Montini 55, St. Joseph 22

This was the Chrissy Fletcher that Montini needs if it's going to go far in the Class 3A girls basketball tournament: active, aggressive, focused.

Fletcher's 18-point, 9-rebound game helped the Broncos score a 55-22 Class 3A St. Francis regional championship victory Friday night against St. Joseph.

"Right off the bat I was missing a couple of layups here and there, so I figured I might as well get back on defense," Fletcher said about her season-high point total. "That way I could help our team out because my offense wasn't working. That was my only way of getting myself pumped up."

That slow start fueled a 10-point second quarter for Fletcher, a 6-foot-1 junior, with 6-3 sophomore Michala Johnson adding 7 of her 15 points.

"You know how much better we are if she's playing well?" Montini coach Jason Nichols asked about Fletcher. "It's no secret. How do you guard both her and Michala? She got a ton of offensive rebounds. So yeah, I was excited about her. She's got to carry that over now. That's a good thing for her, it really was."

Johnson also had 9 rebounds, and St. Joseph (15-13) had nobody who could match up with Montini's twin towers down low. The Broncos (24-5) won the rebounding battle decisively.

"If you have only one shot and out and obviously it's not falling, you're in trouble," Chargers coach Ramon Daguinsin said. "The size of Montini kind of hurt us inside. They start three 6-footers, I think (including 6-1 guard Alison Seberger). And we have 5-8, 5-9 people except for one."

Guard Whitney Holloway added 13 points, including all 7 of the Broncos' first-quarter scoring.

"She did some good things," Nichols said. "She's pretty tough for a freshman. You wouldn't think she was a freshman. You gotta love her."

Nichols wasn't so enamored of his team's play overall, however.

"We got 55 points, but we were not sharp," he said. "We were not. But we'll be all right. I'd rather win ugly than lose ugly. There's no question about that."

The Broncos meet Glenbard South at the Nazareth sectional semifinals Tuesday night.