PORTSMOUTH — The Notre Dame Titans, truth be told, have their own answer to the “Big 3” question.

As in six-foot and two-inch standouts Cody Metzler and Carter Campbell, and 6-7 senior center Dominic Sparks.

Against undersized, underdog, and non-league and visiting Fisher Catholic on Friday, that triumvirate combined for 56 points and 22 rebounds —as Notre Dame dominated and eventually pulled away from the Irish to capture a decisive 71-45 victory.

The Titans trailed nary on Friday, was tied only at 3-3 a minute into the contest, and opened up a lead as large as 69-40 with only three minutes and 38 seconds remaining —as the reserves of both clubs played the final few minutes.

By then, Notre Dame had already made its mark and established its tall presence —en route to running its record to 6-2.

The Titans took every quarter in keeping up their pullaway performance — winning the first 15-10, the second 15-8, and finally the third 21-16.

Fisher Catholic kept pace for a quarter-and-a-half thanks to its three-point shooting, including eight of its nine through the opening three periods —as Hayden O’Rielley tied it at 3-3, with Charley Sumney (7-6 deficit) and Ben Boyden (22-18) bagging theirs eight minutes apart to stay within striking distance.

But the Titans, from the 4:10 mark of the second stanza to only two minutes and 45 seconds into the third, blitzkrieged the Irish for 15 unanswered points —and a 19-point advantage at 37-18 on a Landon Barbarits basket.

Reed Lasswell later scored a fourth-quarter field goal, and Marcellus Woods was 2-of-2 from the charity stripe in the fourth.

But, the Irish inability to match up with Metzler, Campbell, and especially Sparks sure made Notre Dame’s day that much more easier.

NDHS coach Matt Mader said his Titans controlled the game with their size.

“That’s what we talked about going into it. I thought our ‘Big 3’ needed to have good games, and all three definitely came to play today,” said Mader. “Carter (Campbell) and Dominic (Sparks) led us in rebounding and Cody (Metzler) had a nice game offensively in the post. Those were big keys for us.”

Metzler, fully recovered from a foot injury that cut short his junior football season only five plays into the opening game, poured in a game-high 26 points on a dozen total field goals (10 twos and two threes).

He took 20 shots including 13 from inside the arc, but he opened the game with a three-ball only 28 seconds in —before his corner-pocket shot made it 20-15 at the 5:45 mark of the second quarter.

Metzler and Sparks scored a dozen first-half points apiece, as Sparks finished with a near double-double 18 points and nine rebounds —as Sparks’ 16 shots and nine makes, or most of them, were right around the bucket with several on rebound stickbacks.

His 6-7 presence in the paint, or just outside of it on the other end, forced Fisher Catholic to load up and fire away from the three-point line.

He also made two of the Titans’ three blocks.

Campbell did collect a double-double —12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds, as he went 3-of-4 from the free-throw line in the middle two cantos, proceeding three deuces and preceding a fourth-quarter trey for a 67-40 lead.

The Titans’ transition game worked well on Friday too, as Notre Dame scored several baskets by breaking the Irish press —and getting point-blank layups or often times other high-percentage shots.

Notre Dame shot a sizzling 63-percent (26-of-41) from inside the three-point line, part of 53-percent (30-of-57) for the entire game.

The Titans grabbed 30 rebounds, and amassed 21 assists on those 30 field goals —with Myles Phillips notching nine.

Notre Dame did well with its gameplan, per Mader, as the Titans’ Southern Ohio Conference Division I tilt with Western was postponed on Dec. 23 —resulting in a 10-day layoff before facing Fisher Catholic (2-7).

“I thought we did a nice job on the glass, and we knew they were going to extend out at some point with their defense. But we’ve been practicing all week, and it was nice to get back in the gym for a game,” said the coach. “We were a little winded there in the first half, but I thought we caught our second wind in the second half. We did a nice job of moving the ball and getting it where it needed to be. Several possessions for transition baskets. We try to make a decision quick and not hold the ball, try to get it in the middle of the floor, then we have a 6-7 on the back end of that. With our size, a lot of nice touch passes to our bigs for easy finishes. Sharing the basketball, these guys enjoy playing with each other.”

A quad of sophomores —Barbarits, Phillips, Eugene Collins and Aaryn Bradford — contributed, as Bradford bucketed nine second-half points on two twos, 2-of-2 third-frame foul shots, and a corner three-pointer for a 60-37 lead with 6:18 to play.

The young Irish, consisting primarily of sophomores and juniors, were paced by O’Rielley’s 18 points and Peyton Owens’ 12 —as that tandem combined for seven (O’Rielley four and Owens three) of the nine three-pointers.

Fisher Catholic made only five two-point goals, in large part because of Notre Dame’s ‘Big’ 3 size —with Metzler, the senior Campbell, and Sparks.

The Titans return to action on Tuesday night —with an important SOC I bout against New Boston.

Green (4-0 SOC I), which the Titans travel to for Friday night, leads the league by a half-game over ND (3-0 SOC I) —while New Boston (3-1 SOC I) and Ironton St. Joseph (2-1 SOC I) just are right behind.

“It’s a couple of weeks coming up here that are definitely big for us, for everybody,” said Mader. “New Boston is our focus for Tuesday, and they are coming in with a lot of size. It should be interesting and we are looking forward to the challenge.”

* * *

Fisher Catholic 10 8 16 11—45

Notre Dame 15 15 21 20— 71

FISHER CATHOLIC 45 (2-7)

Ben Boyden 1 0-0 3, Joey Manella 0 0-0 0, Peyton Owens 4 1-2 12, Charley Sumney 2 2-2 7, Hyde O’Rielley 5 4-4 18, Landon Funk 0 0-0 0, Alex Snoke 1 0-2 2, Noah Reed 1 1-2 3; TOTALS 14 8-12 45; Three-point field goals: 9 (Hyde O’Rielley 4, Peyton Owens 3, Ben Boyden and Charley Sumney 1 apiece)

NOTRE DAME 71 (6-2)

Landon Barbarits 1 0-0 2, Connie Thomas 0 0-0 0, Aaryn Bradford 3 2-2 9, Eugene Collins 0 0-0 0, Cody Metzler 12 0-0 26, Dae’quan Woods 0 0-0 0, Braeden Pattimore 0 0-0 0, Carter Campbell 4 3-4 12, Bryce McGraw 0 0-0 0, Myles Phillips 0 0-0 0, Reed Lasswell 1 0-0 2, Marcellus Woods 0 2-2 2, Kaden Hadsell 0 0-0 0, Dominic Sparks 9 0-0 18, Brady Davis 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 30 7-8 71; Three-point field goals: 4 (Cody Metzler 2, Aaryn Bradford and Carter Campbell 1 apiece)

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