Notre Dame is moving on.

 

The Irish advanced Monday night when steady Steadmon Ford drove a stake in the Chargers’ heart, draining a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left as No. 4 seed Notre Dame defeated fifth-seed Chattanooga Christian, 41-38, in District 7-AA tournament action in Phifer Gymnasium.

 

It was a thriller.

 

Notre Dame (10-14) will take on No. 1 seed Sequatchie County at 8 p.m. (Eastern) on Thursday after securing a berth in the region tourney with Monday’s hard-earned victory.

 

Kywaun Davenport led the Irish, who beat the Chargers twice in three meetings this season, with 10 points. Sheldon Brogden and Clay Heltzel each scored nine points. Heltzel’s points came on three 3s.

 

Six-foot-five-inch sophomore post Clark Marshall paced the Chargers with 16 points. Joshua Fikkert added seven points.

 

The final seconds alone were worth the price of admission.

 

Ford made two free throws, stretching the Irish lead to 38-35 with 17.7 seconds left.

 

Chattanooga Christian’s Drew Thomas drilled a 3 with 8.9 seconds on the clock, tying the game at 38-all.

 

The Chargers had no timeouts.

 

The Irish didn’t need one.

 

“I saw the other dude (Thomas) from CCS hit a 3 and I looked at coach (Brad) Harris and he said, ‘Push it,’ ” Ford said in the Irish locker room. “So I just went down and did what I could do.”

 

Ford raced down the right sideline, pulled up and took the long 3 from the right wing.

 

Harris had seen Ford in the same situation before.

 

“I knew they would be in a scramble right after that 3,” Harris said. “So I didn’t want to call a timeout and let them set up defensively. (Steadmon) looked over at me and I just said, ‘Get it and go.’ That’s the advantage of our second year together. That’s about the eighth or ninth game-winner Steadman’s hit in the last two years, so I have all the confidence in the world in him.”

 

Chargers coach Jim Arnold had a good idea what was coming next after Thomas’ clutch shot, also from the right wing, capped Chattanooga Christian’s comeback from nine points down with 4:31 left.

 

“My first thought was I wish I had a timeout so we could set our defense,” said Arnold, whose Chargers end the season 14-14. “I was screaming ‘11’ because I wanted us to jump into a zone. But it’s just so hard to here in here.”

 

Even without Arnold’s input from the bench, the Chargers got into what looked like an effective defense and forced a not-so-open shot by Ford, who like Thomas hit from the right wing.

 

“Brandon (Arnold) picked him up and contested that shot,” Jim Arnold said. “He shoots a step-back and I don’t know how far back he was, but it seemed like 23 or 24 feet. What are you going to do? I thought we did a good job of making it a tough shot, but when it left his hand I thought it had a chance to go in.”

 

Ford finished with nine points, including a lone – albeit dramatic – 3-pointer.

 

Notre Dame led 31-24 after three quarters, but Marshall converted a three-point play 45 seconds into the fourth period and it was game on at 31-27.

 

“We wanted to get the ball inside more this game,” JimArnold said. “They do a good job pushing Brandon away from the basket, not letting him get easy looks. I thought we dumped the ball on the post more. I was proud of our guys for that.”

 

At that point, Harris ordered the Irish into a four-corner offense. Ford stood motionless near midcourt, except for his right hand dribbling the basketball, hoping to force the Chargers out of their 3-2 zone which had bothered Notre Dame the entire game.

 

Chattanooga Christian finally popped into a man-to-man.

 

Ford drove the lane and was fouled, with Fikkert picking up his fourth personal. Ford made two free throws.

 

Less than a minute later, Chargers point guard Skip Taylor picked up his fourth foul.

 

Thirty-seven seconds after that, Davenport hit a 3 and the Irish were up 36-27 with 4:31 remaining in the game.

 

Brandon Arnold hit a 3 with 2:54 left, his only points in the game after a layup with 40.2 left in the first quarter. Marshall was fouled by Notre Dame’s Kealey Greene – his fifth – and made two free throws with 2:01 on the clock. Fikkert, another 6-5 post, hit a layup to cap an 8-0 run and pull the Chargers within 36-35 with 1:35 go to.

 

At the other end, Heltzel’s shot was blocked and the Chargers called their final timeout.

 

With 1:09 remaining, Chattanooga Christian let the air out of the ball, hoping to run as much time off the clock as possible.

 

However, Taylor committed a turnover and then fouled Ford, who hit two free throws with less than 18 seconds left, the Irish’s first points since Davenport’s 3 at the 3:41 mark.

 

That set up the climatic Thomas-Ford finish.

 

The game's lost shot couldn’t have come at a better time for the Irish.

 

“This win is huge for us,” Harris said. “It puts us in the region tournament. We played Sequatchie within three points twice this season, so it’ll be a good one up there (at Sequatchie).”

 

Both teams struggled to score in the first half, but Chattanooga Christian managed to hit halftime with an 18-15 advantage.

 

Fikkert made a layup to stretch the Chargers’ lead to seven points early in the third quarter, but went scoreless over the next 3:23 without a point.

 

Taking advantage of the Chargers’ dry spell, the Irish closed the third quarter on a 16-3 run to grab a 31-24 lead. Heltzel hit back-to-back 3s and Brogden made one – all in a 1-minute, 26-second span – to start the Irish’s scoring spree.

 

“They just outplayed us in that five- or six-minute spell there,” Jim Arnold said. “They got the best of us in that time. At halftime I told the guys great job not turning the ball over. I think we had three at that time. I would say we had to have at least 10 in the second half.

 

“I thought we outplayed them for 25 minutes of the game. It was the other seven that cost us. We played hard. I won’t lose any sleep over a game like that.”

 

Now, the Irish have another date with Sequatchie County’s Indians and Ford had a warning for his teammates.

 

“We’ll have to go up a level to beat them,” Ford said. “But we’re ready.”

 

BOXSCORE

Chattanooga Christian   10 8   6 14 – 38                

Notre Dame                       6   9 16 10 – 41                 

 

Chattanooga Christian (38) – Skip Taylor 4, Clark Marshall 16, Brandon Arnold 5, Joshua Fikkert 7, Drew Thomas 6, Jonathan Farlett, Wes Moore. 

 

Notre Dame (41) – Steadman Ford 9, Sheldon Brogden 9, Clay Heltzel 9, Kywaun Davenport 10, Kareem Orr 4, Kealey Greene.

 

3-Point goals: Chattanooga Christian 3 (Thomas 2, Arnold 1); Notre Dame 6 (Heltzel 3, Brogden 1, Davenport 1, Ford 1).

 

 (E-mail Larry Fleming at fleminglrry@aol.com)