For the third time in three meetings in 2012, Notre Dame beat Elba in boys basketball, but this time the game determined the Class D1 Section V champion.
It's the first sectional win for Notre Dame since 2001.
"They all laugh at me because I always say, 'you gotta dance with the girl you brought,' " said Coach Mike Rapone. "That's an old-timers saying, but we're not going to change anything. We're going to do what got us here."
After two previous meetings, both teams had to make adjustments, Rapone said.
"I give Elba a lot of credit," Rapone said. "They knew what we wanted to do and took a lot away from us."
Notre Dame (20-1) took a lead early, and though Elba (18-3) was often nipping at their lead, it wasn't until 3:42 left in the game that the Lancers held a 40-39 lead.
But after Doane McCulley hit a lay up and Zach Hotze sunk a three-pointer, Notre Dame didn't look back, holding on for a 50-45 point victory.
Zach Hotze and Tim McCulley had 16 points each for the Fighting Irish. Jared Thornton added 12 points.
"We're fortunate we hit our big shots when we had to," Rapone said.
One of the goals of the Irish, Rapone said, was to take the three-point play away from Dan Ramsey, whom Rapone said is one of the most consistent three-point shooters in the section.
Dan Ramsey was held to eight points for the game.
For the Lancers, Matt Ramsey had 14 points, Mike Ramsey nine. Mike Ramsey added nine rebounds.
The historic back-to-back championship match-ups between Elba and Notre Dame, with the Elba girls defeating the Notre Dame girls Friday night, was big for both schools.
"I don’t think it gets any better in small-school basketball than Notre Dame and Elba," Rapone said.
It's been a fun season at Notre Dame, according to Rapone, between the two basketball teams and the hockey team winning its Section V championship last week (the Irish skaters lost a regional playoff game Saturday night).
"We have a lot of school spirit and it’s been the most amazing winter ever," Rapone said. "I mean, the girls play for a championship, the boys make that miraculous run in hockey, everybody’s on cloud nine."
The Irish will face DeSales in a regional playoff game on Tuesday night.
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