Lumpkin, Montini arise and shine
Montini sophomore Jasmine Lumpkin called Monday’s game her “wakeup call.”
She sure answered the bell for the Broncos.
Lumpkin scored 12 points, had 6 steals and sparked a run to end the first half that mushroomed into a 66-35 rout of Aurora Central Catholic in Lombard.
“I needed to pick it up and start hustling more. I’ve been asleep out there,” Lumpkin said. “This was a wakeup call for me. I need to go out there and play my game.”
Lumpkin is like many of her Montini teammates — at 5-foot-11, she is very long and athletic, and shows flashes of potential. But she’s also short on experience and prone to inconsistency.
With No. 4 Montini in a rare close conference game, Lumpkin went to work.
After a 3-pointer by Aurora Central’s Alex DeCraene tied it at 20-20 with 1:07 left in the half, Lumpkin buried a baseline jumper, then stole the ball and flew in for a layup. A driving layup by Broncos freshman Kelsey Bogdan in the half’s final seconds made it 26-20.
Lumpkin added a steal and a score, a driving layup in the second half and a pat on the back from her coach.
“We’ve been on her a lot. This is really the first game she’s played well,” Montini coach Jason Nichols said. “With her and (5-10) Bogdan, they’re so long and they can create a lot of havoc at the top of our defense.”
Montini went scoreless for almost six minutes into the second quarter, but was a different team after the break.
The stretch that Lumpkin started eventually turned into a 14-2 run, Tianna Brown muscling in a pair of baskets for a 34-22 lead midway through the third quarter.
Brown finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds, Kateri Stone had all 10 of her points in the second half and Malayna Johnson scored 7 of her 9 after the break. Bogdan had 5 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and a couple nifty assists. Nikia Edom scored 11 points after missing two games with a sprained ankle.
“Right now we’re a spurt team,” said Nichols, who plays three freshmen and three sophomores. “We can look really good for spurts and then awful at times. It’s OK. We found it in the second half.”
Montini (9-1, 4-0 Suburban Christian Conference Blue) has won nine straight league titles, and hasn’t lost in conference since January of 2009. But this Aurora Central team came in touted as the school’s best ever, a possible contender in Class 2A.
The Chargers (8-2, 3-1) battled back from an early 16-8 hole, but eventually succumbed to Montini’s constant ball pressure, length and depth.
“We let our nerves get the best of us,” said Aurora Central coach Mark Fitzgerald. “It’s our first time playing in a big game, and Montini’s been in a lot of big games. It’s a good learning experience.”
DeCraene scored 16 points for the Chargers, who were playing Montini for the first time in four years and will host the Broncos Jan. 6. Leading scorer Jackie Cardona, who missed Friday’s game with Rosary due to injury, was held to 3 points.
“Montini showed they’re not going to give up that conference crown too easy,” Fitzgerald said. “For us to accomplish our goals we need to play teams like that. I’m proud of my girls. They battled to the end.”