Peoria Notre Dame ousts Dixon in sectional semi at Renaissance Coliseum

PEORIA – Dixon didn’t quite have the skill or the luck of the Irish, and the result was the end of the season.

Peoria Notre Dame started fast, hit its free throws, and caught a few key breaks in earning a 46-39 victory over the Dukes on Wednesday night in a Class 3A Bradley Sectional semifinal played in Renaissance Coliseum on the campus of Bradley University.

Dixon ends its season at 23-8, with a second consecutive sectional semi defeat. Notre Dame (24-5) will take on Peoria Manual on Friday night for a sectional title and a berth in next week’s DeKalb Supersectional.

For the Irish, it is their second win against the Dukes this season. Notre Dame won a 52-40 decision at Dixon on Feb. 2.

“They’re a great team, and they’re really well-coached,” PND junior guard Connor Dillon said of Dixon. “We knew they were going to be out trying to steal everything. We had to give our max effort and leave everything out on the floor to get this win.”

The 6-foot-1 Dillon was a thorn in the side of the Dukes all night. He began the game with an alley-oop lay-in, and scored 10 of his game-high 16 points in a first quarter that ended with his team up 14-8.

Dillon hit two 3-pointers in the second half, and both were crucial. With 9 seconds left in the third quarter, he banked in a 3 from a tough angle to put his team up 33-28.

“I work on step-backs a lot,” Dillon said, “but I don’t know – I guess the bank was open today.”

Dillon’s fourth 3 came with just over 4 minutes left in the game to put the Irish up 38-33.

Dixon scored the first five points of the second half to seize a 25-21 lead, only to see Notre Dame respond with a 7-0 run. The Dukes were playing catch-up the rest of the way, and while they got close, they were never able to regain the lead.

Peyton Lawrence hit a 3 to open the fourth quarter to pull Dixon within 33-31, and he drained another one shortly after that to give the Dukes a lead – or so it appeared.

The bucket was nullified, however, on an illegal screen by Aaron Duncan.

Beau Bailey dropped in a bomb from about 28 feet with :58.7 to play to get Dixon within 42-38, then appeared to pick the pocket of Irish guard Matt Pudik near midcourt. On a scramble for the loose ball, Bailey was called for a foul, drawing howls of protest from a large Dixon contingent.

Bailey and Dixon coach Chris Harmann took the high road when asked about some calls.

“I can’t control what the refs call,” Bailey said. “We’ve each got to play our game, and if goes our way, it goes our way. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. We’ve just got to play through everything.”

“They were tough,” Harmann added. “They were bang-bang plays, and unfortunately we came up on the short end of a few of them tonight.”

Pudik hit all four of his free-throw attempts in the final 52 seconds to help the Irish salt away the win. Notre Dame was 9-for-9 as a team from the stripe. Dixon, meanwhile, was just 4-for-8.

Dillon led Notre Dame with 16 points and six rebounds. Noah Reynolds finished with nine points and six boards, and Pudik chipped in eight points.

Bailey, who had poured in a total of 49 points in regional wins against Geneseo and Galesburg, was held to just 13 on 5-for-14 shooting. The other Dukes to score were Derian Duncan with 12 points, Lawrence with nine, and Aaron Duncan with five. Aaron Duncan also grabbed six rebounds, and Bailey added three steals.

The Dukes had a seven-game winning streak snapped.

“These guys have had a tremendous career,” Harmann said. “There’s been a lot of these guys who have contributed to this program for 3 years, some of them even 4. I’m very proud to be a part of that.”

“I love this team to death,” Bailey added. “I will always remember this team. This is a team that made history with back-to-back regionals. That’s history.”

Boys basketball

3A Bradley University Sectional semifinal

Peoria Notre Dame 46, Dixon 39

Star of the game: Connor Dillon, Notre Dame, 16 points, 6 rebounds

Key performers: Beau Bailey, Dixon, 13 points, 3 steals; Derian Duncan, Dixon, 12 points

Up next: Peoria Sectional championship game, Peoria Notre Dame vs. Peoria Manual, 7 p.m. Friday