Montini girls wins Class 3A state championship
Montini coach Jason Nichols, standing in the trophy line, mouthed his oft-repeated mantra: "live by the 3, die by the 3."
His Broncos are living on top of the Illinois basketball world now.
No. 1 Montini hit a single-game state finals record 12 3-pointers to beat No. 6 Hillcrest 64-53 in Class 3A on Saturday at Redbird Arena and win the school's first state championship in girls basketball.
It is the third championship for Montini this year, joining titles in football and wrestling.
"We were able to spread those athletic kids," Nichols said, "and we were able to hit shots. We hit 12 of 'em. I'll take it. It's a W. The most important W ever."
Montini (33-2) rallied from its biggest deficit of the year. Down 27-15 with five minutes left in the second quarter after a Yolanda De La Torre layup, the Broncos came out of a timeout to go on a 13-0 run. Tianna Brown and Kiki Wilson came off the bench to spark Montini with a layup and 3-pointer, and 2 Holloway free throws pushed the Broncos ahead 28-27.
"We just had to keep playing," Holloway said. "We knew we were going to make a run. We wanted to buckle down on defense because we were letting them score way too easy."
Four more lead changes ensued in the final 90 seconds of the half, the last as Alison Seberger hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds for a 33-31 Montini lead.
"The first quarter and a half we just looked slow," Nichols said. "We put Kiki in and she was monstrous. We changed the tempo of the game. The girls fed off that."
Seberger scored 18 points - hitting six 3-pointers. The Illinois State recruit playing on her future home floor also hit a 3 to end the first half of Friday's semifinal against Springfield.
The emotional lift was obvious, as Seberger jumped up and down running off the court at half.
"Once you start to make them," she said, "they just keep coming. It's awesome to play the last couple games of high school on the same court I'll be playing on in college."
Whitney Adams, who scored 20 points with 10 rebounds, hit a 3-pointer with 6:29 left in the third quarter to give Montini the lead for good at 36-33. Seberger hit a corner 3 on the next trip down.
Shannise Heady scored 18 points for Hillcrest (28-4) and DePaul recruit Uniquah Hampton 14. All-stater Hampton left the game in the final seconds of the third quarter after getting hit in the head colliding with Holloway on a loose ball. She went to the hospital for a deep gash that required 30-40 stitches and did not return.
Hampton's last play was a pretty behind-the-back feed to Heady for a layup off the loose ball to make it 48-42.
"Obviously, it hurt to lose Uniquah," Hillcrest coach John Maniatis said. "The timing was especially bad because we felt like we were regaining the momentum and had the chance to make a run."
Hillcrest pulled within 4 once and 5 another time in the fourth quarter but was answered by Seberger and Adams 3-pointers.
"We all had confidence in every one of our shots," Adams said, "and we wanted to win this game so bad. Coach told us either shoot it or draw them out."
Holloway had 12 points and 7 rebounds, and Wilson 7 points, 5 assists and 4 steals for Montini, whose previous best finish at state was third in 2008.
"Coming down my freshman year and getting third - nothing compares to first place," Holloway said. "Nobody remembers the second- or third-place teams."
Montini won its last 13 games of the season without Connecticut-bound senior Michala Johnson, who tore her ACL Jan. 12.
"To win this without our best player says an awful lot about our kids," Nichols said. "Awesome, awesome job."
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