Notre Dame senior Gracie Ashley (34) dribbles the ball upcourt as Worthington Christian’s Jamie Custer (5) defends during Saturday’s non-league girls basketball game as part of the Battle of the 740 at Shawnee State University.

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

PORTSMOUTH — Simply put, the Notre Dame Lady Titans put the “40” in Saturday’s inaugural Battle of the 740, while Worthington Christian couldn’t quite make it to 30.

You can thank the senior-oriented, and defensive-minded, Lady Titans for that.

That’s because, in a rockfight for a girls basketball bout at times, Notre Dame’s defense stymied the Division III Warriors to only single-digit scoring in the final three quarters —as the Lady Titans turned an early deficit into a gritty and hard-working 40-27 win inside Shawnee State University’s Waller Gymnasium.

Notre Dame, who had a mere two miles across Portsmouth to travel on early Saturday afternoon, did the job defensively in order to earn the victory.

But, that’s the Lady Titans’ traditional calling card —in spite of an unexpected head coaching change a month ago, and despite graduation losses from one stellar season to the next.

On Nov. 15, Matt Payton took over the NDHS girls on an interim basis — as 13-year head coach J.D. McKenzie stepped away for family and personal reasons.

The Lady Titans’ triumph over the Lady Warriors was their third win in as many games this year, while Worthington Christian —a Division III Central District stronghold who was last year’s runner-up after losing its season opener against Region 11 champion Wheelersburg at the buzzer — dipped to 2-2.

The Lady Warriors went 24-2 while Notre Dame, the Division IV Region 15 runner-up, finished at 24-3 —as both teams returned several players off those impressive squads.

Payton praised his sixthsome of seniors, of which four played on Saturday, with the short bench of juniors Bree Hicks and Kaylyn Darden being the other two.

Notre Dame junior Bree Hicks (21)

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

The Lady Warriors, with a Natalie Woodfin three-point goal, took their largest lead at 12-8 with three minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

From there until three minutes and three seconds elapsed in the second stanza, the Lady Titans seized control with 12 unanswered points, as Jamie Custer had the only Lady Warrior points in the entire second period —a field goal at the 4:21 mark.

The Lady Titans took a 24-14 advantage into halftime, never trailed a second for the final three cantos, withstood an 8-4 doubling up by the Lady Warriors in the third frame, and outscored Worthington Christian 12-5 in the final period to win by their largest margin of the day (40-27 final score).

The closest the Lady Warriors were in the entire second half was 26-20 and 28-22.

“Our seniors stepped up big. That’s what won us the ballgame. They all played to the best of their abilities. Just playing like they’ve been there for. If our seniors can play like that and all play together like that, it’s really fun basketball to watch. It’s a really special group of seniors. I was excited to see how they responded against adversity (early deficit). The final four minutes, we actually probably passed up about six or eight points, just because we knew we had the game in hand,” said Payton. “We wanted to take control, not force anything or rush anything. That’s the sign of a team that’s been here before and is ready to take the next step. Very proud of the effort today.”

With the game still a six-point margin, the only Lady Warrior points in the fourth quarter came courtesy of Woodfin —a deuce at the 4:13 mark to make it 34-24, and a corner-pocket trey 48 seconds later to make it 36-27.

Payton, playing with little-to-no rotation on Saturday, switched up defenses down 12-8 —and it paid dividends to the fact of only 15 Lady Warrior points from there.

Woodfin finished with 11 points on five field goals, as Jamie Custer led the Lady Warriors with 13 on six baskets —and Mandy Custer canned a first-quarter three-pointer.

Notre Dame held WCHS to only 30-percent shooting, and only 20-percent from three-point range.

Individually, Woodfin (4-of-14 overall and 2-of-9 from 3-point) and Jamie Custer (6-of-17 overall and 1-of-6 from 3-point) combined to shoot 10-of-31 —and 3-of-15 from long distance.

“We made a change, running our basic man-to-man and 1-3-1 (zone) on a bigger court, so went towards our 2-3 (zone). We were getting gassed and we had a little shorter bench today than I would like, so doing that helped out a lot. It got us some rest and it also helped out with our rebounding. But our communication was the key part today and I can’t say that enough. It was great today,” said Payton. “They (Lady Warriors) are a very solid ballclub and they have always great athletes. They have some really good guards in the two Custer girls, both are very athletic and can get to the rim. Then Woodfin is a shooter, a heck of a ballplayer. I wanted to keep her in check and identify where she was at all times.”

Notre Dame did just that.

The Lady Warriors were also whistled for 15 fouls compared to the Lady Titans’ seven, as Notre Dame shot 40-percent on 14-of-35 — and outrebounded Worthington Christian 29-18 with Gracie Ashley grabbing 12 and Katie Strickland notching nine.

Ashley amounted a double-double with a game-high 18 points —on seven field goals and 4-of-5 free throws.

The double-double machine also deflected two passes, as 13 of her 18 counters came in the first half —as she made 3-of-3 free throws in the second 16 minutes.

Her rebound putback to beat the first-period buzzer gave Notre Dame the lead, as second-chance points (10 for ND and two for WC) and points in the paint (24 for ND and 14 for WC) played to Ashley’s and even Strickland’s strengths.

Strickland scored five first-half markers, as point guard Annabelle Ball and shooting guard Ella Kirby each added eight points apiece.

Notre Dame senior Annabelle Ball (23)

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

Both made two free throws, as Ball bucketed three twos — and Kirby sank both of the club’s three-pointers.

About the only area of obvious improvement —foul shots.

The Lady Titans’ 10-of-17 performance from the charity stripe, Payton admitted, can be better —but he explained progress is being made.

“Free-throw shooting, especially with the new rule of the five fouls (shooting two-shot bonus situation with five or more team fouls per quarter), it can come up on you quick. We definitely need to work on our free throws, because that can expand our leads, especially further down the line,” he said.

Still, Saturday’s strong showing had that district final feeling for the Lady Titans.

Perhaps even a Region 15 tournament tilt feel.

Notre Dame junior Kaylyn Darden (24)

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

“This felt like a district final, a regional tournament type of game against a very good team on a big floor. That’s a high-pressure team that if you leave them open, they are going to make shots. They have enough athletes to take control of a game,” said Payton.

But the Lady Titans took control with their defensive adjustments, and made it to “40” in the Battle of the 740.

On Monday, Notre Dame defeated host South Webster 47-31 —to improve to 4-0.

The Lady Titans take two non-league road trips this week before the Christmas holiday —to Northwest on Monday and at Fisher Catholic on Thursday.

The Fisher Catholic contest is one of two with the Irish this regular season, and is a rematch of last season’s Region 15 semifinal —in which Strickland’s buzzer-beater sent Notre Dame to only its second all-time regional championship game.

A third meeting with Fisher Catholic would occur in the regional tournament once again —that being in the 614 area code.

For Payton, it’s time for the Lady Titans to play like they did — in the Battle of the 740.

“We want to move to that next phase, where we’re taking control of a game and running our offense and putting teams away,” he said. “If we can get on top of teams and take control of things and not have a lot of live-ball turnovers, we can win a lot of ballgames.”

* * *

Notre Dame 14 10 4 12—40

Worth. Christian 12 2 8 5 —27

NOTRE DAME 40 (3-0)

Ella Kirby 2 2-2 8, Bree Hicks 0 0-2 0, Annabelle Ball 3 2-4 8, Kaylyn Darden 0 1-2 1, Gracie Ashley 7 4-5 18, Katie Strickland 2 1-2 5; TOTALS 14 10-17 40; Three-point goals: 2 (Ella Kirby 2)

WORTHINGTON CHRISTIAN 27 (2-2)

Jamie Custer 6 0-0 13, Natalie Woodfin 5 1-4 11, Mandy Custer 1 0-0 3, Brooke Winfree 0 0-2 0, Isabel Rogers 0 0-0 0, Ellen Mousa 0 0-0 0, Palynn Wray 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 12 1-6 27; Three-point goals: 2 (Jamie Custer and Mandy Custer 1 apiece)

Reach Paul Boggs at (740) 353-3101 ext. 1926, by email at [email protected], or on X @paulboggssports © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved