Dexter girls rally to beat district rival Notre Dame 60-54

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - In a highly anticipated showdown between two district rivals, the Notre Dame Bulldogs had Dexter right where they wanted them.

Notre Dame (15-2) led 48-45 heading into the final quarter.

In the blink of an eye that lead was gone, and the Bearcats (16-3) took charge and outlasted the host Bulldogs for a 60-54 win.

"That fourth quarter we talked about at halftime about how we had to play defense because we let up too many points," Dexter senior Hannah Noe said. "That fourth quarter we just kind of buckled down and actually played defense and we got a lot of stops."

The Bulldogs' offense went into hiding in the final eight minutes.

Notre Dame did not score a basket in the fourth until 4 minutes and 50 seconds into the quarter.

The Bulldogs missed their first seven shots and Dexter went on a 9-0 run to start the quarter and snag a 54-48 lead.

"I thought our girls stepped up and did an unbelievable job that fourth quarter defensively," Dexter coach Chad Allen said. "I think we limited them to six points. I just thought we really got down and guarded them extremely well in that fourth quarter."

Halle Lynch finally got Notre Dame on the board to cut the lead to 54-50 but Dexter managed the next three points and Notre Dame never managed to seriously threaten after that.

The Bulldogs had some open opportunities, but came up short.

"We got the looks we wanted and we got the shots we wanted and we just didn't finish," Notre Dame coach Renee Peters said. "We just fizzled out, we didn't execute. We talked about that, those are things we can fix."

Dexter was 10 of 14 from the charity stripe in the fourth, including Noe's seven-of-eight performance in the final quarter.

The two district rivals traded runs in the opening three quarters.

Dexter jumped out to a 20-15 first quarter lead behind two triples from Allison Jarrell and 10 points from Noe.

Notre Dame managed to cut into the lead in the second quarter and eventually took a 37-35 lead at the half.

The Bulldogs forced six second-quarter turnovers from the Bearcats and converted those into easy offense.

"Our defense is our bread and butter," Peters said. "These girls know what this game meant to them, they wanted it, they played hard. We were outsized a little bit but nothing we shouldn't have been able to handle. They're a very good team. Dexter is a very reputable, very competitive team."

Annie Siebert was outstanding in the first half for Notre Dame.

The senior guard scored 17 of her team-high 19 points in the opening half, including all four of her treys.

"It carried us," Peters said of Siebert's first half performance. "It kept us in the game. She stepped up; she was our leader out there. Annie, that's just something you can't teach her, she's a competitor."

Siebert capped off her first half with a baseline jumper with two seconds left to make it a two-point Bulldog advantage at half.

As a team Notre Dame connected on seven 3-pointers, six of them in the first half.

"We gave them a lot of open looks that first half," Allen said. "I couldn't believe we weren't matching up as well as we were. I thought the girls did a great job adjusting the second half and finding their shooters."

Notre Dame appeared to be building a solid lead midway through the third quarter when the Bulldogs used a 9-2 run to make it a 46-39 game with two minutes 30 seconds left in the third.

Dexter battled right back, rattling off a 6-0 run to make it a one point game before Taylor Feeney hit a put back with four seconds left to give the Bulldogs their 48-45 lead.

"This game was definitely a game of runs," Allen said. "Coming in here playing at Notre Dame, we knew it was going to be a tough one. It's a game of runs. I'm just glad our girls kept our composure and really gutted it out."

Dexter has defeated the Bulldogs three straight years in the Class 4 District 1 championship.

"It is big because it's kind of momentum going into districts," Noe said.

Noe led all scorers with 21 points.

Jarrell added 12, Erika Cobb netted 11, and Paige Patterson chipped in 10 points for the Bearcats.

Kaitlin Welter joined Siebert in double figures for the Bulldogs with 15 points.