Scouting the Class 3A Loyola University supersectional

Montini (30-2) vs. Trinity (24-9)

When: 6 p.m. Monday.

Where: Gentile Center, 6511 Winthrop, Chicago.

Advancement: Friday's 2 p.m. state semifinal at Illinois State's Redbird Arena vs. the winner of the Springfield supersectional (Springfield vs. Belleville Althoff).

History: Montini coach Jason Nichols led Trinity to the 2003 Class AA quarterfinals, his last year at Trinity before taking the Montini job. This is Nichols' third meeting against his former school. The two teams split two previous regular-season games. Trinity also beat Montini by 10 at an event last summer at DePaul. Michala Johnson and Trinity's Taricka Linzy did not play, both recovering from ACL injuries.

Probable starters

Montini Trinity

Name Ht. Yr. Pos. Name Ht. Yr.

Whitney Holloway 5-4 Jr. G Divinity Brown 4-11 Jr.

Mallory Sosnovich 5-5 Sr. G Taylor Nazon 5-7 Fr.

Alison Seberger 6-1 Sr. G Taricka Linzy 5-7 Jr.

Whitney Adams 6-2 Jr. F Gracie Sanchez 5-9 So.

Courtney Thomas 6-2 Sr. F Megan Podkowa 6-1So.

Outlook: Montini returns to the Gentile Center, scene of last year's supersectional, hoping for a different outcome than a 40-37 loss to Marshall. "When I walked out of Loyola," Nichols said, "I told my assistant Al (Golonka), 'This is going to be a long year,' meaning getting back to supers. That loss that day didn't sit well with me and it didn't sit well with the kids." Now Montini gets tested by a young Trinity team, which exorcised its own demons against Marshall last week. Trinity beat Marshall 59-43 in a sectional final after losing to the Commandos there the last two seasons. Nichols sees striking similarities between this young Trinity team and the Montini group he took to the state semifinals two years ago. "They're a young crew that doesn't know any better," he said. "They just play the game and play it well. We're two teams that mirror each other in a lot of ways." One way is at point guard, where both teams boast jet-quick junior point guards in Holloway and Brown. Bigger scoring may be needed from Holloway after Seberger and Sosnovich combined for 10 3-pointers in the sectional final win over Riverside-Brookfield. "I think they're going to try to take our shooters away," Nichols said, "so Holloway will have to be better. Whitney is our best player and our best player has to be a factor. I anticipate she'll be fine." Trinity presents a tough matchup for Montini's matchup zone, as all five starters can score. Trinity's forwards Podkowa and Sanchez both are versatile enough to shoot from the outside. "They both can post up and score from the outside," Nichols said. "All five of their kids can score in different ways." Montini's own sophomore forward Tianna Brown played well in two sectional games, averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds off the bench. "Tianna has been very good in spurts," Nichols said. "She's been a beast. She's going to have to continue to be." Nichols expects it to come down to a possession game. That means how many turnovers each team can create and how many offensive rebounds each team can muster. Montini has been proficient for much of the season at forcing turnovers. Protecting its defensive glass, especially since Michala Johson's injury, is another story. "It's the three W's - the will to want to win," Nichols said. "You gotta want to win, you gotta will yourself to win. There should be no excuses to take a play off. I don't want to go into the off-season with 'what ifs.' A lot of little things come into play."

- Joshua Welge