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Published: 2/2/2012 - Updated: 3 months ago

SIDELINES BASKETBALL

Notre Dame hopes to keep Toledo streak alive with trip to state

BY STEVE JUNGA
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

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Notre Dame has followed the path laid out before it by the top Toledo girls basketball teams over the last four seasons.

Now, the time is fast approaching when the Eagles will find out if following that script will mean a ticket to Columbus for the Division I state tournament.

Fourth-year coach Travis Galloway's veteran-laden team is 11-4 overall, 9-0 in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference. The Eagles wind down a challenging regular season with five conference games beginning Thursday night at rival St. Ursula.

"The last two-and-a-half weeks we've been playing a lot better," said Galloway, whose Eagles were 19-5 (9-1 City League) last season. "We're getting ready for that stretch run.

"Our intensity at practices has been better, our intensity in games has been better. It's the time of the season to get focused and really buckle down."

Notre Dame is led by five seniors, all of whom have at least three seasons of varsity experience.

The most productive has been 6-foot-1 center Michelle Holmes, a third-year starter who leads the team in scoring and rebounding with 12.3 averages in each category. Mostly an in-the-paint scorer, Holmes has converted 71 percent of her shots.

"My sophomore years it was like, 'Oh they're good, but they're young,' " said Holmes, who has a scholarship offer from the University of New Hampshire. "My junior year, it was 'Maybe they can contend.' But now, it's our time to be the top team in the area.

"Our tough schedule really helped us. We've played some of the best teams in the state. When we get to districts we'll be ready to play."

The court leader is fourth-year starter Cat Wells, who has signed to play at the University of Toledo. The quick 5-4 point guard, who led the team in scoring the previous two years, is averaging 10.3 points and 6.5 assists per game.

"I believe, if we work hard and play hard as a team, then we can beat anybody," Wells said. "We just need to focus and come mentally prepared."

The other fourth-year starter is sharp-shooting 5-7 guard Demy Whitaker, an All-Ohio first-team soccer player who will play that sport on scholarship at Bowling Green State University. Whitaker is 39-of-87 (45 percent) on 3-pointers this season, and averages 11.3 points per game.

"We've been looking forward to our chance to get down to state and do something special that hasn't been done at our school," Whitaker said.

"Coach Galloway told us we were going to play a lot of tough teams, and that was something we needed to do if we wanted to get down to state."

Ashley Kynard, a 5-10 forward (5.7 points), is in her second year as an Eagles starter. She started at St. Ursula as a freshman in 2008-09 and had to sit out her sophomore season after transferring to Notre Dame.

The fifth senior is 5-4 guard Tylar Young, a third-year varsity player who has bounced back from a season-ending knee injury last year.

"Their leadership is really starting to show at this time of year," Galloway said of his seniors. "They want to make that run and do something they've never done before.

"They've never won a league title at the varsity level, and they've never won a district title. They're hungry for that and they're working hard for that."

Also contributing for the Eagles off the bench have been 5-9 sophomore Jayda Worthy, who averages 6.9 points and 5.5 rebounds, and 6-0 freshman Kaayla McIntyre, who has been a valuable post backup for Holmes.

Another freshman, 6-1 Tierra Floyd, who was rated as one of Ohio's top players in the Class of 2015, has missed much of the season with nagging injuries.

Rounding out the roster are juniors Destinee Battle, Christy Ohlinger, and Faith Mitchell, and sophomore Talajha Parker.

Like the four state-bound teams the Eagles competed against in the City League the last four years, Notre Dame has taken on a monster nonleague schedule, mostly out of town, and posted a 2-4 record in those contests.

The Eagles wasted no time jumping into the fray, absorbing a 54-39 loss to Reynoldsburg in their opener at Owens Community College. Reynoldsburg remains unbeaten and is Ohio's top-ranked D-I team.

Notre Dame fell 61-55 against fourth-ranked Middleburg Heights Midpark at the Twinsburg Invitational. The Eagles lost 49-44 at Shaker Heights Hathaway Brown, the state's eighth-ranked D-II team and the three-time defending state champion.

At the prestigious Classic in the Country invitational in Berlin, Ohio, the Eagles upset then third-ranked (now sixth) Cincinnati Princeton 48-30, and lost 57-53 to Wadsworth.

"The schedule has made us a lot better," Galloway said. "The four losses were all to very good teams in the state. The one marquee win was against Cincinnati Princeton. That game gave us a whole lot of confidence that we can compete at the highest level."

Notre Dame's only other nonleague victory was a 54-38 win at Perrysburg.

"We needed to get used to tough competition," Whitaker said. "It's helped us out. We learned a lot from our losses. We learned that we need to finish out quarters and step up our defense."

"We learned that defense basically wins games, and we really just have to put forth the effort to practice defense," Wells said.

Similar nonleague challenges helped get Central Catholic to state in 2008, Start in 2009 and 2011, and Waite in 2010.

Unlike those teams, Notre Dame will not have a City League final-four playoff to close its season to serve as a tune-up for tourney play. Those teams won City playoff championships en route to their state runs.

The TRAC uses a 14-game double round-robin of games to determine its champion without a playoff format.

"It's bittersweet because we don't have a City League [playoffs] to work for," Holmes said.

Northview (14-1, 9-0), currently ranked 11th in D-I, and 12th-ranked Notre Dame will almost certainly be seeded Nos. 1 and 2 in Sunday's sectional/district draw, creating the potential March 3 showdown.

"When March comes around you've got to be playing good, and you've got to have a little luck," Galloway said. "If we're fortunate enough to play in the district final at Perrysburg, and if it's against Northview, I think it's going to be a great game.

"Both teams are very good and have college-bound players. Coach [Northview's Jerry] Sigler does a great job and his record speaks for itself. If we get there, our kids will be ready to play because they want to make that next step."

Notre Dame and Northview met last March 3 in a district semifinal at Central Catholic, with the Eagles winning 60-36. Notre Dame then lost 50-29 to Start in the district final.

"I can't wait to play Northview," Whitaker said. "We've been talking about it all season. I think it would be a great game and tough competition. You never know who's going to win. We're just going to work hard."

Contact Steve Junga at: sjunga@theblade.com 419-724-6461, or on Twitter @JungaBlade.

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