As soon as Notre Dame beat St. Henry on Sunday in the 9th Region quarterfinals, Kes Murphy sent his team a photo through their group messaging app.
It was of Highlands’ Marissa Green hitting the game-winning shot against them in last year’s 9th Region tournament and ending their season.
Murphy sent photos daily of the shot. The team took note and didn’t let it happen again, downing Highlands 52-43 in Wednesday’s St. Elizabeth Healthcare girls basketball 9th Region tournament semifinals.
“We wanted to make sure that our kids understood that in life, when you get a second opportunity, a second chance, you can’t let it slip through your fingers,” Murphy said. “They embraced that mentality and we came out and executed the gameplan.”
Maya Lawrie may have had a black and blue eye from Sunday’s quarterfinal game with St. Henry, but in the end she left Highlands feeling blue with a team-high 14 points, four rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal while hitting all six of her free throw attempts. The black eye didn’t hold back her aggression. If there was a body on the floor Wednesday, Lawrie was the most likely candidate.
“This was a physical game,” Lawrie said. “I know this is my last go around and want to give my teammates my all. Whether it’s verbally or emotionally and want them to know I’m always there for them. I just play hard in every way that I can help the team.”
Despite Highlands bolstering the front line of Marissa Green and Tyriana Berry, it was Notre Dame who was able to keep the rebounding battle nearly even while grabbing 15 offensive rebounds.
Ending quarters was the name of the game for the Pandas. They closed the first quarter on a 5-0 run capped by an Amelia Stallard three in the closing seconds for an 11-8 lead. A 6-1 run to finish the first half gave them a 20-15 advantage at the break on Emma Holtzapfel’s late jumper. Then a 7-0 run to end the third stretched their lead to 38-27 on a Joslyn LaBordeaux-Humphrey 3-pointer.
The backbreaker for Highlands however was a 9-0 run out of the half. Making it 29-15 was Sophia Gibson connecting on a pair of putbacks while an Emma Holtzapfel 3-pointer and two Lawrie free throws put the advantage at 14.
“That was huge,” Murphy said. “We have that spurtability in moments. You couple that with our defense, we just have to maintain at that point. Coming out of the half right off the bat, that set the tone and gave our kids a ton of confidence.”
It was a deficit too large for Highlands’s high-low game with Green and Berry. Berry closed with 14 points and nine rebounds, Green with nine points, six rebounds and five assists. It was effective as the two went a combined 10-of-15 from the field, but the team’s 12 turnovers and 6-of-16 free throw shooting were too much to overcome.
“Cut it down and then have two straight turnovers. We were right there, just couldn’t make plays when we needed to,” Bluebirds coach Jaime Richey said. “Rebounding was going to be key, they shoot and go after it. They’re a bunch of hard workers that go after the rebounds and we couldn’t get some of them.”
Kaylee Mills chipped in eight points, Maren Orme and Katie Bucher posting six points apiece. The loss ends Highlands season at 21-9 as they’ll graduate three seniors in Aubrey Barrett, Berry and Green. Green closes out her Highlands career with over 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.
“Great leaders on and off the court,” Richey said. “Great role models for our younger generation of athletes coming through the Highlands program.”
Holtzapfel added 10 points for the Pandas, Gibson with eight points and six rebounds despite being limited to 9:33 of gameplay due to foul trouble. Stallard also chipped in eight points, Humphrey with seven.
Now they get three-time reigning champ Cooper, a 64-54 victor over Dixie Heights in Wednesday’s first semifinal. The Jaguars won a tight one against the Pandas in the regular season, 52-49 on Feb. 1 in Union.
“I don’t listen to any of the noise,” Lawrie said. “Who’s favorites, who’s not. I know our team can just play as hard as we can and we’ll get there. We’ll get what we want, we just got to play our game.”
Friday’s championship game is set for 7 p.m.
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: Notre Dame-Highlands 9th Region semifinals (Photos provided by Charles Bolton)
PANDAS 52, BLUEBIRDS 43
NOTRE DAME — 11-9-18-14 — 52
HIGHLANDS — 8-7-12-16 — 43
Scoring
Notre Dame (52) — M. Lawrie 14, Holtzapfel 10, Gibson 8, Stallard 8, Humphrey 7, A. Lawrie 3, E. McGraw 2
Highlands (43) — Berry 14, Green 9, Mills 8, Orme 6, Bucher 6
Game Stats
Field Goals: Notre Dame 18/50, Highlands 17/42
3-Pointers: Notre Dame 5/22, Highlands 3/8
Free Throws: Notre Dame 11/15, Highlands 6/16
Rebounds: Notre Dame 33, Highlands 35
Assists: Notre Dame 9, Highlands 13
Steals: Notre Dame 9, Highlands 4
Blocked Shots: Notre Dame 4, Highlands 3
Turnovers: Notre Dame 6, Highlands 12
Fouls: Notre Dame 17, Highlands 14
Records: Notre Dame 22-7, Highlands 21-9