Marshall shoots Montini over Marmion

Emory Marshall just wanted to get some shots up.

One night before Montini's game at Marmion, the Broncos junior guard took over 200 3-pointers in preparation for a game he had circled on his calendar for a while.

Marshall's practice paid large dividends for Montini as his game-high 29 points led the Broncos to a 66-58 victory in Chicago Catholic League play Tuesday night.

The 6-foot-1 guard scored 13 points in the final quarter and finished the night 10-of-12 from the foul line.

"We came in with a lot of energy after kind of getting blown out by them last year," Marshall said. "I practice [close-game] situations all the time and it's just a chance to make a play for my team."

After making just two of his first eight shot attempts from the field, Marshall made five of his last nine, including four 3-pointers.

Montini coach Adam DeMong knows when his point guard gets going, there isn't anyone better, in his opinion, in the CCL.

"When he's good, he's really, really good," DeMong said. "There isn't anyone much better in the conference when they're on. He's a good ballplayer and a good leader. When he chooses to lead the team, we'll follow him anywhere."

Montini (12-15, 6-6 Chicago Catholic League) led from nearly start to finish Tuesday and got off to a strong start in part to Andrew Stokes. The 6-foot-7 forward scored eight of his 10 points in the first half and collected a game-high 14 rebounds.

It became a theme for the Broncos that every time Marmion (11-12, 4-7) got within striking distance at any point in Tuesday's game, someone would find a way to make a play.

"We just weathered good basketball," DeMong said. "Marmion is a solid basketball team and we didn't get down when they made plays. We kept our composure. When they hit, we hit back. I think we're a pretty good team and maybe our record doesn't show that. I feel like we're trending in a good direction at the right time.

"I think we made plays tonight. I can draw up something on the board, but it [doesn't] look good unless the good player makes the play. The bottom line tonight was that we made baskets when we needed to."

The Cadets leveled the score two separate times to start the third quarter, the latter of which came off a thunderous one-handed slam dunk from Trevon Roots.

However, Marshall led a 9-0 Montini answer, scoring seven of those points to stretch out the lead. Estevan Moreno joined Marshall and Stokes in double figures with 12 points.

"We knew we had to just keep making plays," said Marshall ,who scored all but six of Montini's fourth quarter points. "I think we all kept that positive energy and never hung our heads. We knew we had to just answer everything they were throwing at us and I think we made smart decisions and went on runs to stop theirs."

While Marmion got within a single possession seven different times in the fourth quarter, the Cadets just couldn't get the one defensive stop they needed to get back into this one.

"When you play as hard as [Montini] did tonight, you put yourself in a position to win," Marmion coach Joe Piekarz said. "I thought we competed hard and had some good looks from some of our better shooters, but shots just didn't fall for us tonight."

Marmion finished 7-for-25 from 3-point range, while Montini connected on 9-of-18 from long range. The Broncos also dominated the glass at a 36-22 clip.

Jabe Haith had a team-high 15 points for Marmion, while Roots finished with a 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.