14-28 F 18. (3-pointers: Steward 1, Bonner 3, Harrison 1, Mitchell 1. Fouled out: none.)

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