Rockford Lutheran ends Montini's surprise run
Before the start of the second quarter of Wednesday night's Class 2A Johnsburg boys basketball sectional semifinal between first-seeded Rockford Lutheran and seventh-seeded Montini Catholic, RL senior guard Blake Broege was recognized at midcourt for having scored his 1,000th career point in the first quarter.
His teammates ended up having a grand time, too.
Lutheran's Crusaders - behind senior guard Walt Hill Jr.'s game-high 30 points - defeated Montini's upstart Broncos 65-46 to advance to Friday's sectional championship game versus fourth-seeded Aurora Christian (22-12) at 7 p.m.
Montini had entered the game with a 7-22 mark, after topping its first three playoff foes by a combined 7 points.
Go ahead, try to name another 7-win team in the state that was still alive in the postseason on March 1.
"We had a rough year," admitted Broncos coach Adam DeMong, whose second-leading scorer, 6-foot-4 junior Tyler Pavlik, sat out the game with a foot stress fracture. "But we never quit. Our seniors decided, about two weeks ago, 'We're going to do it, going to put it together in the playoffs.'
"And the team did just that," he added, "by doing the little things, like hustle plays and offensive rebounds at key moments."
Rockford Lutheran (25-9) catapulted to an 11-2 lead, capped by a steal-and-thunderous-dunk sequence from 6-5 junior Vontez Dent (18 points, 12 rebounds) at the 5:36 mark of the first quarter.
Coach Tom Guse's club led 24-12 after 8 minutes.
Montini struck for the first 5 points of the second frame on a basket by sophomore guard Jack Barrett and a trey by junior guard Danny Petersen (7 points). Petersen hit another 3-pointer some 2 minutes later, and Montini trailed only 29-25.
Broncos senior guard Joe Spaccapaniccia (5 points) drained a triple - the final 3 points of the first half - and the gritty hoopsters from Lombard were down only 34-28 at the break.
"We cared so much," Montini senior guard Christian Clarke (8 points) said of what lifted the team in its memorable "second" season. "We kept fighting.
"Our last three games, before tonight, together they formed the highlight of our season, without a doubt."
Lutheran tallied the first 6 points of the third quarter and the first 10 points of the final quarter, the latter run giving the Crusaders a 56-38 advantage with 3:41 left.
"Their ball movement and shiftiness impressed me," Clarke said.
"Lutheran is a very good team, because it can score easily," DeMong added.
Hill was brilliant, using bursts in the lane to amass most of his 30 points. He scored 10 in the first quarter, 3 in the second, 9 in the third and 8 in the fourth.
Broege - "Mr. 1,000" - poured in all 10 of his points in the first half and played a steady floor game, as well as feisty defense, for the victors.
Eight Montini players netted at least 2 points in the first half, paced by Petersen's 6. Junior guard Maddox Shepherd finished with a team-high 10, and senior guard Samuel Ruddy and sophomore guard Maxwell Bell tossed in 5 points apiece.
Broncos senior forward John Disimone came down with a team-best 5 boards, one more than junior forward Nicholas Lombardi's total.
Rockford Lutheran senior forward Kyng Hughes scored 6 points - all in the final stanza - and grabbed 12 rebounds.