Notre Dame raced to a 53-10 first-half lead and coasted to a 77-48 high school basketball victory over Lookout Valley on Thursday night in a Hall of Champions game at Notre Dame.
Rashawn Avery led Notre Dame with 16 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc – all in the first half.
D.J. Bowles, Stedmon Ford and Michael McCutcheon added 14 points each for the Irish.
Bowles contributed six assists and was 4-of-5 from three-point range. Ford made 5-of-5 shots from the field, including 4-of-4 from beyond the arc for the hot-shooting Irish, coached by Tommy Fox. McCutcheon was 5-of-5 from the field including 4-of-4 on three-pointers.
"We shot the ball extremely well in first half,’’ Fox said. “We got good looks off the break because we were able to force turnovers and get stops. We were aggressive on defense which was how we need to be to create fast-break points. I was pleased with our defensive effort and rotations. We are getting better, but we are extremely young. We still need to do things better and with more urgency and consistency on the defensive end.
"Offensively, Lookout Valley played zone and we made good reads and had good ball reversal. We were able to get open looks. We have a few kids when open that can make shots. I thought Stedmon, DJ, and Rashawn all played terrific. DJ had six assists in the first quarter. Obviously Mike McCutcheon shot it extremely well and he will be a consistent threat for us from outside all year. When he gets his feet set he is very capable of scoring points."
NOTRE DAME GIRLS 42, LOOKOUT VALLEY 36: The Lady Irish, coached by former Brainerd standout RJ (Rhvonja Smith) Avery and Jill Webb, moved to 2-0 as Amanda McLaughlin scored 15 points.
Madison Cox added nine for the Lady Irish, Syndey Lundquist added eight and Machen Pickard scoredfive.
“We played well,’’ Avery said. “JaLisa Jones and Danielle Ciabattone played really well defensively. I was really proud of all the girls.’’
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)