Broncos are hot shots vs. Spartans
From the moment they stepped on the slush-soaked welcome mats, St. Francis' girls basketball players knew Montini wasn't going to be the most hospitable host.
Coming off their first Suburban Catholic Conference loss in two years, the Broncos were extremely eager to get back on the court for Tuesday's SCC game in Lombard.
Montini knocked down nine of its 12 3-pointers in the first half and took out some frustrations while rolling to a 70-43 win over the Spartans.
The victory didn't make up for Friday's loss to Driscoll, and Broncos coach Jason Nichols still believes his team is in a post-holiday funk. But at least the funk's now attached to a dominant conference performance.
"We're in a little rut right now, and we have to battle through it," Nichols said. "We've seemed to have lost a little bit of our swagger and a little bit of our confidence. Hopefully we get it back."
St. Francis (7-10, 3-4) stayed close early, even taking an 8-7 lead on Jamie Stefely's third basket of the first quarter. Montini, though, soon began to take full advantage of the Spartans' zone defense.
Alison Seberger hit four of her five 3-pointers in the first half, while Whitney Adams, Mallory Sosnovich and Courtney Thomas combined for five more. By halftime the Broncos (17-3, 7-1) held a 38-22 lead and pulled the Spartans out of their zone.
"Seberger and Sosnovich ... I don't know what their percentage was, but they were unbelievable," said St. Francis coach Leslie Fay-Dehn, referring to the Montini duo's 7-of-15 first-half perimeter shooting. "We started in a zone and they came out on fire. We switched to man, and they've just got a lot of weapons."
Not to say the night cruised perfectly along for Montini. With junior Michala Johnson already down with a knee injury, the team lost Adams, a 6-foot-1 forward, also to a knee injury.
The Broncos also cooled immensely from the arc in the second half, making 3 of 17 3-point shots. Kiki Wilson hit two of the 3s to account for a bulk of her 10 points.
Lightning quick Whitney Holloway thrived against the Spartans' man defense, driving for 10 of her 12 points in the second half. Seberger led the way with 15 points and 8 rebounds while Sosnovich finished with 13 points.
Stefely scored a game-high 17 points. The Spartans' Jennifer Eldridge added 10 points.
"We knew they were probably going to play zone," Seberger said. "We need to work at not relying on the 3, but if they're giving it to you, you've got to knock it down."