Montini 62, St. Francis 29

St. Francis couldn't match Montini's size, speed and depth, and oh yeah, the Spartans were playing without point guard and team leader Catherine Culligan.

Yet there they were, down just 30-22 with 6:40 left in the third quarter following a 3-pointer from Maggie O'Toole Friday night in Wheaton. After that the Spartans (9-10, 1-7) had a possession with a chance to get even closer to the state-ranked Broncos.

But following a timeout by Montini coach Jason Nichols, the Broncos regrouped and quickly took command on their way to a 62-29 Suburban Catholic Conference girls basketball win that sends them into today's game with Driscoll with a 13-4 overall mark and 4-0 in the SCC.

"We were just going through the motions," Nichols said of his team's sluggish play at times over the first two-plus quarters of play. "It was like we wanted to put them away in the first half and we didn't, and then we were just jacking up shots."

With Culligan diagnosed with mononucleosis this week and most likely sidelined for the next month, the Spartans committed 16 turnovers in the first half while falling behind 30-17. But Kelly Reinke, starting in place of Culligan, opened the second half with a pair of free throws for St. Francis and, when O'Toole followed with her second 3-pointer of the night, things got a little interesting.

But Montini picked up its defensive pressure and forced 10 more turnovers in the third quarter, which closed with a 15-2 Broncos burst and a 45-22 lead heading into the final quarter.

Center Michala Johnson scored 7 of her game-high 19 points in the quarter, including a putback that turned into a three-point play and a spinning layup for a 35-22 lead just a minute after Nichols called his timeout.

"We came out a little rusty because we hadn't played all week," said Johnson, who also had 6 rebounds, 3 blocks and 3 steals. "But once we got our momentum back we kinda started playing like we usually do."

Spartans coach Leslie Fay-Dehn felt her team did about as well as it could considering the news about Culligan and the fact that Montini came to town with a big height advantage.

"We just found out Wednesday and Catherine's our point guard and our leader on the floor, so it's tough," Fay-Dehn said. "But I thought the kids bounced back pretty well. I think we just ran out of steam a little bit. They started running the floor and the tempo got out of hand for us."

O'Toole paced the Spartans with 7 points, Jamie Stefely had 6, and Cara DiBona, Shannon Phillips and Chrissy Belniak each dropped in 3-pointers. For Montini, Cootie Leeberg had a trio of 3s to score 11 points Whitney Holloway added 9 points, and Chrissy Fletcher had 8 rebounds, all in the first half, as the visitors won the rebounding battle 37-25.

-- Stan Goff

Rosary 58, Driscoll 48:ŒEarly in the second quarter, with Driscoll leading the Suburban Catholic Conference showdown in Aurora by 2 points, Rosary's Katie Petrando hit a pair of free throws, then swiped a pass and converted the steal into a layup.

The 4-point swing triggered an 11-0 run, and the Royals led the rest of the way.

"We all needed to step up, and that felt great," Petrando said.

The first time the two teams played this season, Rosary escaped with a narrow win after Driscoll's Gigi DiGrazia nearly brought her team back with her outside shooting. With that still in the back of their minds, the Royals bottled up the perimeter and forced the Highlanders to work for every shot.

"We knew we had to work together as a team on defense tonight," Rosary's Victoria Alvarez said.

Rosary's Jordan Rettig battled Courtney Lindfors in the low post all night, but she had help. The Royals showed their depth as Kylie Schalz and Katie Eckberg joined Rettig to keep a fresh defender on Lindfors all game.

"We needed to play a team game and have other kids, not just Alvarez and Rettig, step up," Rosary coach Dave Beebe said.

Those other players included Petrando, who scored 10 points and led all players with 12 rebounds.

"I just had to stay tough down low," Petrando said. "We needed to make sure they didn't get second chances."

The two teams were tied, 13-13 after one quarter, but Rosary took a 30-23 lead at the half.

"In the first half we were a little out of sync," Driscoll coach Steve McCuiston said. "We lost our poise a little bit, and that was out of character for us."

The Highlanders (14-3, 5-2) went on the offensive at the start of the third quarter and benefited from a faster tempo. They quickly cut the deficit to 36-33 and seemed to have momentum on their side. But that's as close as Driscoll would get.

"Rosary has a lot of weapons, and they used them very well tonight," McCuiston said.

Faith Jones was Rosary's most effective weapon at crunch time. The senior hit a 3-pointer to give her team a bit of cushion, again, and scored 9 of her 11 points in the second half.

"Once I made that shot it gave us some momentum," Jones said.

By the end of the third quarter, the Royals had re-established the same 7-point lead they held at the break. It was full speed ahead for Rosary after Alvarez scored off a steal with 6:10 to go in the game, giving the Royals a 48-38 lead.

Rettig scored 15 for the Royals (15-4, 7-1), Alvarez added 13 points and 5 steals, while Jones pulled down 9 boards.

Lindfors led all scorers with 18, and also had 11 rebounds, DiGrazia scored 12, and Allie Divito scored 8.

-- Henry Perez

Fenton 36, Elmwood Park 27:ŒThe host Bison (12-9, 3-2) rallied to victory with a 14-4 fourth quarter in Metro Suburban Conference action.

Tricia Chiamas dropped in a game-high 15 points, including 10 in the final quarter, for the winners.

Marian Central 50, IC 41:ŒErin Hayes scored 19 for Immaculate Conception (8-11, 2-5) in its Suburban Catholic Conference loss.

Marian Central outscored the Knights 30-19 in the second half.