Montini 73, St. Edward 48
It's no coincidence Montini's boys basketball team is playing much better since the return of guard Dex Jones.
With the senior out injured for the first 10 games of the year, the Broncos opened 3-7. Friday night's Suburban Catholic Conference game with St. Edward marked Jones' fourth game back, and it just so happened to deliver a fourth straight win for host Montini, a 73-48 defeat of the Green Wave that improves the Broncos to 7-7 overall and 2-3 in the SCC.
"That's four in a row since Dex returned," said Montini coach Tom Sloan. "He brings athleticism, obviously, and energy, but more than anything he brings leadership. He doesn't get rattled and he leads by example."
Jones' numbers were not spectacular against St. Edward (6-9, 0-5), but his 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots helped a balanced Broncos team turn an early 10-5 Green Wave lead into a 25-point victory.
"It was a chance to come back and stress leadership," said Jones, who suffered a dislocated finger just prior to the team's season opener. "I came in and played defense and rebounded. I left the offense to guys like Alex (Blashewski)."
After Brett Manning helped the Green Wave to its early lead with a pair of 3-pointers, the Broncos picked up their perimeter defense and let Alex Blashewski and Anthony Blashewski handle much of the offense. The two combined for 26 points, and Anthony Blashewski dropped in three of the team's six 3-point shots on the night.
Montini led 21-14 after one quarter and 34-27 at the half in a game that was much closer for 2½ quarters than the final score would indicate. After a three-point play by Josh Dix, the Green Wave trailed just 43-38 with 4:45 left in the third quarter. But a 30-10 run by the hosts made the final margin look as though the Broncos had dominated throughout.
"Until they learn to be aggressive we're going to continue to have scores like this," St. Edward coach Keith Chuipek said. "It's not the talent. I've told them that over and over. It's all about doing the little things."
Jones was not alone in doing all the little things for Montini. Mike Grant had 7 points and 8 rebounds off the bench, Jason Viane had 10 points off the bench to give the squad four players in double figures in the scoring column, and Jordan Werner and Anthony Blashewski helped contain Manning on the perimeter after his fast start.
Six-foot-3 Steve Martin muscled his way to 7 points and 5 boards in the first half for the Green Wave but managed just 5 points and 1 board in the second half.