Montini gets to change calendar after win vs. St. Francis
All Montini wanted was to still be playing in March.
The Broncos ensured that would happen when they defeated St. Francis 61-50 during Tuesday's Class 3A IMSA regional semifinal.
"We're playing in March and that's all we wanted to do," Montini coach Bob Lozano said. "That was our focus, to keep playing to win and advance and that's what we did."
Montini (12-19) advances to take on Glenbard South in Friday's regional championship game.
"This is do-or-die time now," Broncos senior Scott West said. "We put our heads together and played this game as a team, as a family, and got the win."
West led four Broncos in double figures with 15 points. Sophomore Kai Evans and senior Fred Stokes each contributed 13 points. Junior Julian Gatewood chipped in with 10.
"We had three good days of practice and everybody was focused," Lozano said. "We stuck to our game plan, we played how we wanted to play and we took care of it."
St. Francis (10-22), which ended its season amid a five-game losing streak, only trailed 26-23 at halftime. But the Spartans struggled shooting the ball all evening and proved incapable of putting together any big scoring runs in the second half.
"We had good shots and I thought we had decent position and did a good job of taking care of the ball, but we have to shoot better," St. Francis coach Erin Dwyer said. "We have to shoot a good percentage against a team like that and I don't think we did that."
The Broncos began pulling away early in the fourth quarter, going up 42-32 with 6:36 remaining after senior Jamari Harris split a pair of free throws.
"At halftime our coach said we got them right where we want them as long as we keep playing hard and playing tough," West said. "We came out ready to play defense and that starts everything for our offensive points, all in transition."
They would take their biggest lead of the evening at 50-35 after Stokes made a free throw with just 3:11 left to go.
The Spartans had one final rally left in them, pulling to within 53-45 on Michael Cascella's third and final 3-pointer of the night with 1:45 remaining.
Playing without a few players, including Sean Conley and Bryce Walker, the Spartans couldn't beat the Broncos for a second time. They beat them 62-55 on Jan. 26, but the Broncos were also without a few players that night.
Junior Robert Nocek led the Spartans with 16 points and Cascella added 11.
"My biggest thing is I love my guys and our effort was amazing all year," Dwyer said. "We have great kids, but if our shots don't fall it's not going to help us."