With Notre Dame leading just 22-20 at the half against Perry in the opening round of the Batavia Lions Club Tournament, coach Mike Rapone needed somebody to step up and score.
He looked in Vinny Zambito's direction and the sophomore - who led the jayvee team in scoring last year - stepped up to score a game-high 18 points and lead his team to a 60-45 victory.
Perry's pressure defense forced ND star Kevin Francis into a distribution role and other players had to step up, even though Francis did finish with 14 points.
Tommy Rapone started a third quarter run and by the time it was over, the Fighting Irish had outscored the Yellowjackets 22-10 in the frame.
Zambito popped the second of his 3-pointers and Rapone added another bucket to give ND a 30-26 lead.
Zambito scored with an and-1, Francis scored, Zambito scored and then Francis dropped in another one to make it a double-digit lead, 40-29. Nick Wetherwax and Francis each had baskets to wrap up the third quarter scoring to give Notre Dame a 44-30 lead.
Zambito hit another trey in the fourth quarter along with a pair of free throws.
After Zambito and Francis' big games, the scoring was spread out for the Fighting Irish (5-0).
Rick Lair had seven points, Wetherwax six and Rapone had five.
Derick Cicero, Wes Cox and Alex Syberg had nine points apiece for Perry, which falls to 2-6.
Notre Dame will now be facing Batavia in the finals for the second consecutive year. The Blue Devils won 63-34 last year. The teams played each other in 2000 and 2002, with Batavia winning 62-58 in 2000 and 58-36 in 2002.
The Blue Devils also beat the Fighting Irish 70-39 in 1997.
You have to go all the way back to 1996 for the last time Notre Dame won the Lions Club Tournament. The Fighting Irish beat Batavia 56-49, with Mike Redick earning MVP honors.
