Notre Dame Bulldogs ends losing streak with win over Kennett

KENNETT, Mo. - The Bulldogs of Notre Dame from Cape Girardeau traveled 99 miles to the Bootheel of Missouri for a road competition against the Kennett Indians.

Despite the hour-and-a-half-long bus ride, Notre Dame still performed well. They put up a 71-54 win over Kennett to even out their record at 8-8.

Notre Dame has been on the road a lot in their last few outings. Last week, they competed in the Nixa Invitational in Nixa, Mo. This three-day tournament was a four-hour bus ride from their school in Cape Girardeau.

According to Bulldogs’ head coach Kirk Boeller, the drive to Kennett was a lot easier on his players but he didn’t know how well his team would play with the lack of rest from travel.

“We only had a day's rest on Sunday before we got back on the road to come play a really good Kennett after driving to and from the Springfield area this weekend,” Boeller said. “I thought the girls responded well despite having a lot of miles on the bus this past week. I was proud of how they played.”

With their height advantage over the Indians, Boeller wanted to ensure they could feed the post as much as possible.

Seniors Olivia Wagoner, who was a transfer from Delta in 2023, and Elizabeth Barnette were the Bulldog’s main point of attack.

“Our main goal was to get the ball into those two,” Boeller said. “I thought Kennett did a good job of making things hard on our ball handlers and putting pressure on our guards.”

On the other end, defensively, Boeller wanted to focus on stepping up to stop Kennett’s explosive guards. He especially wanted to stop Kennnett’s main ball-handler, Alyce Edwards.

Throwing everything they could at the sophomore guard, Boeller knew they would have to stop her to get a win on Kennett’s home court.

“It’s almost impossible to guard her,” Boeller said. “I thought we did a good job defensively tonight as a whole, then we looked at the scoreboard and she still dropped 30-something points on us. She’s just a phenomenal player. She can score wherever she wants on the court so we knew we had our hands full with her.”

Despite the loss, Edwards would finish a game-high 38 points. This puts her on a 40-game streak of scoring in double-digits dating back to last season. She shot 57%, making 16 of her 28 attempts.

Even as the shortest player on the court, Edwards would make the majority of her points in the paint. She only scored one field goal in three-point range and had five points at the free-throw line.

Edwards also had two steals, one assist and one rebound. Outside of Edwards, Kennett senior Jayla Ellis led the team with five rebounds.

Despite Edwards and Ellis’s efforts, Boeller and his players were able to overcome the road challenge and snap their four-game losing streak.

He said his players are relieved to get a break from the bus as their next three matchups will be at home. They will play New Madrid County Central on Thursday, Jan. 30, before hosting nearby competitors Cape Central and Saxony Lutheran next week.

For Kennett, with this being only their second loss in seven games, their record is now 10-8. They will now travel to face Portageville on Jan. 30 for the start of a four-game road trip.