Johnson, Montini pull away from Hinsdale Central
Toni Kokenis put on quite a show for three quarters in Hinsdale Tuesday.
Montini and Michala Johnson starred in the closing act.
Johnson scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter as the No. 2 Broncos pulled away from a close game to beat No. 13 Hinsdale Central 63-44.
Kokenis scored 29 points, 1 shy of her career high, 27 over the first three quarters.
"We had one practice after our tournament," Montini coach Jason Nichols said, "and found a way to beat a team by 19 after watching a girl light us up like a Christmas tree. We'll take it."
Kokenis, who hit five 3-pointers, scored 14 points in the third quarter. The Red Devils, down 28-23 at the half and by as as many as 9 in the third quarter, pulled within 41-39 heading into the fourth. A Kokenis 3-pointer and runner preceded a long contested jumper as time expired.
The Stanford recruit shot a dazzling 11 of 18 from the field over the first three quarters.
"My teammates were getting me the ball in the flow of the offense," Kokenis said, "and I just kept shooting it. It felt pretty good. We were all really excited to come out and play them. Playing one of the best teams in the state, it's exciting."
After watching its matchup zone get lit up, Montini (17-1) made a key switch to slow down Kokenis. The Broncos went to a diamond-and-one, with Whitney Holloway and Kiki Wilson alternating the task of face-guarding Kokenis. She managed just 2 free throws and 3 shot attempts in the final quarter.
"We wanted to be able to play our base defenses to guard Toni," Nichols said, "but we just did not apply enough effort to know where she was. Our game plan was to always know where she is.
"In the fourth quarter we had to go gimmick. If she doesn't catch it she can't hurt you. That's respect for the player."
Johnson, benched by her coach early in the game for playing too passively, was anything but that in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-3 Connecticut commit scored on Montini's first three possessions of the fourth, touching off a 14-0 run to break things wide open.
"I would like to shoot my fadeaway," Johnson said, "but it wasn't there tonight. They didn't have any help-side on me. I just drop-stepped every time. I was open on the post. I just had to drop step."
She capped it off with a stickback of her own miss, ripping down an offensive rebound among a pair of Hinsdale defenders. Johnson added 11 rebounds and 4 blocks.
"With the four days off her legs weren't there early," Nichols said. "Second half, she started getting some lift in her legs. Big difference."
Whitney Adams had 10 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists for Montini, including 2 of the Broncos' six 3-pointers in the first half. Alison Seberger added 10 points and Holloway 9.
Adabelle Ekechukwu had 6 points and 8 rebounds for Hinsdale Central (10-5).
"I thought this was one of our best games of the year, even thought the final score doesn't show it," Kokenis said. "We can walk away knowing we left everything we had on the court."