advertisement

No title this year for Montini

NORMAL - Montini picked the wrong time to have an off game - and against the wrong team.

Morton picked apart the Montini defense early and then used pinpoint accuracy at the free-throw line to upset the defending Class 3A champion 58-44 in the state semifinals Friday afternoon at Redbird Arena.

"You have to give Morton a lot of credit," said Montini coach Jason Nichols. "The things you saw on the court is what we saw on film. All the credit goes to Morton. They're a good team."

The Potters (32-3), who have two fourth-place state trophies, will play in the program's first championship game at 2 p.m. Saturday against Rochester, a 71-60 winner over Chicago Bogan in the second semifnal. Montini (30-6) plays Bogan (22-10) at 12:15 p.m. for third place.

"I couldn't be more proud of our kids," said Morton coach Bob Becker. "I felt like there was no deer in the headlights look at all. We had a great mindset and a positive swagger coming in. The state title goes through Montini. You gotta beat that team to have a chance, and I couldn't be more proud of our team to have that chance."

Montini led 11-10 after one quarter and 15-13 early in the second, but Morton went on a 5-0 run and took an 18-15 lead after two free throws by junior Chandler Ryan with 2:49 left in the half. The Potters never trailed from that point on. They led 23-19 at halftime and opened the second half with a 15-2 run that put them up 38-21 after a 3-pointer from senior Emma Heisler with 3:08 left in the third.

Montini didn't get closer than 10 the rest of the way, despite that 3-pointer being the final field goal of the game for Morton. In the final 11 minutes, the Potters went 20 of 23 from the free-throw line. For the game Morton was 23 of 31 from the line while Montini was 1 of 2.

"There are too many things that players and coaches control that affect the outcome of a game," said Nichols, who refused to directly blame the officiating for the huge disparity in the free-throw attempt numbers. "I didn't realize it was 31-2 and 31-2 stinks, but we got beat today. It would be a disservice to Bob and Morton to put it any other way."

Morton's aggressiveness on defense caused Montini problems all day. The Potters outrebounded the Broncos 29-21 and were able to control the tempo of the game offensively.

"We're not a very good offensive rebounding team. That's been an Achilles' heel of ours all year," said Nichols, whose team had won nine straight. "Defensively, we said if we couldn't get in their face and guard them it would be tough for us."

Seniors Rainey Kuykendall and Kelsey Bogdan led the Broncos with 11 and 9 points, respectively, while sophomore Nikki Oppenheimer had 8.

"We didn't do a good job of finding our shooters," Bogdan said. "Once they got ahead it was just hard to get back into it."

Kuykendall led Montini on the boards with 5 rebounds.

"In the first half I wasn't being very aggressive, and in the second half I knew my team needed me in the post, but we didn't take advantage of it," she said.

Ryan, an 88 percent free-throw shooter on the season, went 13 of 13 at the line Friday and led Morton with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Brandi Bipsing and Heisler scored 14 points each as the Potters relegated Montini to the third-place game for the second time in three years.

"It's not easy," Nichols said. "I've been on both ends and the third-fourth-place game is difficult. Nobody wants to play in that game, but we have to honor that the IHSA puts on a wonderful thing here and we have to get out there and play our butts off. We've never finished fourth here. We'll send a message and I think our kids will respond and play hard."

Images: Montini vs. Morton, Class 3A girls basketball semifinal

  Montini's Kaylee Bambule and teammate Lea Kerstein feel the sting of falling to Morton in the Class 3A state semifinals Friday at Redbird Arena. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Montini's Rainey Kuykendall gets locked up with Morton's Brandi Bisping in the second half of their Class 3A state semifinal at Redbird Arena on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Montini's Lea Kerstein reaches in on Morton's Brandi Bisping in a loose ball situation but fails to come up with the steal in Class 3A state semifinal action at Redbird Arena on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Montini's Tiara Wallace goes up for the basket in the second half against Morton on Friday at Redbird Arena. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Montini's coach Jason Nichols barks out instructions as the ball is brought downcourt by Nikki Oppenheimer in the first half against Morton at Redbird Arena on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Montini's Kaylee Bambule feels the sting of losing to Morton in the Class 3A semifinals on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.