Notre Dame Unable to Dig Out of Early Hole, 62-49

INGLEWOOD — Notre Dame and Morningside highs entered their Southern Section Division III-A girls’ semifinal game with identical records, and an even game was expected.

A shaky first quarter put Notre Dame at a disadvantage, however, and the Knights fell, 62-49, Tuesday night at Inglewood High.

Senior forward Devyn Johnson led the way for the Monarchs (21-6) with 17 points.

Portia Buchanan came off the bench to add 16 points and 13 rebounds for Morningside.

The Knights (20-7) jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but were a shambles for the rest of the first quarter. They crumbled under the relentless pressure of Morningside’s full-court press, and turned the ball over on nine consecutive possessions.

The turnovers led to nine unanswered Morningside points.

“We were nervous,” Notre Dame Coach Rob DiMuro said. “This was a bigger game than we have ever played.”

Notre Dame senior center Maggie Dixon had 26 points and 12 rebounds.

After the first quarter, the Knights stayed reasonably close, trailing, 32-21, at halftime and 54-45 with 1:55 to play. Morningside then went on a 10-4 run to end the game.