Montini thinking big

Montini coach Jason Nichols, like many people, views Proviso West as the pre-eminent boys holiday basketball tournament around the area.

Now Nichols wants a girls version at Montini.

Starting next year Montini is expanding its Christmas tournament to 16 teams, bracketed over four days. In addition to the seven returning schools, Montini has added Zion-Benton, Batavia, Plainfield East, Romeoville, South Elgin and Proviso West.

"You have great girls tournaments with great histories like Hillcrest in the south suburbs and Dundee-Crown up north those are 16-team tournaments," Nichols said. "Our goal is to have a really good tournament like that in the western suburbs."

Nichols has concentrated on inviting teams with good, young talent, like Montini. Junior-dominated Plainfield East boasts one of the area's best freshmen in Faith Suggs, Batavia has sophomores Liza Fruendt and Erin Bayram, and Zion-Benton features sophomore guard Samantha Rodriguez. Romeoville, perhaps under the radar this year, is 15-2 behind junior Bolingbrook transfer Kiera Currie.

"You're gonna get good competition, diversity and variety," Nichols said. "I hope to get this to the point where teams get battle-tested, with it centrally located in the Chicago suburbs."

Redhawks rising:

Naperville Central hit rock bottom three weeks ago, anemic offensively in a 41-20 loss to Evanston in the Dundee-Crown opening game to drop its record to 6-6.

"That might have been the worst offensive game in my 24 years of coaching," Redhawks coach Andy Nussbaum said. "It was awful. We were all embarassed."

Since then, though, Naperville Central is 6-2, and in the two losses the Redhawks led Mother McAuley and Neuqua Valley in the fourth quarter.

Emma Donahue enjoyed 17- and 24-point scoring games versus Prospect and Mother McAuley, but the Redhawks have also spread the wealth. Victoria Trowbridge was 11 of 12 from the field with 19 rebounds over the last two games, and Jamie Cuny had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists. Shannon Ryan has provided solid defense, and Laura Dierking has been productive off the bench.

"You gotta have other kids who can score, and our juniors have stepped it up," Nussbaum said.

Most important, Naperville Central remains just a game behind Wheaton Warrenville South in the DuPage Valley Conference race. The two teams meet for the second time Jan. 26 in Naperville.

"The fact that every game in conference is a must-win, and the kids have responded," Nussbaum said, "I'm very pleased with."