Buffalo Grove, Montini win third-place games

NORMAL - Buffalo Grove girls basketball coach Tom Dineen closed out his career Saturday night with his 677th career win as his Bison defeated Chicago Marist 66-50 for third place in the IHSA Class 4A state tournament.

Dineen, 677-229 in 29 years at Buffalo Grove, is the third winningest girls basketball coach in IHSA history. This was his ninth trip to the state tournament, and his 2000 team won the Class AA championship.

Third-ranked Buffalo Grove (33-4) raced out to a 20-5 lead after one quarter and extended it to 40-20 by halftime. The Bison hit 16-of-29 shots in the first half, including 5-of-12 from 3-point range.

The Bison finished the game with nine 3-pointers, tying the record for most 3-pointers by a team in a state tournament game. Marist hit eight from long range as the teams combined to break the 3-point record by two teams in a state final tournament game.

Seniors Ellen Ayoub and Allison Mocchi led Buffalo Grove with 24 and 17 points respectively. Sophomore Heather Nisbet added 13 as the Bison made 25 of their 46 field goal attempts, including 9-of-19 from 3-point range.

Sophomore Haley Stercic led Marist (25-10) with 19 points and Aileen Gorman added 10. The RedHawks, in just their sixth year with a girls basketball program, were participating in their first state final tournament.

• In the Class 3A third-place game, sophomore all-stater Michala Johnson scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as Montini upended Quincy Notre Dame.

Montini, making its first trip to state since 1993, took home its first trophy and finished the season 28-6 under fifth-year coach Jason Nichols.

Quincy Notre Dame came to the state tournament undefeated but left 32-2. It was the Lady Raiders first state finals appearance since 1999.