Montini cruises to win

De La Salle had plenty of momentum after winning its first regional championship last week. Then it ran into Montini.

The Broncos took away De La Salle's momentum and confidence early, winning 68-32 to advance to Thursday's Class 3A Glenbard South sectional final against St. Joseph.

"We were the better team against them, but anything's possible," Montini coach Jason Nichols said. "... They were dangerous coming in here because they felt good about themselves. I felt we did a good job early of taking the wind out of their sails."

Montini scored the game's first nine points and led 24-8 after one quarter.

"The team came out to play, came out with a lot of energy, and we knew we needed to put them away early," guard Nikia Edom said, "so we did."

The Montini press was a big factor, forcing 10 De La Salle turnovers in the first quarter.

"Our length really helped, and if we can stay out of foul trouble, then we can use it more and it's effective because we can dictate pace," Nichols said.

"They're a good team, they're going to press and they're going to do it well," De La Salle coach Jenna Markoff said. "We just had trouble getting it over halfcourt."

Edom keyed the Broncos' start, scoring 10 points in the first quarter. She finished with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.

"Nikia for the last two weeks has been hot," Nichols said. "She's playing very, very well, and that's good, because she missed a couple of 3s, but she didn't lose confidence. She kept shooting, and that set up her dribble drive. I thought she got to the basket hard. But I expect that out of a kid who's a junior and has played with a bunch of good players."

"Coach told me keep shooting, so when I was open, I shot it," Edom added.

Freshman Nia Flowers came off the bench to lead Montini (29-5) with 15 points. Twelve of the 13 Broncos who played scored.

Top-seeded Montini advances to meet No. 2 St. Joseph in the sectional final at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. St. Joseph defeated Montini 39-34 on Dec. 29.