SEMO Conference Tournament final: Notre Dame survives Jackson's resiliency to win third straight SEMO Conference Tournament title

J.C. Reeves ~ Southeast Missourian

Friday, December 3, 2021

Notre Dame's girls basketball team celebrates after winning its third consecutive SEMO Conference Tournament Championship, beating Jackson 50-49 on Thursday at Jackson High School.

Sarah Yenesel ~ Southeast Missourian

JACKSON, Mo. — Lexi Rubel recorded her first double-double of the season, taking over late in the game to help Notre Dame win its third consecutive SEMO Conference Tournament championship against Jackson.

The Indians were resilient, fighting to the bitter end as Katie Waller hit a 3 to bring Jackson within one point, only for the buzzer to go off giving Notre Dame a 50-49 victory on Thursday at Jackson High School.

"Roller coaster is a pretty good term to describe it," Notre Dame coach Kirk Boeller said. "Both teams played really, really hard tonight. We'd go on a little run and Jackson would cut it back down to one or two baskets, and we'd go on a little run and Jackson would cut it back down to one or two baskets or tie it up. It was a back and forth game.

"That's why that rivalry is so cool because anytime us and Jackson get together, it's going to be a good basketball game."

Rubel scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half and pulled down 11 rebounds in the game to help lead the Bulldogs past the Indians.

Notre Dame's Lexi Rubel takes a contested shot against Jackson during Thursday's SEMO Conference Tournament championship game at Jackson High School.

Sarah Yenesel ~ Southeast Missourian

"Tonight, I think she kind of acted as that comfort blanket where when the ball was in her hands we knew something good was going to happen," Boeller said. "She'd either distribute it to somebody or take it to the basket. I thought her poise in the second half was one of the big keys in us coming out on top."

In addition to her scoring and rebounding totals, Rubel was a menace on defense, recording six steals.

"When she graduates it will make me a happier person," Jackson coach Adam Stoneking joked about Rubel, "because I won't have to figure out how we're going to handle her."

Leah Jansen once again had a solid game, scoring 12 points and recording three steals in a winning effort.

"I pulled Leah aside after the game and told her if we don't have her ball pressure up top and her energy from the first quarter all the way through the fourth quarter, I don't know that the outcome is going to be the same," Boeller said. "She has another gear that a lot of people don't have."

Jackson's Katie Waller dropped 23 points on Notre Dame, one night removed from scoring 28 on Sikeston. The junior guard hit four 3-pointers and shot a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line.

"I thought she was the best player in the tournament," Stoneking said of Waller. "I don't think it was close. I think Karris Allen played some really good games as well, Lexi and Tori (Rubel) played well all three nights. I just thought (Katie) played fantastic."

Kamryn Link had a bit of a breakout party, scoring 14 points offensively, including going 3-for-4 at the line. Defensively, the junior guard stepped up to the challenge of guarding Notre Dame junior Tori Rubel, holding her to just eight points in the game.

"(Link's) not always going to score 14. Some nights she might only score two," Stoneking said. "But she's going to make sure you're not going to see it from other places. She's going to be making a good pass here or be ready to help here.

"Tonight, she did a fantastic job of guarding Tori. That was her primary defensive assignment all night long."

Jackson forced the Bulldogs away from their typical gameplan, pressuring Notre Dame into taking quick shots rather than utilizing its ball-movement skills.

"They were speeding us up and we were kind of playing hot potato with it, shooting-wise," Boeller said. "We'd make a couple of passes and think, 'Oh, I've got to shoot it.'

"I want to say, that's something we're gonna we're going to get figured out, but we did force a little bit there."

Defensively, Notre Dame recorded 15 steals against Jackson, with Lexi Rubel's six being the team-high.

"That's kind of what our identity is, we play really hard defense and let that kind of transition into our offense," Boeller said. "We do have a lot of things to clean up. I thought we gave up quite a few open shots, and that's because Jackson just moved the ball really well. We've got to make sure our positioning is cleaned up a little bit, but I thought our girls played extremely hard for four quarters."

The Bulldogs (3-0) have some time until their next game, a 7:30 p.m. road contest against Poplar Bluff on Wednesday, Dec. 16.

Jackson (2-1) gets back to work at 7:30 p.m. Monday when the Indians host Farmington.

Sikeston 66, Dexter 42

Sikeston's Karris Allen was dominant in the Bulldogs' 66-42 victory in the SEMO Conference's Tournament's third-place game Thursday against Dexter.

The senior Western Kentucky commit had her way with Dexter's defense, scoring a team-high 26 points, with 11 of her baskets coming from in the paint.

Freshman guard Landri Hammontree had a breakout game for the Bulldogs, scoring 16 points — nine of which came from 3-point range — and going 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.

Amyari Blissett also scored in double digits, tallying 13 points. The senior made three 3s on the night.

Dexter senior Dulcie Pullen led the Bearcats with 13 points, all of which came in the second half.

Sophomore Allison Trumbo and senior Magi McBride each scored eight points for Dexter and hit one 3-pointer apiece.

Sikeston (4-1) will host Farmington on Monday, Dec. 13.

Dexter (1-2) will host New Madrid County Central on Monday.

Cape Central 48, NMCC 40

The Cape Central Tigers won the consolation bracket on Thursday, beating New Madrid County Central 48-40.

The Tigers were paced by juniors Ki Bogan and Taylor Horton who combined for 29 of the Tigers' 49 points. Bogan led the team with 17 points and Horton added 12.

The Tigers made just two visits to the free-throw line, going 2-for-4.

Emani Summers led the way for NMCC with 11 points. The freshman made five shots from the field and went 1-for-1 at the charity stripe.