Panda Panda Panda.
That’s what the scorekeepers and the PA announcer will be seeing in their sleep tonight.
Every couple of minutes, Notre Dame Academy had a plethora of subs at the scorer’s table ready to check in during Thursday’s 35th District championship game against Holy Cross at the Finn Activity Center.
The Pandas went 11-deep and came away with a 63-54 victory to get the 36th District championship trophy back to Park Hills. Of the 11 that entered the game, eight scored and their bench outscored the Indians 19-0.
“I think our greatest strength is in our numbers,” Pandas coach Kes Murphy said. “We dictate pace with our press, speed teams up and get into other teams legs. If you don’t have depth, that could affect your focus on the gameplan. Fatigue sets in and you might get undisciplined. Ultimately we’ll get into your legs if you’re not well conditioned and if you have a short bench.”
Sophia Gibson and Amelia Stallard led with 17 points apiece, Gibson scoring her 1,000th career point on a banked-in free throw late in the game.
“I didn’t call it,” Gibson admitted. “But I knew it was going in. I’ve been working for this for a long time and the feeling is great.”
The Pandas fed the 6-foot-4 Gibson early and often as the Indians decided to front her in the post and Notre Dame threw over the top and created plenty of Gibson layups as she hit 7-of-10 shots from the field. The Yale commit also collected eight rebounds, four of them on the offensive end as Notre Dame won the rebounding battle 32-15.
If Gibson wasn’t in the game or getting fed in the post, Notre Dame’s 3-point shooting did the rest. They hit five from deep in the first quarter and nine for the game, Stallard draining five, Megan McGraw with three, all in the first quarter.
McGraw was a key figure in the bench brigade. All 11 of her points came in the first quarter, helping the Pandas get out to a 23-12 lead.
“Just the energy from the bench and energy from our student section really keeps me going,” McGraw said. “I just love the support.”
McGraw hadn’t played the last two years to focus on soccer, but decided to come out and play for her senior year.
“It’s been really great, all of the girls have been so supportive with everything, coaches have been supportive,” McGraw said. “I thought it was gonna be a really hard transition, but it’s honestly one of the best decisions I could have made.”
Two of Stallard’s five triples on the night proved to be the back-breaker for Holy Cross. With the Indians rallying from a 15-point third quarter deficit and getting within nine at 45-36, Stallard hit two 3-pointers in the final minute of the frame to push their lead back out to 51-36 headed into the fourth.
“That was definitely huge,” Stallard said. “My teammates find me when I’m hot. That kind of swung the momentum because we were kind of having a little scoring drought and that definitely helped us gain some momentum to finish it through in the fourth.”
Holy Cross was able to make it interesting, despite leading scorer and All-Region first team player Aumani Nelson on the bench due to fouling out. They got within four at 58-54 with under 50 seconds to play, but a turnover squashed their comeback hopes as Notre Dame hit 5-of-6 from the line from that point to seal the deal.
PHOTOS: Holy Cross-Notre Dame 35th District championship slideshow (provided by Charles Bolton)
“Their second string came in and hit shots. What are you gonna do?,” Indians coach Ted Arlinghaus said. “Those are shots we live with 10 out of 10 times. In the long run it works out, tonight it didn’t. Some nights it’s just not your night. But don’t get me wrong, no disrespect to them, they earned it and made a few more plays than we did.”
The Indians going 9-of-19 from the free throw line didn’t help the cause either.
Now the Indians path to a 9th Region title gets tougher. This game was eyed by many in the region, especially the three other district champs knowing one of them are going to have to face the loser, essentially creating one of the toughest district runner-ups for a first round matchup in the state.
“We were treating this like we have to win this game. Truth be told, we’re going to have to beat three top 15 teams in the state to win region. We didn’t get it done tonight, so we’re still going to have to beat three top 15 teams in the state to win region,” Arlinghaus said.
Holy Cross is looking at a matchup with either Cooper, Dixie Heights or Highlands.
“Beat Cooper in the regular season and lost to Dixie Heights and Highlands in overtime on the road,” Arlinghaus said. “We’re right there. I know we can compete with whoever we draw.”
Alyssa Arlinghaus led the Indians with 17 points and was later named to the All-Tournament team along with D’Myah Williams, adding 13 points. Nelson finished with 10 as she was saddled with foul trouble for the majority.
Gibson was named Tournament MVP, Stallard and McGraw named to the All-Tournament team.
Notre Dame will enter the region tournament as a No. 1 seed and will face either Ryle, St. Henry or Newport Central Catholic.
“This is the toughest region in the state, 100%. Each year, every year,” Murphy said. “We’ve barely been 100% all year and we are now so I like our chances.”
The St. Elizabeth Healthcare 9th Region tournament begins on Sunday with all four quarterfinal matchups played at Northern Kentucky University’s Truist Arena that day. The draw is on Friday at 4 p.m. at Holmes High School.
All-Tournament Team
NOTRE DAME 63, HOLY CROSS 54
HOLY CROSS — 12-11-13-18 — 54
NOTRE DAME — 23-13-15-12 — 63
Scoring
Holy Cross (54) — Arlinghaus 17, Williams 13, Nelson 10, Carter 8, Johnson 6
Notre Dame (63) — Gibson 17, Stallard 17, M. McGraw 11, Holtzapfel 5, M. Lawrie 5, LaBordeaux-Humphrey 4, E. McGraw 2, A. Lawrie 2
Game Stats
Field Goals: Holy Cross 20/41, Notre Dame 22/45
3-Pointers: Holy Cross 5/12, Notre Dame 9/23
Free Throws: Holy Cross 9/19, Notre Dame 10/17
Rebounds: Holy Cross 15, Notre Dame 32
Assists: Holy Cross 10, Notre Dame 16
Steals: Holy Cross 12, Notre Dame 7
Turnovers: Holy Cross 15, Notre Dame 21
Fouls: Holy Cross 19, Notre Dame 19
Records: Holy Cross 25-7, Notre Dame 20-7