Montini lights it up in big win over Riverside-Brookfield

If Montini came into Thursday staggered, Mallory Sosnovich was ready with a shot of swagger.

The senior guard hit six 3-pointers in the first half as the No. 1 Broncos blitzed No. 2 seed Riverside-Brookfield 92-53 in the Class 3A Nazareth sectional final.

It sure put the memory of a nearly-blown 22-point lead to St. Joseph to bed.

"We wanted to come out and show that we're a better team than the one you saw on Tuesday," said Sosnovich, who finished with 23 points and seven 3-pointers. "We're way better than that."

Montini's sectional championship is its sixth straight, making the Broncos one of seven teams to do so in IHSA girls basketball history. Bolingbrook duplicated that feat on Thursday. Montini (30-2) will play Trinity at 6 p.m. Monday in the Loyola University supersectional, going for its second trip to state in three years.

"Today we showed everyone who Montini basketball is," said senior Alison Seberger, who had 17 points, 9 rebounds and three 3-pointers. "Getting this win, and the way we shot the ball, just gives us more confidence as we keep going."

Sosnovich knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers a minute in, and the onslaught was on. Montini, which hit 12 3-pointers as a team, led 31-15 after a quarter.

It was 54-30 by halftime.

"You leave (Sosnovich) open like that she'll kill you every time," Montini coach Jason Nichols said. "She's pretty good."

Montini pierced holes in Riverside-Brookfield's zone throughout. Bulldogs coach Larry Rocco, leading the school into a sectional final for the first time, said the issue was with execution, not the strategy to stay zone.

"We weren't so worried about (Whitney) Holloway - we were worried about Seberger and Sosnovich," Rocco said. "We let them get wide open way too many times."

After a brutally physical, loosely called game against St. Joseph, Riverside-Brookfield provided a much more fast-paced finesse opponent.

Fine with Montini.

The Broncos' pressure overwhelmed their opponent early, forcing 23 turnovers in the first half. Holloway's score off a steal pushed the margin to double figures for the first time at 18-8, and Sosnovich canned a 3-pointer the next time down.

"With our pressure they couldn't really handle the ball," Sosnovich said. "We took advantage of that and tried to pressure them as much as possible."

Montini finished with 19 steals - 4 each by Kiki Wilson and Whitney Adams.

"R-B plays hard and they can shoot the 3 if you allow them to," Nichols said. "We wanted to kind of turn up the pace and create the tempo. We did obviously."

Jessie Hutchens paced Riverside-Brookfield (24-6) with 20 points. Adams had 17 points and 9 rebounds, Tianna Brown 10 points, Holloway 6 points and 6 assists and Wilson 9 points and 7 assists.

Now Montini returns to the same Gentile Center supersectional site where the Broncos bowed out to Marshall last year. They're more than aware.

"We've learned from last year - every day in practice coach reminds us of that day," Seberger said. "We just need to keep playing the way we've been playing. We've played the best competition, and we are the best in 3A. We just need to play like we are."