Woodland holds off Notre Dame's comeback in thrilling 70-66 victory

Any Notre Dame boy’s basketball fan that showed up at halftime had to have been pretty pleased with how the Bulldogs competed with Class 3 No. 6-ranked Woodland on Wednesday at Notre Dame.

It was just the opening 16 minutes of play that ultimately doomed the hosts in a 70-66 Cardinal victory.

“It’s the same old song of not valuing the ball in the first half,” second-year Notre Dame coach Jeremy Brinkmeyer said following the game. “And not rebounding well.”

Both teams were playing for the second consecutive night, but it was Woodland (18-2) that appeared to have fresh legs from the opening tip.

The Cardinals got 10 points from 6-foot-2 junior guard Calvin Layton in the opening eight minutes, and 16 by halftime, as they tore off to a 44-29 lead by the break.

“Cal has really, really come on and developed as a player,” third-year Woodland coach Shawn Kinder said.

Whatever mojo Woodland, which at one point in the game led by 18, had in the first half, evaporated in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs (9-11) stifled the explosive Woodland offense following halftime and held it to 12 points in the third quarter.

“In the third quarter,” Kinder explained, “we got passive. We wanted to spread it out a little bit. We knew that they would try and get us with some run and jumps (defensively) and get some quick baskets and some quick shots.”

Notre Dame still trailed 56-46 early in the final period, but its full-court pressure and the shooting of senior shooter Logan Landewee began to pay dividends.

Landewee hit all three of his 3-pointers in the game in the final period, and with 3:38 remaining, Notre Dame was within 60-58.

“Defense and not turning the ball over,” Brinkmeyer said of how his team got back into the game. “It’s the third straight game we’ve been down 15 or more (points) and came back to tie it or make it a game.”

Layton was able to keep the Bulldogs at bay, as he answered the Notre Dame run with a couple of baskets late.

Notre Dame senior Kolton Johnson knocked in a shot with 25 seconds on the clock to pull his team to within 69-66. However, both teams committed turnovers in the final seconds and the Cardinals hung on.

“We were playing not to lose instead of playing to win in that third quarter,” Kinder said. “We still need to play and attack because that is when we are at our best when we are attacking.”

Layton paced his team with 27 points and hit five 3-pointers.

The Cardinals got 14 points from junior Jackson Shock and 13 from senior guard Lane Lee.

Johnson finished with 30 points while Notre Dame senior Brett Dohogne tallied 14 and Landewee nine.

“Good shooters are not born,” Brinkmeyer said when talking of Johnson, “they’re made. Kolton spends an uncountable amount of hours in the gym shooting, working, and gaining confidence.”

The defeat was the sixth in the past eight games for Notre Dame, which will host Saxony Lutheran (6-14) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The Cardinals will travel to Kennett (7-11) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.