St. Francis outlasts Montini

Montini never went away, yet St. Francis never let its lead slip.

In a Saturday boys basketball matinee in Lombard, a fast turnaround after both teams played Friday night, St. Francis held off Montini's quickness and 3-point shooting to win the nonconference game 65-56.

"It's a little unusual coming in here for a day game, but I liked it. I think we were ready coming into this game, and it's a great team win before we head into playoffs. We've got one more game at (Aurora Central Catholic)," said St. Francis' Danny Blank, who scored 9 of his 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Previously, St. Francis (17-13) beat the former Suburban Catholic Conference rival 64-59 at York's Jack Tosh Holiday Tournament. On Saturday St. Francis trailed 13-12 after one quarter but led thereafter.

Montini (6-20) tops out vertically with 6-foot-3 forwards Garrett Neilsen and Andrew Stokes, whose 16 points led the Broncos before he fouled out with 2:41 remaining.

"Since we're such a small team everybody underestimates us and thinks that just because we're small we're not going to play hard. But we prove everybody wrong by coming out and just playing our best basketball," said Montini guard A.J. Ashford, who hit four 3s and scored 14 points, with 3 steals.

Height factored less after St. Francis' 6-8 Bryce Walker twisted an ankle early in the third quarter, the Spartans up 35-28. Walker should be fine, though 6-4 Spartans forward Robert Nocek said his absence initially hurt.

"Then we realized we need to win this for him because he got injured. So we want to play for him, like step up for him. Someone had to step up - so we all stepped up, actually, like talking more (on defense)," said Nocek, who led St. Francis with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Threes from Stokes, Ashford and 10-point scorer Antoine Harris had Montini within 45-42 after three quarters. With 4:45 remaining the Broncos pulled within 51-49 on another Ashford 3.

Blank's putback and Nocek's dunk in transition regained Spartans momentum, heading to a 59-49 lead with 3:05 to play.

"We're down 4 and we turn the ball over three possessions in a row. And they score on each possession so it goes from 4 to 10. We used a lot of energy to get that to 4," said Montini coach Bob Lozano.

Montini pushed again to cut its deficit to 59-53 with 1:52 to play. Nocek, Sebastian Miller and Eric Welch regained an 11-point lead with 1:04 left to allow a more comfortable finish.

Miller scored 12 points and Welch scored 9 points with 4 steals and 5 of his 6 rebounds in the fourth quarter.

"Welch was all over the place," said Spartans coach Erin Dwyer.