Lake Park uses 3-pointer to stun Montini

Lake Park could not have asked for a better start Monday night against perennial state powerhouse Montini.

The Lancers enjoyed the finish even more.

Lake Park made 15 of 27 3-point shots and upset Montini 64-55 in the final game of the 29th annual Coach Kipp's Hoopsfest at Willowbrook. Montini is ranked sixth in Class 4A.

"We came in thinking, We can do this, we can do this," Lake Park senior Kate Kirkham said. "But actually doing it was like a big breakthrough for us because we were just so hyped up."

So where does this win rate for Lake Park (16-5)?

"It's different," Lake Park junior Darrione Rogers said. "It's definitely one of the biggest ones because it's Montini. Who doesn't want to beat Montini? It's definitely boosting our confidence because now we can compete with anyone."

Rogers has scored in the 40s twice this season, but she scored a modest 20 points with 14 rebounds while dealing with foul trouble. She also set a Lake Park record for 3-pointers made in a season, now with 77.

"It was a good team win," said Rogers, a DePaul recruit. "Every night I'm not going to have a good shooting night and that was one of those nights. But my teammates had my back and they stepped up and hit big-time shots when I needed it most. And they picked me up and helped my confidence too."

Casey Darre scored 18, Payton Skalski came off the bench to score 14 and Kirkham added 12. Together those three players made 12 of 16 3-point shots.

"If you had told me we'd hold Darrione Rogers to 5-of-21 (shooting) for the game, I'd be like, yeah, I'll take that," Montini coach Jason Nichols said. "But their four role players played the most efficient basketball game ever. But you've got to credit them first, and then I'll go and say us second. We did not do the job at all. We just didn't want to play hard. And it's something I've been seeing for a while."

It was the best team victory of the season for Lake Park, which usually relies on Rogers to carry the scoring load.

"We just played calm today," said sixth-year coach Brian Rupp, who earned his 80th win for Lake Park. "We just played really calm. You're going to get open shots. Against a (2-3) zone you're going to get open shots if you're patient."

"We knew that they were going to do a zone," Kirkham added, "so we knew if we passed it good and passed it fast, we got in the middle and passed it out, it would open up a lot of people. And we knew tonight we'd have to hit a lot. We practiced a lot for this whole week because we know all these games coming up we have to shoot really well."

Lake Park took a 14-4 first-quarter lead on a Skalski 3. Montini (23-4) caught up by halftime, with only a Rogers 3 at the buzzer keeping the Broncos from the lead. Instead the Lancers led 25-23.

Montini's last lead came at 4:09 of the third quarter, 35-31 on a Sydney Prochaska 3. Kirkham answered with a 3, and Rogers tied the game at 37 on a 3.

After two more ties, Kirkham's 3-pointer with 5:18 to play put the Lancers ahead for good 48-45. Her 3 with 3:33 to play gave the Lancers a 9-point lead.

Freshman point guard Sophie Sullivan led Montini with 11 points. The Broncos played just three upperclassmen.