Holloway's play helps Montini outlast LZ

Whitney Holloway set her sights on opening up the Montini offense.

She saw and conquered, leading the Broncos past host Lake Zurich 48-36 on Tuesday in the Chicago Holiday Basketball Classic.

Holloway hit a layup with 1:58 remaining in the third quarter, starting a 9-2 run that gave Montini a 39-30 lead heading into the fourth.

Lake Zurich (12-2, 2-1) had closed to 30-28 with a 9-0 run right before Holloway changed the momentum.

"Getting to the basket creates a lot of offense," said Holloway, a sophomore who had 12 points and 5 steals. "It opens the three-point shooters and the post players. I just got to find a way to get in there."

Montini (13-1, 3-0) increased its lead to double digits in the final quarter and never looked back.

Mallory Sosnovich hit one of her four 3-pointers and also finished with 12 points for the Broncos.

"We got a little sloppy in the third quarter," Montini coach Jason Nichols said. "But we got it back by the end of the quarter. Sometimes we fall asleep. We can't let that happen as we get closer to the state playoffs.

"Our offense can be better. We do stand around a little bit. Lake Zurich plays some very good defense. I thought if we got into the 50s this game, we'd win it. I thought we could hold them under 40."

The Bears got off to a quick start, taking a 17-13 lead into the second quarter, as Olivia Allen scored 9 of her team-high 11 points.

But the Broncos took over defensively in the second quarter, outscoring the Bears 15-2 and led 28-19 by the half.

"Montini has kids that can shoot, kids that can post up," Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett said. "You try to take one thing away and they find another thing, or they go back to the first thing. Montini was a tough team to play against. It was a hard team to guard.

"We made a nice little run in the third quarter and then they responded. We didn't have enough energy to sustain it."

Lydia Bauer added 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots for Lake Zurich. Audrey Bauer chipped in 9 points and 4 boards.

Montini will next play Friday at 2 p.m. against Lake Park, and Lake Zurich will face Loyola Academy at 3:30 p.m. All games will be played at Montini in Lombard.