Rosary loses 1st SCC game

Sometimes it's how you start, not how you finish.

Montini used that strategy to its advantage against host Rosary.

The Broncos stifled Rosary's offensive attack, out-rebounded the Royals and used their inside game to defeat the hosts 50-40 in Suburban Catholic Conference play.

"We just got after it. We went a little bit smaller and we pressured them," Montini coach Jason Nichols said. "Tonight was more of a matchup thing. We started a little bit bigger, but then we spread it out and let our guards do some things and we let Michala (Johnson) work in the post. The key was forcing turnovers."

After Montini fell behind by four points, it responded quickly by forcing 7 turnovers and putting together a 15-2 run on baskets from Whitney Holloway, Johnson, Kiki Wilson, Chrissy Fletcher and Whitney Adams to pull ahead 15-6 with 1:52 left in the first quarter. The Broncos then held Rosary without a field goal until the 1:55 mark of the second quarter, a Jordan Rettig jumper, and led 31-19 at halftime.

"We had too many turnovers and you can't do that against a solid team like (Montini)," Rosary coach Dave Beebe said. "They've got too many weapons and they made us pay. The start was nice, but we kind of went to sleep and they took advantage."

Montini built its lead to as much as 17 points at 39-22 after a Johnson layup with 3:01 left in the third, but Rosary didn't give up. The Royals fought their way back to cut the lead to 9 twice in the fourth quarter after free throws from Victoria Alvarez and Faith Jones, but Montini held off the rally to earn the victory.

"I don't think we got lazy, we just picked up stupid fouls and sent them to the line (toward the end)," Nichols said. "We rushed our shots too much. We weren't lazy (because) our kids played hard, but they kept fighting."

Montini outrebounded Rosary 30-18, including 16-8 in the first half and forced 26 turnovers on the Royals. Johnson led the Broncos with 17 points and Holloway finished with 10 as the only other player to finish in double figures for Montini. Alvarez led Rosary with 12 points.

"We had too many mental lapses," Beebe said. "You can't do that against a team ranked in the state. We need to work on taking care of the basketball, staying aggressive and taking it to the basket. We can't score if we don't at least drive once in a while."

Montini improves to 6-4 overall and 3-0 in conference while Rosary falls to 8-4 and 4-1.