Montini wins a close one
Montini's opportunity to play for its tournament championship went by the wayside Thursday.
But Friday's game carried intangible significance. This was about a young team learning to close out close games.
Like Thursday against St. Joseph, the Broncos lost a double-digit second-half lead, but this time they pulled together to beat Marian Catholic 43-39 in the final game of the Montini Christmas Tournament in Lombard.
“It feels good. We've been in close games pretty much all week it seems,” said Broncos junior Nikia Edom, who scored 10 points and hit 2 big free throws late. “It feels good to finally close one out and carry some momentum into the rest of the year.”
The loss to St. Joseph snapped Montini's 50-game home winning streak dating back to 2006 and had dropped the Broncos to 1-3 in games decided by 7 or fewer points. Montini (16-4) nearly blew a double-digit lead to Hinsdale South on Tuesday.
So this one was sweet for good reason, and in winning Montini avoided its first two-game losing streak since the 2005-06 season.
“Finally,” said Montini coach Jason Nichols. “It was big for them because yesterday we were so awful beyond belief and still had a chance to win. That could have been a little bit crushing to these kids, and I didn't know how they'd respond. They showed me a little bit of some guts tonight.”
Montini led 9-8 after a quarter and 19-12 at half, and the lead bulged to 26-16 midway through the third quarter on a Sara Ross 3-pointer.
Marian Catholic crept back and took its first lead since the first quarter at 37-36 when Ashton Millender went coast-to-coast for a spinning layup with 3:36 left in the game.
Two lead changes ensued, before Edom's two free throws gave Montini the lead for good at 40-39 with 2:32 remaining.
Free throws have been a sore spot for the Broncos, costing them in a 1-point loss to Hononegah last week. In this one, though, they went a respectable 17 of 26.
Ross did miss a pair of free throws with 20 ticks left to keep it a 42-39 game, but she intercepted a pass at the other end and split two free throws to ice the win.
“Coach has been talking about hitting free throws when it matters,” Edom said. “Sara missed a couple there, but she made the biggest one when it mattered.”
Alanna Ferry scored 8 points and Megan Walsh and Dajhae Mullins 7 apiece for Marian Catholic (9-7). The Spartans shot a woeful 3 of 21 from the field in the first half, but their coach still appreciated the effort after Thursday's 45-41 loss to Hinsdale South.
“We're going to have our ups and downs,” said Spartans coach Annie Byrne, “but I thought our kids bounced back because we did not play to our potential yesterday. The opportunities were there. A couple bounces go our way and we win by 4.”
Tianna Brown had 10 points and 4 rebounds, Kateri Stone 6 points and 8 rebounds and Kelsey Bogdan 6 assists for Montini. Diamond Thompson added 4 of Montini's 7 blocks.