Kareem Orr, the Notre Dame senior who signed with Arizona State to play football, grabbed pompoms in the fourth quarter of the Irish's basketball game Thursday.
He cheered with the rest of the students even though Signal Mountain had reason to boast for most of the night.
The Irish overcame one of their worst quarters -- and probably their worst half -- of the season and toppled the Eagles in Phifer Gym 58-54 in overtime.
"We stopped acting like teenagers," Notre Dame coach J.P. Nerbun said. "We started acting like men, which they're taught to do."
Kealey Green led the Irish with 22 points, including six in overtime. Tyler Byrd added 20 points and had a fourth-quarter flurry that included a one-handed dunk, a 3-pointer and a two-handed slam.
C.J. Greer scored 10 points for Notre Dame (14-14), which will play at Bledsoe County on Saturday night for the District 7-AA tournament championship.
Griffin Palmer led the Eagles with 20 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter plus overtime. Steven Heinichen scored 12 for Signal Mountain (11-14), which will play Chattanooga Christian in the consolation game Saturday.
"They knocked down some shots and did a better job of being aggressive in the second half, and they got some offensive rebounds," Eagles coach Steven Redman said. "Those really hurt us."
Signal Mountain led 7-5 after one quarter in which each team had the ball just 10 times, due in part to Signal Mountain's 2-3 zone defense and its deliberate offensive tempo.
Greer opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer for the Irish. They didn't score again for the rest of the half. Notre Dame had 11 straight empty possessions -- including six turnovers -- in digging a 19-8 halftime deficit.
"It was a bad first first half all around," Byrd said. "We were kind of mad at the start of halftime. Then we realized we needed to dig ourselves out of the hole by playing Notre Dame basketball."
The Irish scored 16 points in the third quarter and pulled within 30-24 heading to the final eight minutes. Nerbun called for more full-court pressure in the fourth quarter. It worked.
Byrd scored on a fastbreak dunk. Then he buried a 3-pointer. Then he tied the game for the first time since the opening minutes by making a steal, racing ahead and finishing with a two-hand dunk. Orr approved and shook the pompoms.
Notre Dame sneaked ahead 44-38 on a bucket by Green. But Signal closed regulation on a 10-4 run to force overtime -- but only after Greer missed a difficult driving layup at the buzzer.
"We have five seniors who play with a lot of heart," Redman said. "We're not overloaded with amazing talent. They didn't quit after giving up a big lead."
Green gave the Irish the lead for good with a 3-pointer from the left corner with 1:14 left in overtime. Redman called it, "a huge shot."
Signal Mountain scored one point in its final four possessions after Green's 3.
"We used to be limited to Tyler and Kealey," Nerbun said, "but at this time of year it's important to get more guys to contribute."
Those players contributed to an Irish victory.
Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP