Dix's 3-pointer nails it for Wave
A fortuitous bounce off a friendly rim helped St. Edward upend visiting Montini 54-51 in Elgin Tuesday night.
The game was tied at 51 until St. Edward senior guard Josh Dix lined up an open 3-pointer from the left corner and fired. The ball familiarized itself with nearly every inch of the rim before it slipped through with 28 seconds left to play.
"I just knew I had to knock it down," said Dix, who finished with 12 points. "It hit the rim about 10 times, but it went in so I got lucky."
It was one of the rare open looks Dix saw all night.
"We gave Dix the full fledged - he could be on the track team," Montini coach Brian Opoka said. "We made that kid work as hard as he can. You know what he did? He was able to belly up to the bar and knock a three down like the big-time player that he is. You tip your cap, shake his hand and say congratulations."
Montini (1-10, 1-4 Suburban Catholic) couldn't cash in on two chances to tie the game in the waning seconds.
On the possession after Dix hit the 3-pointer, the Broncos ended up settling for a 2-point shot that didn't fall. Dix grabbed the long rebound and was fouled with 5.3 seconds left, but he missed the front end of the bonus and Montini senior Anthony Blashewski grabbed the rebound.
Montini had no timeouts remaining, so Blashewski raced upcourt and launched a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. However, his shot didn't get the friendly bounce off the rim ala Dix's and caromed away at the buzzer.
"I had a feeling that was going to happen," Blashewski said of getting one more chance to tie the game. "At least you always have to expect it. But my three didn't fall."
It was a fitting end to a tight SCC battle that saw 10 lead changes and 8 ties. St. Edward (6-8, 2-2) never led by more than 3 points and the largest lead for the Broncos was 17-11 early in the second quarter.
"We haven't been in too many games like that," St. Edward coach Keith Chuipek said. "We've either beat teams bad or we've gotten beat bad, so it's good to win a close one. It's good to be 2-2 in the conference, which I haven't seen since I've been here."
Montini shot 12 of 21 from the floor in the first half to take leads of 14-11 after one quarter and 30-26 at the half.
However, St. Edward opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run, which included a basket from senior Zach Von Ahnen (8 points) and 3-pointers from seniors Steve Martin (7 points) and Riley Coleman. Coleman led all scorers with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
The Green Wave forced 5 Montini turnovers in the third quarter to hold the Broncos to 8 points.
Montini took its last lead at 50-49 with 1:28 left in the game when senior guard Brian Nash sank an open 3-pointer, but the Wave regained the lead seconds later when Von Ahnen scored on a second-chance opportunity from the baseline.
Montini tied the game on a free throw by Zach Brash with 42.5 seconds remaining, but his second good free throw was disallowed due to a line violation. Dix subsequently sank his clutch 3-pointer at the other end.
"Josh has been struggling ever since he got off of having mono (at Thanksgiving), so maybe that last shot will give him a little confidence and lift his shooting up," Chuipek said. "But he hit the shot when he had to hit it."
Brash and Gary Grzywacz each scored 12 points for Montini.